The Alanna books are the weakest, but then again, they're also the earliest. She's only gotten better since then, and you must admit, that's the right direction for an author to be going.
For a while, I considered Alanna to be a blatant Mary Sue. Then (a) I looked at Tamora Pierce fanfic on ffn (she's a wildmage, knight and princess!) and (b) I read somewhere on Tammy Pierce's website (I forget where and can't find it now) that Alanna was supposed to end up with Prince Jon. Then the characters rebelled against that destiny. Once that happened (imo) they broke the 2-d mold and became 3-d. And now, of course, with Alanna as a mother with sore joints and a rebellious daughter, she seems much more human...
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branchandroot
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Date: 2006-03-28 12:08 pm (UTC)For a while, I considered Alanna to be a blatant Mary Sue. Then (a) I looked at Tamora Pierce fanfic on ffn (she's a wildmage, knight and princess!) and (b) I read somewhere on Tammy Pierce's website (I forget where and can't find it now) that Alanna was supposed to end up with Prince Jon. Then the characters rebelled against that destiny. Once that happened (imo) they broke the 2-d mold and became 3-d. And now, of course, with Alanna as a mother with sore joints and a rebellious daughter, she seems much more human...