A worthy adaptation, playing to the strengths of the visual format.
Alanna of Trebond begins her quest toward knighthood in this graphic novel adaptation of Pierce’s 1983 novel.
In defiance of gender norms, Alanna wants to learn to fight. Her twin brother, Thom, wants to learn magic. So when their father decides it’s time to send them off for more training than he can provide, it only makes sense for them to switch places. Disguised as a boy, Alanna will go to the palace to train as a page, learning the basics of fighting and the code of chivalry that governs all noble knights and their actions. She also makes friends—and enemies. This version of the opening volume of the Song of the Lioness series remains true to the original, with the notable omission of the contraceptive charm that Alanna receives. Readers follow Alanna’s first attempts at forging her own path and the growing pains—both figurative and literal, as puberty threatens to betray her secret—that she faces. The new format smooths over some less skillful elements of the original, which was Pierce’s debut. Alanna and most other characters present white, but there’s some inclusion of racial diversity (Raoul of Goldenlake, notably, appears Black). Certain Eurocentric elements have been replaced with more culturally inclusive messaging. The rich color palette and varied panel shapes are appealing. Fun, accessible, and still fierce, Alanna’s story is ready to be enjoyed by old and new audiences alike.
A worthy adaptation, playing to the strengths of the visual format. (map) (Graphic fantasy. 12-16)Pub Date: May 13, 2025
ISBN: 9781419765582
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Abrams Fanfare
Review Posted Online: Feb. 15, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
Dark, seductive, but over-the-top: Characters and book alike will enthrall those who choose to play.
Garber returns to the world of bestseller Caraval (2017), this time with the focus on younger, more daring sister Donatella.
Valenda, capital of the empire, is host to the second of Legend’s magical games in a single year, and while Scarlett doesn’t want to play again, blonde Tella is eager for a chance to prove herself. She is haunted by the memory of her death in the last game and by the cursed Deck of Destiny she used as a child which foretold her loveless future. Garber has changed many of the rules of her expanding world, which now appears to be infused with magic and evil Fates. Despite a weak plot and ultraviolet prose (“He tasted like exquisite nightmares and stolen dreams, like the wings of fallen angels, and bottles of fresh moonlight.”), this is a tour de force of imagination. Themes of love, betrayal, and the price of magic (and desire) swirl like Caraval’s enchantments, and Dante’s sensuous kisses will thrill readers as much as they do Tella. The convoluted machinations of the Prince of Hearts (one of the Fates), Legend, and even the empress serve as the impetus for Tella’s story and set up future volumes which promise to go bigger. With descriptions focusing primarily on clothing, characters’ ethnicities are often indeterminate.
Dark, seductive, but over-the-top: Characters and book alike will enthrall those who choose to play. (glossary) (Fantasy. 12-16)Pub Date: May 29, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-250-09531-2
Page Count: 464
Publisher: Flatiron Books
Review Posted Online: March 19, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Despite the stale fat-to-curvy pattern, compelling world building with a Southern European, pseudo-Christian feel,...
Adventure drags our heroine all over the map of fantasyland while giving her the opportunity to use her smarts.
Elisa—Princess Lucero-Elisa de Riqueza of Orovalle—has been chosen for Service since the day she was born, when a beam of holy light put a Godstone in her navel. She's a devout reader of holy books and is well-versed in the military strategy text Belleza Guerra, but she has been kept in ignorance of world affairs. With no warning, this fat, self-loathing princess is married off to a distant king and is embroiled in political and spiritual intrigue. War is coming, and perhaps only Elisa's Godstone—and knowledge from the Belleza Guerra—can save them. Elisa uses her untried strategic knowledge to always-good effect. With a character so smart that she doesn't have much to learn, body size is stereotypically substituted for character development. Elisa’s "mountainous" body shrivels away when she spends a month on forced march eating rat, and thus she is a better person. Still, it's wonderfully refreshing to see a heroine using her brain to win a war rather than strapping on a sword and charging into battle.
Despite the stale fat-to-curvy pattern, compelling world building with a Southern European, pseudo-Christian feel, reminiscent of Naomi Kritzer's Fires of the Faithful (2002), keeps this entry fresh. (Fantasy. 12-14)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-06-202648-4
Page Count: 432
Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Review Posted Online: July 19, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2011
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