Trickster's Duology by Tamora Pierce

Duology Title: Trickster's

Author: 

Tamora Pierce (American, 1954- )
Originally published: 2003, 2004

Page count: 403, 444

Dates read: 

4/28/25-5/24/25, 5/29/25-6/17/25

2024 book goal progress: 

6 and 7 out of 25

Read my other book reviews for my 2025 goals HERE.

Read my other Tamora Pierce book reviews HERE.

1. Trickster's Choice (2003) - 403 pages

Description:

Aly is from a family known for great deeds. She is the daughter of Alanna, the famed knight and King’s Champion of Tortall. But even though she is bold and brave, like her mother, her true talents lie on her father’s side, in the art of spying.

 

When Aly is captured by pirates and sold as a slave to an exiled royal family in the faraway Copper Isles, she strikes a bargain with the trickster god. If she can keep young noblewomen Sarai and Dove safe for the summer, then he will return Aly to her family. The task should be simple, but Sarai and Dove are anything but. It’s a time of murderous plotting at court, and Aly will need to rely on her training and the insights of a strange young crow-man named Nawat to survive in a world where trust can cost you your life.

First sentences:
"George Cooper, Baron of Pirate's Swoop, second in command of his realm's spies, put his documents aside and surveyed his only daughter as she passed by his study door. Alianne - known as Aly to her family and friends - posed there, arms raised in a Player's dramatic flourish."

Favorite quotes:
"You choose tools for a task by their crafting, not their look. A smith's finest hammer will be streaked with soot."

"He's thinking. It will take him a while, since thinking isn't something that comes naturally to him."

CAWPILE Rating: Overall - 8.7/10 - ⭐⭐⭐⭐/5
Characters      - 9
Atmosphere   - 9
Writing Style - 9
Plot                - 9
Intrigue          - 9
Logic             - 7
Enjoyment     - 9
What is a CAWPILE Rating?

Mini-Review:

I really enjoyed this story. For as much as I enjoy Alanna and Keledry's stories as fighters, I tend to (slightly) prefer stories such as Daine being a mage, or Aly being a rogue. The characters are great, and I love the depth of the culture/world building! Aly (16 years old) is Alanna's (42 years old) and George's only daughter. This story takes place about a year and a half after the last book (Lady Knight, #4 of Protector of the Small).

Though, as I have a problem with Numair and Daine being in a relationship due to their age gap and student/teacher relationship, there's a 16-year-old (not Aly) considering a proposal from a man in his mid-thirties who had dated her step-mother. This is another relationship I absolutely do not approve of, and thankfully, it isn't lasting. I DO like the cute, currently one-sided, and more subtle romance Aly has in this story, and I hope it develops more in the next book. 

2. Trickster's Queen (2004) - 444 pages

Description:

No longer a slave, Aly has risen through the ranks of the rebellion to become their master of spies. When the Balitangs are brought out of exile and into the heart of the snakes’ den, that is the Copper Isles royal court, Aly must continue to protect her charges: Sarai, the beautiful, dramatic, and rash potential queen, and Dove, the more cautious and often overlooked younger sister. Can they step out of the shadows and prove they’re a force to be reckoned with?

First sentence:
"In the winter of 462-463 H.E., the brown-skinned raka people and their many allies, part-bloods and white-skinned luarin, prepared for revolution against the luarin ruling house, the Rittevons."

Favorite quotes:

"Never complain of another's foolishness. Not if there's a chance you might put it to use."

" 'How many books can one person read?' she joked, with only a little, well-hidden wistfulness for long winter afternoons spent curled up, reading until her eyes began to blur."

"Where everyone else sees a straight line, you see a maze, and when I'm done talking with you, the maze starts to make more sense."

"Sometimes you don't have to be an oracle to read the omens of your own doom."

"We had to force that feeble laurin conspiracy of yours to act. So far, they're just an association that meets to complain about the government. You can't play with rebellion. You're either in it, or you're dead."

"That's the problem. They think gods have rules and follow them. They should dedicate their lives to the Trickster, as we do. They would not be comfortable, but they would not have this illusion that life is supposed to make sense, either."

"Sometimes aggravation is the irritant that forces a result... People are very scared by bad things that seem to have come out of nowhere."

CAWPILE Rating: Overall - 7.1/10 - ⭐⭐⭐⭐/5
Characters      - 8
Atmosphere   - 9
Writing Style - 7
Plot                - 7
Intrigue          - 8
Logic             - 4
Enjoyment     - 7
What is a CAWPILE Rating?

Mini-Review:

The prologue is about 3-4 months after the last book, and the first chapter is about 4 months after that. Even though the book says it's 6 months after the first one, but I'm probably the only one counting. Another discrepancy is that Aly and Sarai were the same age in the first book, but in the second Sarai's a year older. Inconsistencies in books irritate me.

Despite this, I did enjoy this book for its rebellion and usurping of the throne. Unfortunately, there were 3 or so very significant plot points that came out of the blue and then were just brushed over. I don't want to give specifics since they're major plot points, but I wish more time had been spent on the build-up and on the wrap-up. I also didn't like how Aly's romance proceeded. Overall, the book is enjoyable, even though some parts felt forced.

Overall Review:

The books together span exactly 2 years and 6 days. I like it when books include dates! What I don't like is that the books clearly state that the Raka people are brown skinned (look at the first sentence of Trickster's Queen above), and yet some versions of the cover art have a very pale white female on them. They're not Aly because the hair and eye colors are wrong. That means it has to either be Sarai or Dove, who are part-raka. I understand that some people of mixed race can pass as white, but I would've much preferred the representation of at least a light brown skinned female on the cover.

I have some issues with the story, particularly in the second book, but overall, I did really enjoy this story. While reading this, I also rewatched the first season of Andor, watched the second season for the first time, rewatched Rogue One and A New Hope, as well as rewatched Fullmetal Alchemist. I also attended my first protest - NoKings on June 14th. Rebellions and overthrowing the current powers seems to be very fitting for our current time in history.

Embroidery update:

Now I'm off to read another book... but since a review should be more about the author of the book than about the writer of the blog, I will let Tamora Pierce have the last words:

" 'I don't trust anyone who feels you should like them because they love themselves so much," Dove said tartly. Aly snorted. 'Don't laugh. It's true.'

'I wasn't laughing at you,' Aly said. 'I was laughing because you put it perfectly.' "

-Trickster's Choice

"Sarai shouted, 'It's happened here! It happens here because soldiers believe the poor are a disease, not people. And they get that attitude honestly - it comes straight from the Throne! It always has and it always will, and people who are supposed to be noble in nature will let it happen, for fear of their own lives! Only one of us showed any decency today: Zaimid! The foreigner! He actually cares about people, whether they live in kennels or not!' "

-Trickster's Queen

That last quote seems very fitting in 2025 regarding the mass deportation of immigrants ('the foreigners who actually care about people') who are being put into 'kennels and treated like a disease' by Trump ('the Throne') and his MAGA cult, many of whom also use the label of 'Christian' for themselves ('people who are supposed to be noble in nature').