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in: The Woman Who Rides Like a Man, Novels (Tortallan Universe)

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{{wikipedia}}
  
 
{{Novel
  
{{Novel
 
| name= The Woman Who Rides Like a Man
  
| name= The Woman Who Rides Like a Man
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| image_size= 200px
  
| image_size= 200px
 
| universe= [[Tortall]]
  
| universe= [[Tortall]]
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| protagonist= [[Alanna of Trebond]]
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| protagonist= [[Alanna of Pirate's Swoop and Olau|Alanna of Trebond]]
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| antagonist= [[Roger of Conté]]...
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| antagonist= [[Roger of Conté]]
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| setting= '''[[Tortall]]'''...
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| setting= '''Tortall'''
 
| cover_artist= [[wikipedia:David Wiesner|David Wiesner]]
  
| cover_artist= [[wikipedia:David Wiesner|David Wiesner]]
 
| publisher= [[wikipedia:Atheneum Books|Atheneum]]
  
| publisher= [[wikipedia:Atheneum Books|Atheneum]]
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| followed_by = [[Lioness Rampant]]
  
| followed_by = [[Lioness Rampant]]
 
}}
  
}}
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'''''The Woman Who Rides Like a Man''''' is the third in a series of four books, [[The Song of the Lioness]]. It details the knighthood of [[Alanna of Trebond]] as she lives in the Bazhir desert after her becoming a knight.
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'''''The Woman Who Rides Like a Man''''' is the third installment of '''''[[The Song of the Lioness]]''''' quartet by [[Tamora Pierce]], YA high fantasy novels set in the [[Tortallan Universe]]—a secondary world that was created by Pierce with this quartet. The book is about [[Alanna of Pirate's Swoop and Olau|Alanna of Trebond]] after she reveals herself as a girl to the [[Tortallan Royal Palace|Tortallan court]], while she was dueling [[Roger of Conté]]. This book chronicles the beginning of her time as a knight errant, wandering around the realm and learning new things, and of her experiences with cultures unknown to her previously.
   
  +
==Dedication==
−
==Plot introduction==
  
  +
{{Quote|To Pa, Ma and Kim—<br />my own personal pride of lions—<br /><br />and particularly to Pa,<br />who started me writing in the first place|Dedication of the book}}
   
  +
==Back Cover Summaries==
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Now a full knight, Alanna leaves the capital to travel among the Bazhir in the desert, eventually becoming adopted by one of the tribes, though clashing with the tribe's shaman who seeks to destroy her name among the rest of the tribe. After fighting to the death with the shaman for her honor and winning, she has to replace the shaman and cannot leave until she trains another.
  
  +
{{Quote|A knight at last, Alanna of Trebond heads out to seek adventure in the desert of Tortall. Captured by desert tribesmen, she is forced to prove herself in a magical duel to the death. But her real challenge doesn't come until after she wins. As the first female shaman, Alanna must fight to change the ancient tradition of the stubborn desert tribes-for their own sake and for the sake fo all Tortall.|Back cover summary, Random House's 1986 edition}}
  +
<br />
  +
"Let her prove herself worthy as a man"<br /><br />''Newly knighted, Alanna of Trebond seeks adventure in the vast desert of [[Tortall]]. Captured by fierce desert dwellers, she is forced to prove herself in a duel to the death—either she will be killed or she will be inducted into the tribe. Although she triumphs, dire challenges lie ahead. As her mythic fate would have it, Alanna soon becomes the tribe's first female shaman—despite the desert dwellers' grave fear of the foreign woman warrior. Alanna must fight to change the ancient tribal customs of the desert tribes—for their sake and for the sake of all Tortall.''<br /><br />—Back Cover of the 2005 Simon Pulse paperback edition
   
−
==Plot summary==
 +
==Plot==
  +
Alanna has officially banished herself from Court, and is afraid of returning and the reception she will receive. She and [[Coram Smythesson]] journey deep into the [[Great Southern Desert]] and are accosted by hillmen—and later saved by a tribe of [[Bazhir]]. They don't recognize the [[Roald V of Conté|King in the North]] as their monarch and are belligerent. They decide that Alanna must fight to the death and either die or be adopted into the tribe. She wins and both she and Coram become Bazhir of the [[Bloody Hawk]]. Not all the tribe are happy about this, however, namely [[Akhnan ibn Nazzir]], the tribe's [[shaman]]. Alanna bests Nazzir after he attacks her with Duke Roger's [[crystal sword]], and she becomes the shaman.
   
