Rating: 
Summary: Trickster's Choice of Review
Review: This book was totally awesome!! I thought it was action-packed. It was so good that I never put it down until it was completely finished.
Rating: 
Summary: A little rushed? Not one of Tamora's best.
Review: Trickster's Choice does take me back to the "good old days" of Alanna's time, but something is lacking in this book. It's a twisting, confusing mass of "raka" and "laurin" glob that keeps growing and growing. Aly's character is likeable enough, but her power is sloppy. She can't wield a sword like her mother and doesn't have a take-charge attitude....yet. I loved Dove (Dovalyn) because she's that kind of gal that you have to watch out for; intelligent, cunning, and will eventually come to save everyone's backs. (More my cup of tea!) Also, the whole reunion of people from all of Tamora's previous Tortall books was just plain....MUSHY. Gathering everyone from Numair, Daine, Buri, Kel, and Raoul together...even FAITHFUL (only that bit I liked, heh) was a bit too much. It was over done, in my opinion. Their stories are done with, their tales are part of Tortall's history...but now a new history has to be set down, and that is of Aly's fight to save the family she has wagered to protect.
There are elements to the character of Aly that are missing. Since we're meeting her now, without having a background on her from any other book, we need a foundation to start on. The foundation Tamora gives is not a solid one...it lacks and she makes up for it by placing certain actions/events/things in places, as if to explain her character as the book goes along. But the placement is awkward. It should have been done at the beginning of the book!
The first book is a slow-paced, half-adventurous jab, which is sort of good because I realize that the second one will be twice better, as it will have to explain and unfurl the tangle that has stacked up in the first one.
Trickster's Choice is a good read, but I think (and I'm hoping) the second book will be much better - with more twists and turns than this dragging first book.
Rating: 
Summary: Where's the action?
Review: This book doesn't have enough action! Often during the book Aly lets people do the fighting for her. For the daughter of the Lioness, I would have thought that she would have had more spunk. I love action stories and this wasn't one. Aly is such a girly-girl! She dies her hair BLUE for godness sake! I'm not interested in spys, I'm interested in fighters! She needs to get a life!
Rating: 
Summary: Really Good. Really.
Review: This book is really good. It's plot twists are unexpected, yet always for the better. It's a story about proving you can do what you want. it has a strong woman protagonist who is very witty and fun to follow. At first, i didn't know it was a series, so i was very dissappointed with the ending, not understanding a thing. But now i realize it was a series and i'm mad because i can't find out what happens till the next book comes out and who knows when that'll be?
But, it was really good, sometimes a bit slow, but weather on, because it really is amazing. Really.
Rating:
Summary: "too old" and "too sophisticated" - help!!!
Review: I just want to start by asserting that Tamora Pierce deserves the status of biblio-goddess in her own right - 'Trickster's Choice' proves that!I started my first year of college last September and got entirely swept up in the leavings of the great Pantheon of writers - from Homer to Dante to Joyce to Plato - I had all the greats of Western Civ literally thrown at me from day one. Yet here I am, on Christmas break, when I SHOULD, of course, be toiling away at papers due next semester, and what do I do? I read a book aimed at 10 -14 year olds. It's not my simple nature that makes me do this, rather the book itself. Let me explain: Whilst searching through my local bookstore for a copy of the 'Inferno' (an assigned text I had not yet got around to reading) I wandered back, with an ever so wistful tear of longing in my eye, to the Young Adult section where I had passed many a happy hour in my long passed youth, *sigh*. Lo and behold, what do I see but a new book by an author who I had dearly loved from the moment I picked up the first Alanna book. And I spent the next two days, blissfully Dante-free, reading this tale of treachery and spark featuring the most loveable,easy-to-root-for heroine since the Lioness herself was penned: Aly of Pirate's Swoop. I suddenly remembered all that I loved about fantasy and books about stong heroines, and heck, why I wanted to be a writer in the first place. It's not Dante I'll grant you, but what it is is like a little dream-making seed waiting to take root in the brain of a waiting young girl. As an eleven year old I dreamed a lot of my own future after reading the Alanna quartet, and the rest of the series have the same effect. You wind up wanting to be like the women in the novels: fighters, dreamers, intellectuals, survivors and even tricksters at times. Want strong daughters? Feed them this. And all the rest of darlin' Tammy's books.
