Wikia

Alanna: The First Adventure

A Novel of Tortall
Content
Protagonist	Alanna of Trebond
Antagonist	Roger of Conté, the Ysandir
Setting	Tortall: Corus, Persopolis, the Black City
Attribution
Author	Tamora Pierce
Cover Artist	David Wiesner
Publication information
Publisher	Atheneum
Release Date	September 1983
UK Release Date
Pages
Chronology
Series	The Song of the Lioness
Preceded by	'
Followed by	In the Hand of the Goddess

Alanna: The First Adventure was Tamora Pierce's first young adult novel, and the first installment of the Song of the Lioness quartet, revolving around Alanna of Trebond. It covers Alanna's training as a page, and takes place over three years, starting in Trebond when she and Thom first decide to switch places, and ending in the Black City with Jon's promise to make her his squire.

Inside the bookEdit

Cover flap summaryEdit

"From now on I'm Alan of Trebond, the younger twin. I'll be a knight.

And so young Alanna of Trebond begins the journey to knighthood. Though a girl, Alanna has always craved the adventure and daring only for boys; her twin brother, Thom, yearns to learn the art of magic. So one day they decide to switch places: Thom heads to the convent to learn magic; Alanna, pretending to be a boy, in on her way to the castle of King Roald to begin her training as a page.

But the road to knighthood is not an easy one. As Alanna masters the skills necessary for battle, she must also learn to control her heart and to discern her enemies from her allies.

Filled with swords and sorcery, adventure and intrigue, good and evil, Alanna's first adventure begins—one that will lead to the fulfillment of her dreams and the magical destiny that will make her a legend in her land. "

—Cover flap summary of the Simon Pulse edition 2005

DedicationEdit

"TO CLAIRE,
who made it all finally happen,
AND TO FRANCES,
who told me to talk to Claire"

—Dedication taken from the Kindle edition

PlotEdit

Alanna of Trebond does not want to be sent away to learn to be a lady any more than her brother Thom wants to be a knight. However, this is what their father, Alan of Trebond, a man absorbed completely in his studies since his wife's death, has ordered for them.

Alanna and Thom take matters into their own hands. The identical twins switch places, and Thom goes to the temple where Alanna was to go, planning to study sorcery. Alanna cuts her hair and disguises herself with the name Alan of Trebond and goes to Corus to try for knighthood.

Alanna makes both friends and enemies at the palace immediately. She particularly becomes friends with Jonathan of Conté, Gareth of Naxen, and the King of the Rogue George Cooper. An unnatural fever, one that drains healers of their power and can kill them, falls upon Corus. Only after all of the city's healers are exhausted does Jonathan, the heir to the kingdom, fall fatally ill.

Alanna uses her magic to save Jonathan. Soon after, Roger of Conté, a powerful mage, comes to Corus in order to teach the pages and squires how to use magic. For a reason unbeknownst to her, Alanna hates the outwardly handsome and charming man from their first meeting. Later, she learns that Roger is second in line for the throne, next to Prince Jonathan, since Queen Lianne of Conté is unable to bear anymore children. She suspects that Roger sent the fever and is trying to hurt Jon.

Alanna acquires, on a mystery-filled trip to ruins near the home of Myles of Olau, a sword possessing the magic of the Old Ones that she dubs "Lightning". Roger is shocked and noticeably nervous when he notices the sword.

Later, on a trip that is supposed to be for squires only, that Alanna is allowed on because of Jonathan, Roger warns the squires and page not to go anywhere near a city of black stone, the Black City. Alanna realizes that Roger means to trick Jon into going there and follows the Prince to the city. There, the two confront the Ysandir, strange beings of old who try to kill them. Together, Alanna and Jon are able to combine their magics and defeat them, but not before the beings make Alanna's clothes disappear, revealing her true gender to the astonished prince.

The book closes with the prince promising to make Alanna his squire. So far, the only ones in Corus who know Alanna's gender are Jon, George Cooper, Eleni Cooper, and her manservant, Coram Smythesson.

ChaptersEdit

Twins
The New Page
Ralon
Death in the Palace
The Second Year
Womanhood
The Black City

CharactersEdit

Alanna of Trebond - protagonist; disguised as the boy "Alan"
Thom of Trebond - Alanna's twin brother, learning to be a sorcerer in the City of the Gods
Alan of Trebond - father of Alanna and Thom; scholar
Maude - village healer in Trebond
Coram Smythesson - Alanna's manservant, former soldier
Gareth of Naxen - Training Master, Gary's father
Jonathan of Conté - the crown prince and a fellow page
Raoul of Goldenlake - fellow page, later squire, and Alanna's friend
Gary of Naxen - fellow page, later squire, and Alanna's friend
Alexander of Tirragen - fellow page, later squire, and Alanna's friend
Geoffrey of Meron - fellow page
Douglass of Veldine - fellow page
Francis of Nond - fellow page; dies of the Sweating Sickness
Sacherell of Wellam - fellow page
Ralon of Malven - fellow page, Alanna's enemy; leaves the palace after being defeated by Alanna
Myles of Olau - page's teacher for history and law, Alanna's friend
Stefan Groomsman - hostler at the royal palace and one of George's men
George Cooper - King of the Thieves, Alanna's friend
Moonlight - Alanna's horse
Solom - innkeeper at the Dancing Dove
Rispah Cooper - George's cousin and Queen of the ladies at the Court of the Rogue
Duke Baird - royal healer
Roald of Conté - King of Tortall, Jonathan's father
Lianne of Conté - Queen of Tortall, Jonathan's mother
Duke Roger - Jonathan's cousin, powerful sorcerer
Aram Sklaw - the page's teacher in sword fighting
Eleni Cooper - George's mother; former priestess; healer
Lord Martin - Geoffrey's father
Ali Mukhtab - governor of Persopolis; Bazhir
Ysandir - immortal beings, feeding of the young Bazhir

EditionsEdit

Foreign publishers and translated titlesEdit

Alanna: The First Adventure has been published in different languages.

German editionsEdit

In the German edition the title was changed to "Die Schwarze Stadt" (The Black City), translated by Ulla Neckenauer. The German publisher is the Arena Verlag. The first German edition was published in hardcover 1985 by the Arena Verlag. Later followed several paperback editions. In 2006 a German audiobook was released by Audiolino, read by Gabriele Blum. For the German audiobook version the book was abridged.

In later German reissues the book was released along with the German translation of In the Hand of the Goddess (Alanna - Im Bann der Göttin) as a single volume titled "Alanna - Ankunft in der Schwarzen Stadt" (Alanna - Arrival at the Black City). This bindup was released 2003 by Arena as hardcover and 2005 by Bastei Lübbe as paperback.

Other languagesEdit

In the Danish edition, published by Vorlaget Tellerup, the title was simply shortened to "Alanna". Den Grimme Aelling also published a Danish audiobook.

A Swedish edition of the book was published by BonnierCarlsen under the title "Alanna: Det Första Åventyret". The Spanish edition is titled "La Guerrera" and the French edition "Le Secret du Chevalier". The book was also published in Thai and Japanese.