Pierce, Tamora: Squire (Protector of the Small, #3)

August 27, 2001
409 pages, Random House

In Book 3 of Tamora Pierce's Protector of the Small sequence, 14-year-old Keladry of Mindelan is ready to begin training as a squire after undergoing four grueling years as the first girl to be officially educated as a page. Disappointed at first that Lady Alanna (whom we first met in the Song of the Lioness Quartet series) does not choose her, Kel is delighted when gruff, good-natured, down-to-earth Lord Raoul takes her on. 


This post is where I prove to you that I am not being paid for my reviews and exactly how sharp my tongue/temper can be when I really get ticked off. But, should you challenge my views, please note that these are my own personal opinions/logic, and you don't have to listen to me if you don't want to. I hope that you will at least take my views in mind, but in the end, you walk away with what you want.


Alright. Here goes.


This is the final straw. The last of Tamora Pierce's books I will read. Ever. As a matter of fact, I'm going to set a precedent for myself and not bother to give points for books that really have no redeemable qualities. Let's just call it an "abridged" review.

So here goes.

Morality - or, to be honest, a complete lack of. For only being fourteen years old, Kel already has a lot of knowledge that she shouldn't, if you know what I mean - and is harboring a crush on three, nay, she culled it down to two, boys while insisting to all and sundry that though she might have relationships, she will never marry.

A "wonderful role model", according to The Horn Book. Well, I'm not finished yet.

So Kel finally decides to accept the suit - or whatever you can call it - of her friend Cleon, though she still insists that even if she might have feelings for him, marriage and children are out of the question. Enter her mother - yes, her mother - who buys her child a baby-preventing charm and tells her that now she can do whatever she wants, since she's not presented to court as a lady.

Wow. Such good parenting.

To be honest, even if Pierce had actually showed some concern for impressionable minds (for once), I probably would have dropped this series sooner or later. Too many words, too little action, redundant insults/slights/challenges to duel...if this is the future of heroine-ism, the literary world really is going downhill.