The Woman Who Rides Like a Man (The Song of the Lioness)

Just as a book, the plot is formalaic & relied almost entirely on hokey chance encounters. Alana is too obviously reverred on sight by everyone she rides by, especially men. My greatest objection though is that these books are marketed to & read by preteens & teens. I read this book when my 13 year old was reading it. I'm glad I did because there are many poor messages for...more

Just as a book, the plot is formalaic & relied almost entirely on hokey chance encounters. Alana is too obviously reverred on sight by everyone she rides by, especially men. My greatest objection though is that these books are marketed to & read by preteens & teens. I read this book when my 13 year old was reading it. I'm glad I did because there are many poor messages for adolescent girls in this book. It should be called "The Woman Who Slept Like a Man", because Alana is not a female role model, even though she is presented as such. She is just another female character who succeeds by being a pseudo-man. Other characters constantly praise Alana by expressing surprise that she is a woman(!) and can fight like that, etc. Alana emulates stereotypical male-type sexual liberation, by sleeping casually with many partners. The most offensive scene is where she leaves a partner's tent in the early morning and notices that an old woman outside is smiling in approbabion of her conquest. Alana's magical amulet to keep away pregnancy does explain to young girls why she sees only sexual conquest as a way to figure out which of men she is physically attracted to are meant to be her mate. Awful Book!   hide