  +
Now the shaman, Alanna begins to train the young [[Gift|Gifted]] children of the tribe whom Nazzir said were cursed. She begins to teach them, but [[Ishak]], the only boy, is annoyed at how slow the lessons are going and why she does not harness more power. He steals the crystal sword and is not able to use its power, so he dies.
−
The third book sees Alanna through her journey through the Bazhir desert, where she and her manservant Coram are adopted by the Bloody Hawk tribe. During their stay, Alanna duels with the Bloody Hawk shaman, a crazed wizard who is convinced Alanna is evil, and kills him. According to Bazhir law she must be the tribe's shaman until she trains a new one to replace her.
  
   
  +
[[Ali Mukhtab]], the [[Voice of the Tribes]], comes to the tribe and says that he must have a successor soon for his office, which is passed in an Ordeal. He chooses [[Jonathan IV of Conté|Prince Jonathan]] as his preferred heir, as he knows if Jon is the Voice, the Bazhir and the Northerners will be united under one banner. Prince Jon and [[Myles of Olau]] arrive, and Alanna is shocked to see how smug and superior Jon has become in her absence. She ignores this, however, and they sleep together a number of times. He asks her to marry him, and she says she needs more time. Meanwhile, Jonathan is adopted by the tribe and trains under Ali Mukhtab to be his successor. In an Ordeal involving powerful [[magic]], Ali transfers his powers as the Voice to Jonathan and dies. Myles then adopts Alanna as his daughter and heir. Alanna is angered when she learns that Jon had just assumed that she would return with him to [[Corus]] and confronts him. They have a large fight, and Jon leaves without her. Alanna continues training [[Kara]] and [[Kourrem]] in magic, and they pass their Ordeals to become shamans. Now that Alanna has nothing left to do for the tribe, she, Coram, and [[The Cat|Faithful]], leave.
−
Alanna selects three Gifted children of the tribe, Ishak, Kara, and Kourrem, and begins to train them in magic. She also inherits the former shaman's sword, with a crystal on the hilt, symbols that remind her of the dead sorcerer Duke Roger, and a terrifying amount of dark power. She keeps it because her old sword, Lightning, broke during a battle. She also teaches the traditional Bazhir to slowly lose some of their prejudice against women. During their training, Alanna sees glimpses of the shamans the girls will become, but the boy, Ishak, constantly attempts stronger, darker sorcery. In a sudden encounter, Ishak steals the crystal sword from Alanna and tries to master its power, but it consumes him and kills him. Alanna continues to train Kara and Kourrem.
  
   
  +
Instead of returning to Corus, they make their way to [[Port Caynn]] to visit [[George Cooper]]. Coram becomes smitten with [[Rispah Cooper]], George's cousin. Alanna begins a love affair with George, but refuses to return to Corus with him to look in on the [[Court of the Rogue]] there. Alanna and Coram go back to the Bloody Hawk tribe, and George goes to Corus. George confronts the thief known as [[Ralon of Malven|Claw]] and immediately distrusts him.
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Prince Jonathan and Sir Myles of Olau make a visit to the Bloody Hawk tribe, where Jonathan and Alanna renew their love affair and spend a passionate night together. When Jonathan asks her to marry him, Alanna is shocked and asks for time to think it over. During their stay, Jonathan is adopted by the tribe and takes up training under the Voice of the Tribes, an old friend of Alanna's and Jonathan's. When the Voice dies, Jonathan is made the new Voice, thus acting as a sacred link between all the Bazhir tribes. This status will help unite northerners and southerners when he eventually becomes King of Tortall. Also, Myles adopts Alanna as his daughter and heir to his lands. Jonathan, tired from the Rite of the Voice, wants to go home soon and assumes that Alanna will marry him though she has asked for time to think about it, and when he begins to make arrangements for her to return to Corus with him, they argue. She refuses to marry him, and he wounds her deeply by saying he'd rather marry a woman who knows how to act like a woman. Jonathan and Myles leave, and Alanna continues her training of Kourrem and Kara, who eventually pass the required tests and are made shamans for the tribe, Kourrem being the head shaman.
  
   
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Alanna and Coram travel to Port Caynn to visit George Cooper, who is putting down a Rogue rebellion there. While Coram woos George's cousin Rispah, Alanna begins a love affair with George, who has loved her for years, but when he wants her to return to Corus with him, she refuses to go with him. The two split, and Coram accompanies Alanna back to the desert, where the Bloody Hawk chief asks her to check on a sorceress, a friend of his, whom he has been having bad dreams about. When Alanna and Coram arrive at the sorceress' drought-stricken village, they see the starved, crazed villagers burning the sorceress, thinking the sacrifice will please the gods and provide them food. Alanna and Coram rescue her, but not in time, and the sorceress dies after leaving Alanna with a scroll to give to the Bloody Hawk chief. The chief tells them it is a map to the Dominion Jewel, a legendary stone that provides untold powers in the hands of Gifted or unGifted rulers. Alanna and Coram decide to go after it.
 +
Upon returning to the tribe, [[Halef Seif]] asks Alanna to save a sorceress, one of is friends. When Alanna and Coram arrive at her village, they see the villagers start to light a pyre and burn the sorceress to death, thinking the sacrifice will please the gods. They rescue her, but not in time, and the sorceress gives them an ancient scroll that turns out to be a map to the [[Dominion Jewel]].
   
