Name: Alianne, called Aly
Appearance: average height, red-blond hair, hazel-green eyes
Magic: The Sight
Personality: She wants to be a spy and has never been able to muster the ambition for anything else. She's bored with the guys who try to court her and wants adventure in her life (kind of like her mother - and also like her mother's story is the fact that what her wish is not approved of).
Books:
Trickster's Choice - Aly's father has been teaching her spy techniques for her entire life, but refuses to let her actually become a spy. George and Alanna are to fearfull of what could happen to their daughter in the field.
In an attempt to take some days for herself, Aly leaves a note for her parents and sets out on her boat, only to wind up kidnapped by pirates and put into the slave market.
Fortunately, the Trickster god makes it so that she will end up with a certain family. They are good people who treat everyone with care. When the family finds itself in a position of partial exhile, the Trickster tells Aly to keep their children safe for the summer and then he will return her home.
Aly gets to know the two oldest daughters who love to hear stories about The Lioness, and she winds up working with a group of people whose main purpose seems to be to catch the king's spies and protect the daughters. She also makes friends in the crows that her Trickster god sends to her aid. She and the crows learn eachother's language through a series of dreams, and one crow, Nawat changes into a human to help her (and you'll love him instantly).
Every time I pick up a Tortall book I'm reminded of just why I became so interested in Fantasy. There is a purity and beauty about these stories that is hard to explain. I love how Pierce always gives her characters animal friends, and shapeshifters are a definate plus.
Trickster's Queen - With the family arriving home from exile, Aly continues posing as Lady Dove's maid to continue plots for the rebellion and gather information from her network of spies.
The story is as wonderfully entertaining as the first, filled with adventure and a nice mix of seriousness and humor. There are more characters to get to know, more magic, and more immortal creatures. The story just keeps getting better, and when I had to set the book down to go to sleep, I had dreams about it!
