LADY KNIGHT : Book 4 of the Protector of the Small - Softcover

Tamora Pierce

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0439992419 ISBN 13: 9780439992411

Publisher: Scholastic, 2002

Synopsis

Kel is finally a knight. The first girl to make it in decades. She's dealt with the hazing and prejudice of her year-mates, and the terrifying Ordeal, the final test of a squire. Now she faces the real thing. Tortall is at war.

The Scanran raiders have united to form an army, and they're invading. Refugees are flooding away from the northern border, destitute and terrified, with stories of the fearsome metal creatures that the invaders have brought with them. Kel's post is to the border refugee camp - the Scanrans, and their monstrous weapons, will be waiting for her...

About this title

Review

In the final thrilling installment of Tamora Pierce's Protector of the Small series ( First Test, Page, and Squire), our sturdy young heroine, Keladry of Mindelan (a.k.a. Kel), has finally been knighted. Never one to rest on her laurels, Kel champs at the bit, ready to tackle the horrific magic killing devices she was shown in the Chamber of the Ordeal during her knighthood initiation. The huge, insectlike machines, "made of iron-coated giants' bones, chains, pulleys, dagger-fingers and -toes, and a long whiplike tail," feed on the souls of dead children and are systematically killing off the citizens and warriors of Tortall.

Thoroughly disgusted to discover that not only is she not going to be assigned a combat post, but she has been placed in charge of a refugee camp instead, Kel, in her usual noble, stoic way, swallows her disappointment and sets out being the best refugee camp commander possible. Of course, destiny has a way of sneaking up on a young woman like Kel, and soon she is fulfilling the ordeal the Chamber set out for her... and then some.

Tamora Pierce once again draws her legions of fans into her story, blending humor, pathos, exhilarating battles, and gripping drama with a very real, very appealing protagonist. It's easy to make war appear black and white, a matter of good versus evil. Pierce finds the shades of gray. (Ages 12 and older) --Emilie Coulter

From the Inside Flap

Protector of the Small #4

Keladry of Mindelan has finally achieved her life-long dream of being a knight. But it?s not turning out as she imagined at all. With the land of Tortall at war with the Scanrans, she has been assigned to oversee a refugee camp. But Kel has had a vision in the Chamber?a vision of the man behind the horrific battle machines that her fellow knights and friends are now fighting without her. She is torn between a duty she has sworn and a quest that she feels could turn the tide of the war. . . .
From the Hardcover edition.

Edition details

• Publisher: Scholastic
• Publication date: 2002
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0439992419
• ISBN 13: 9780439992411
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 406