−
==Characters in "The Woman Who Rides Like a Man"==
 +
==Characters==
  +
−
* [[Alanna of Trebond]] -heroine and focus of the book/series; now knighted and a shaman of the Bazhir
  
  +
=== Main Characters ===
⚫
* [[Jonathan of Conté]] - heir to the throne of Tortall
 
  +
* [[Alanna of Pirate's Swoop and Olau|Alanna of Trebond]]
−
* [[George Cooper]] - the King of the Thieves and is in love with Alanna
  
  ⚫
* [[Coram Smythesson]]
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* [[Myles of Olau]] - her friend and mentor who later adopts her
  
  +
* [[Jonathan IV of Conté|Prince Jonathan of Conté]]
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* [[Ali Mukhtab]] - the Voice of the tribes
  
  +
* [[George Cooper]]
⚫
* [[Coram Smythesson]] - her manservant
  
  +
* [[Halef Seif]]
⚫
[[Category:Novels of Tortall]]
  
  +
* [[Kourrem]]
  +
* [[Kara]]
  +
* [[Ishak]]
  +
* [[Ali Mukhtab]]
  +
* [[The Cat|Faithful]]
  +
  +
=== Minor Characters ===
  +
  +
==== Nobility ====
  +
* [[Myles of Olau|Sir Myles of Olau]]
  +
* [[Thom of Trebond|Lord Thom of Trebond]]
  +
* [[Delia of Eldorne|Lady Delia of Eldorne]]
  +
* [[Josiane Rittevon|Princess Josiane]]
  +
  +
==== Bazhir ====
  +
* [[Gammal Sadrik|Gammal]]
  +
* [[Akhnan ibn Nazzir|Akhnan Ibn Nazzir]]
  +
* [[Hakim Fahrar]]
  +
* [[Mari Fahrar|Mistress Mari Fahrar]]
  +
* [[Farda]]
  +
* [[Hassam ibn Farid|Hassam]]
  +
* [[Umar Komm]]
  +
* [[Amman Kemail]]
  +
* [[Mahman Fadul]]
  +
  +
==== Rogues ====
  +
* Lightfingers
  +
* [[Stefan Groomsman|Stefan]]
  +
* [[Marek Swiftknife]]
  +
* [[Rispah Cooper|Rispah]]
  +
* [[Orem]]
  +
* [[Shem]]
  +
* [[Ercole]]
  +
* [[Harra]]
  +
* [[Ralon of Malven|Claw]]
  +
* Scholar
  +
  +
==== Others ====
  +
* [[Eleni Cooper|Mistress Cooper]]
  +
* [[Kuri Taylor|Mistress Kuri]]
  +
* [[Joesh Valany|Joesh]]
  +
* Sorceress of Alois
  +
* [[Moonlight]]
  +
* [[Beauty]]
  +
  +
=== Mentioned Characters ===
  +
In order of mention:
  +
* [[Great Mother Goddess]]
  ⚫
* [[Roald V of Conté|King Roald of Tortall]]
  +
* [[Ysandir]]
  +
* [[Roger of Conté|Duke Roger of Conté]]
  +
* [[Maude Tanner|Maude]]
  +
* [[Black God]]
  +
* [[Baird of Queenscove|Duke Baird]]
  +
* [[Mikal Moumir|Mikal]]
  +
* [[Raoul of Goldenlake|Raoul]]
  +
* [[Alexander of Tirragen|Alex]]
  +
* [[Gareth II of Naxen|Gary]]
  +
* [[Shang|The Wolf]]
  +
* [[Lianne of Naxen|Queen Lianne]]
  +
* [[Solom|Old Solom]]
  +
* Zorina the Witch
  +
* Nave the Fence
  +
* [[Lord Provost]]
  +
* [[Graveyard Hag|Old Hag of the Graveyards]]
  +
* [[Yahzed]]
  +
* [[Barnesh|King Barnesh of Maren]]
  +
  +
==See also==
  +
{{Nav-Books}}{{Nav-SeriesLioness}}
  +
{{DEFAULTSORT:Woman}}
  +
[[Category:The Woman Who Rides Like a Man]]
  ⚫
[[Category:Novels (Tortallan Universe)]]

Revision as of 16:09, 18 August 2018


The Woman Who Rides Like a Man is the third installment of The Song of the Lioness quartet by Tamora Pierce, YA high fantasy novels set in the Tortallan Universe—a secondary world that was created by Pierce with this quartet. The book is about Alanna of Trebond after she reveals herself as a girl to the Tortallan court, while she was dueling Roger of Conté. This book chronicles the beginning of her time as a knight errant, wandering around the realm and learning new things, and of her experiences with cultures unknown to her previously.

