...to tell you the truth, I'm a little relieved that I finished it. These covers are just so...mediocre, it's killing me. But the title is better than the one before it, The Woman Who Rides Like A Man. Lioness Rampant sound a lot more, I don't know, mysterious? Action-y?
If you haven't read this book yet, scroll down to the bottom-ish, below the words "SPOILER END".
Caution: This review contains spoilers. You have been warned! O.O
The Alanna in the cover looks better, too. More woman-like. But, isn't that the outfit she wore when she presented (King?) Jonathan with the Jewel? If it is, where are her black
The return of Duke Roger was very, very anti-climatic. Pierce could have done so much more with his rebirth, something that would make the reader gasp. But no. She just had Alanna have these "mysterious dreams" about what was happening while she was running around with Liam to find the Jewel (who's finding was also very anti-climatic).
And since we're talking about Liam, why does Alanna keep switching men? At first she's with John, then George, and, when she's still in love with George, she goes off and sleeps with Liam! And of course, George doesn't mind, which is lucky for Alanna. This goes to show how much better George is than Alanna. Or maybe he's just stupid because he can't get it in his head that he should break up with her and find some other girl who ONLY loves him.
Near the end, everyone seems so unconcerned about Roger. C'mon you guys! He was plotting to steal the throne from John before Alanna swooped in and saved the day! WHY IN YOUR STUPID LITTLE WORLD WOULD YOU NOT KILL HIM?!?! I wanted less reunion-with-old-squire/page-friends time and more kill-all-the-bad-guys-and-become-a-hero moments!
As far as littler things, Pierce makes it so obvious when a character is defeated verbally to the point where it sounds cheesy. Does that make any sense? Here's an example:
"Surprised by the attack from this unknown source, Alanna took a step back. She clenched her hands, her nails bitting into newly formed scars, as she controlled her temper. 'I'm told you replaced me in his affections--for a little while,' she replied sweetly. 'Why didn't he make you Prime Minister?' Josiane's beautiful face changed into an ugly mask. 'No one gets the better of me,' she hissed."And I wish I could just read the story from Alanna's point of view, not Alex's, not George's, but ALANNA. It just goes to show that Pierce was an amateur when writing the books in the Song of the Lioness series.
But the ending (like, the epilogue and the bit before that with Roger and Alanna), was pretty awesome. I still think that George is too good for Alanna though.
SPOILERS END
The reason why I read this series was because I had read the first two Beka Cooper books and thought that I should read the Alanna series since it was where this whole Tortall thing started in the first place. The Beka Cooper series was very interesting (I will be writing a review on the last book, Mastiff, as soon as I finish it ^_^), which was one of the only reasons why I was able to continue reading the Song of the Lioness. To readers who have not read either series, read Beka Cooper first. Then read Song of the Lioness. Well, actually, read the first two Beka Cooper's first, then read the whole Song of Lioness series, and then read the last Beka Cooper because there's an epilogue from one of the characters in the Song of the Lioness in Mastiff. I don't know. Read them in whatever order you want to. But Beka Cooper is better!!!
Rating: Meh...2.5 Stars
No comments:
Post a Comment