Review: In the Hand of the Goddess by Tamora Pierce

 
Title: In the Hand of the Goddess (Song of the Lioness #2)
Author: Tamora Pierce
Pages: 272
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Genre: Fantasy
Release:  April 19th 2011 (first published September 1st 1984)
Buy the Book at: Book Depository / Chapters.Indigo / Barnes & Noble / Amazon

"I don't want to fall in love. I just want to be a warrior maiden."

Still disguised as a boy, Alanna becomes a squire to none other than the prince of the realm. Prince Jonathan is not only Alanna's liege lord, he is also her best friend -- and one of the few who knows the secret of her true identity. But when a mysterious sorceror threatens the prince's life, it will take all of Alanna's skill, strength, and magical power to protect him -- even at the risk of revealing who she really is...

Filled with swords and sorcery, adventure and intrigue, good and evil, Alanna's second adventure continues the saga of a girl who dares to follow her dreams -- and the magical destiny that awaits her.

Alanna's journey continues...

My Thoughts

The second installment in the Song of the Lioness series surpassed all my expectations! I was unable to take my eyes away from the pages that engaging my mind, body and soul into the Tortall world.

The story picks up pretty much right after The First Adventure ended. Alanna is fourteen years old and has become Prince Jon's squire. After a mysterious visit from  the Goddess, Alanna receives a token from her (and she also gets a very peculiar cat that I love with all my heart!!) The Goddess gives Alanna an amulet that will serve our heroine to see magic. Thanks to this, she will be able to protect our beloved Prince of the high risks he will face. As well as in Song of the Lioness #1, many years passes in this book too. However I think that what happened during this time was so much more detailed that I felt I was really living these year with Alanna. There is a lot of romance in this book! Oh yeah! Here we have a yummy love triangle that keeps me swooning every time I read about it! Within this triangle, one of the love interest really surprised me. I never saw that guy entering the picture and never imagined how much more I could like that character. I don't want to spoil anybody, so I keep the name of that guy to myself. Song of the Lioness #2 have not only a good dose of romance but a greater one of action! So many things happen in this book that I have no idea where to begin. Our dear and brave Alanna becomes a woman and she starts to feel like one herself. We accompany her through four more years of her life until she reaches the age of eighteen. Now she has face the last, most terrible and hardest test in her training to become a knight; Alanna  has prove, everybody and herself, that she is worth of a Shield and that she is strong enough to become a Knight of Tortall.

In the Hand of the Goddess has absolutely made me an addict! I loved it entirely! I liked it so much that I start the third volume right after I closed this book. With book #1 I felt there were too many years in not enough pages, but with Song of the Lioness #2 I didn't feel that way at all. I swallowed every page I read! I seriously don't know what changed. It might be that I got used to the writing style or just the fact that this book is much better than the first one (and I did liked the first one! so imagine!).

It is really rare when I read books that were released such a long time ago. These are not books we often see in blogs and  there is no buzz about then either. That is probably one of the reasons why I waited so long to read it. What a pity!. So, I really encourage you go pick it up! you wont regret it and you can thanks me later!

Visit Tamora Pierce's website at http://www.tamorapierce.com/