Dedication

"To Pa, Ma and Kim—
my own personal pride of lions—

and particularly to Pa,
who started me writing in the first place"
—Dedication of the book

Back Cover Summaries

"A knight at last, Alanna of Trebond heads out to seek adventure in the desert of Tortall. Captured by desert tribesmen, she is forced to prove herself in a magical duel to the death. But her real challenge doesn't come until after she wins. As the first female shaman, Alanna must fight to change the ancient tradition of the stubborn desert tribes-for their own sake and for the sake fo all Tortall."
—Back cover summary, Random House's 1986 edition


"Let her prove herself worthy as a man"

Newly knighted, Alanna of Trebond seeks adventure in the vast desert of Tortall. Captured by fierce desert dwellers, she is forced to prove herself in a duel to the death—either she will be killed or she will be inducted into the tribe. Although she triumphs, dire challenges lie ahead. As her mythic fate would have it, Alanna soon becomes the tribe's first female shaman—despite the desert dwellers' grave fear of the foreign woman warrior. Alanna must fight to change the ancient tribal customs of the desert tribes—for their sake and for the sake of all Tortall.

—Back Cover of the 2005 Simon Pulse paperback edition

Plot

Alanna has officially banished herself from Court, and is afraid of returning and the reception she will receive. She and Coram Smythesson journey deep into the Great Southern Desert and are accosted by hillmen—and later saved by a tribe of Bazhir. They don't recognize the King in the North as their monarch and are belligerent. They decide that Alanna must fight to the death and either die or be adopted into the tribe. She wins and both she and Coram become Bazhir of the Bloody Hawk. Not all the tribe are happy about this, however, namely Akhnan ibn Nazzir, the tribe's shaman. Alanna bests Nazzir after he attacks her with Duke Roger's crystal sword, and she becomes the shaman.

Now the shaman, Alanna begins to train the young Gifted children of the tribe whom Nazzir said were cursed. She begins to teach them, but Ishak, the only boy, is annoyed at how slow the lessons are going and why she does not harness more power. He steals the crystal sword and is not able to use its power, so he dies.

Ali Mukhtab, the Voice of the Tribes, comes to the tribe and says that he must have a successor soon for his office, which is passed in an Ordeal. He chooses Prince Jonathan as his preferred heir, as he knows if Jon is the Voice, the Bazhir and the Northerners will be united under one banner. Prince Jon and Myles of Olau arrive, and Alanna is shocked to see how smug and superior Jon has become in her absence. She ignores this, however, and they sleep together a number of times. He asks her to marry him, and she says she needs more time. Meanwhile, Jonathan is adopted by the tribe and trains under Ali Mukhtab to be his successor. In an Ordeal involving powerful magic, Ali transfers his powers as the Voice to Jonathan and dies. Myles then adopts Alanna as his daughter and heir. Alanna is angered when she learns that Jon had just assumed that she would return with him to Corus and confronts him. They have a large fight, and Jon leaves without her. Alanna continues training Kara and Kourrem in magic, and they pass their Ordeals to become shamans. Now that Alanna has nothing left to do for the tribe, she, Coram, and Faithful, leave.

Instead of returning to Corus, they make their way to Port Caynn to visit George Cooper. Coram becomes smitten with Rispah Cooper, George's cousin. Alanna begins a love affair with George, but refuses to return to Corus with him to look in on the Court of the Rogue there. Alanna and Coram go back to the Bloody Hawk tribe, and George goes to Corus. George confronts the thief known as Claw and immediately distrusts him.

Upon returning to the tribe, Halef Seif asks Alanna to save a sorceress, one of is friends. When Alanna and Coram arrive at her village, they see the villagers start to light a pyre and burn the sorceress to death, thinking the sacrifice will please the gods. They rescue her, but not in time, and the sorceress gives them an ancient scroll that turns out to be a map to the Dominion Jewel.

Characters

Main Characters

Minor Characters

Nobility

Bazhir

Rogues

Others

Mentioned Characters

In order of mention:

See also

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