IN THE HAND OF THE GODDESS
Signed first edition of the second volume in Pierce's beloved SONG OF THE LIONESS quartet, in which the heroine Alanna, disguised as a boy, trains as a squire.
Near fine in near fine dust jacket.
Price: $1,500.00
IN THE HAND OF THE GODDESS
"The masquerade is over. [...] I'm a girl."
In the SONG OF THE LIONESS series, Alanna of Trebond dresses as a boy in order to pursue the dangerous goal of (ultimately) becoming the first lady knight in the Kingdom of Tortall to win her shield in over a century. The series has something of a reputation as a cult classic, fervently championed by more than one generation of readers, largely young women, who grew up reading fantasy; because Alanna "had to disguise herself as something and someone else in order to be herself," she has also become a touchstone for young queer readers.
Born in part from a dream fragment and in part from Pierce's love for stories of women passing as men, the LIONESS series offers an alternative to characters like Tolkien's Eowyn — Pierce's self-proclaimed "idol" — who gave up the sword when she became a wife and mother: "I didn't see why she had to give up fighting [...] I wrote a story with a girl who didn't." In 2013, specifically citing SONG OF THE LIONESS and PROTECTOR OF THE SMALL (a companion series set in the same Tortall universe but a generation after Alanna), the ALA honored Pierce with the Margaret A. Edwards Award in recognition of her "significant and lasting contribution to young adult literature." A lovely signed copy of this YA classic.
Read more: Publisher's Weekly, O'Sullivan "Song of the Lioness Quartet Reissue" and Corbett "Children's Bookshelf Talks with Tamora Pierce"; American Library Association, Edwards Award 2013.
The Object
First printing. New York: Argo / Atheneum, 1984. 8.5'' x 5.5''. Original textured grey cloth, gilt lettered spine, gilt stamped lion to front board. Original unclipped ($12.95) pictorial dust jacket illustrated by David Wiesner. Cream endpapers. [viii], 232 pages. Signed by Pierce in purple ink on front free endpaper. Book with faint shelfwear, light soil to edges of text block. Jacket with trace edgewear, light creasing and marginal toning to flaps. Sharp.
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