Seriously. And now that I've told you all this, now that I've imparted my 19 year old's 'wisdom' to you all I can go back to Dante - what your newly empowered daughters will be reading once they've gotten through with Alanna, Daine, Kel and Alianne and learned from them:
I promise...
Rating:
Summary: Intriguing-take in small bites at a time
Review: This is indeed the first Tamora Pierce book I have read, but I thought the writing style was very good. Although I was expecting the classic "fight scenes" and absolute suspense, I was sucked in more to the actual characters, and the different lives. I found the description on the jacket misleading, so here is the actual plot: Aly, a daughter of nobles decides to make her own life and escapes only to be captured and sold as a slave. Dealing with a god, she has a mission: "To keep the two daughters of a royal household alive for the summer" What follows is an interesting look at a cities politics and culture from and outsiders point of view.
However, this may sound boring to some of you, so for the record there is plenty of suspense, intrigue, and (gasp!) romance. Although slow, you have to take this book in small pieces and really appreciate the character development. Ditzy princesses turn into tough warriors, and crows turn into gorgeous guys. I sort of wish the gods had more personality then laughing shiny figures, and her mother wasn't so stereotypical, but all the same I was pleased. I recommend this book for some good bed time reading, and am looking forward to the next one.
Oh yes, what is up with that cover??? Aly's hair is a buzz cut!
Rating:
Summary: Needs a Better Ending!
Review: I have just finished this book and I thought that it was almost wonderful. The ending stank! It was inconclusive and it did not answer any of my questions throughout the book such as... What happens to the Balting children? Who becomes queen, Dove, Sarai, or even Aly? What ends up happening between Nawat and Aly?
I most sincerely hope that she is planning on writing a sequel. I hold her writing in the very highest respect, but this would crash her reputation with me. I am giving her the benefit of the doubt.
Tamora Pierce: If you are writing a sequel to this book, you have my apologies. If you are not, I will be severly irritated.
All in all, this was a great book. The leading female character was great. She was self reliant, smart, and very resourceful. I loved her dealings with Nawat, the crow man. He was very funny and romantically sweet at the same time. I would definatley reccomend this book to everyone. By the end, I was itching for more information about Aly's dealings with Kyprioth and his battle with the Royalty on the Copper Isles.
Rating:
Summary: Great Book!
Review: Trickster's Choice was a good and well written book.I enjoyed it and spent most of my homework time reading it.Tamora Pierce uses her Gift once again to charm readers into the world of Tortall.I congratulate her on the new field of politics;unlike the other of her books which mostly include action with politics on the side.Unlike her other Tortall books,the main character is more strategic and calculating(after all she is George's daughter),and doesn't always succeed to her fullest.Aly is funny and very different from Alanna, which makes her interesting.It was extremely well written, as most of Tamora Pierce's books are.
Somewhat to my disappointment though,I found Aly a little different than the other Tortall characters.Her character didn't seem as firm rooted,she was a little loose and wishy washy,and she lacked a little bit of Tamora Pierce's other characters' full personality.We didn't really get to know her full personality like we get to know Kel,Daine,and Alanna's,but maybe that's because she's being someone she's not in order to remain inconspicuous. There weren't many harrowing situations which kept me turning pages until five o'clock in the morning but it definately was a page turner.
I would suggest this book to Tamora Pierce book lovers,but not to those who are reading this as her first book,try reading Alanna's books first.
I really, really enjoyed Trickster's Choice,despite its differences and was obsessed with it for a few weeks (much to the dismay of my friends).
Rating:
Summary: Glad to have finally joined the club
Review: I have often seen Tamora Piere's works in book stores and, honestly, I have been a bit overwhelmed by the shear numbers of choices. I finally gave way when I saw Trickster's Choice come out. I am new to these characters but I believe I have already taken these new friends into my heart. I look forward to catching up and following this story until it's end. This was truely one of the best reads I have found in a long time.
Rating:
Summary: Not so good
Review: In my opinion this was a bad piece of writing on Tamora Pierces part. In the past she has captured us with extrodinary tales that have taken writing to a whole new level, however I feel that in this book she has taken away everything that once made her books so wonderful. The plot was slow and boring, there was nothing that the character did that really captured my attention, although I like the idea of someone following George's footsteps,I thought this book could have played out much nicer. It lacked the suspense and emotion that is normally shared with one of her books. I hope that her next writing gives us a little more magic and fun than what was shown in Tricksters Choice.
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