Product Description

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.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #32403 in Books
• Published on: 2003-08-26
• Released on: 2003-08-26
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Mass Market Paperback
• 448 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780375814716
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

Amazon.com 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 Publishers Weekly
Older readers and followers of the Tamora Pierce series, Protector of the Small, will welcome the fourth and final installment, Lady Knight. In this compelling conclusion, Keladry of Mindelan Kel, for short realizes her dream of becoming a knight but soon discovers that her new position brings unforeseen responsibilities. (Aug)
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal
Grade 6-9-In this fourth and final book in the series, Kel is now 18 and her knighthood is guaranteed after she passes her final test as a squire, which involves facing her fears and overcoming them while in the Chamber of the Ordeal. During the Ordeal, she has a vision of an ugly little man directing monsterlike, metal machines to kill children and use their souls to fuel them. She hears a voice telling her that her task is to find this "Nothing Man" and stop the killing, and she becomes determined to steal away, hunt him down, and destroy him. Orders dictate otherwise and Kel finds herself the Commander of a refugee camp for people who've lost their homes in the fighting between Tortall and neighboring Scanran. While she is away from camp, it is attacked and many refugees, mostly children, are kidnapped. She disobeys orders and rides off alone to try to save them. This meaty book has lots of fighting and challenges to Kel's authority, allowing her once again to prove that she is equal to the men. Her compassion for those weaker than herself and her strong leadership skills make her an appealing protagonist. All of the characters from the previous books are here, and Pierce neatly ties all the plot threads together in a way that should please her fans. She also provides a helpful list of characters and a glossary. This is an essential and satisfying book for anyone who enjoyed the others in the series.
Sharon Rawlins, Piscataway Public Library, NJ
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Customer Reviews

Amazing End of Series
Lady Knight concludes the Protector of the Small series beautifully. Kel has grown into a wonderful knight who is bright, witty and freshly knighted. Unfortunately, the chamber of ordeal won't leave her alone even though she's come out unscathed. The chamber of ordeal has given her a task. The task may interfere with her new orders which everyone feels is wimpy orders. They will keep her from the actual war with Scanran. She's having to watch over a refugee camp. In the end, she realizes she may have to walk away from all her dreams of knighthood to truly fulfill her destiny.

Although, in true Pierce style, Kel's destiny means her friends stick by her side despite the fact they could be branded deserters and face dire consequences. Owen, Neal, Dom, Diane and Numair are all back and helping out in their unique ways. And she makes many new allies among the refugees.

It's wonderful to see all the old characters back. I applaud Pierce for her amazing ability to make me care and love about these characters even after all these years. If this is the end of the Tortallan Series, it's an amazing book and brings very nice closure for the reader.

Grim, but a strong story
Unlike the majority of the other reviewers, I was very glad that Kel is not married, in love, or betrothed at the close of this story. SHE IS EIGHTEEN! In our society, that's too young to marry. Even Pierce's other heroines were not married at that age-Daine marries between this book and "Trickster's Choice" and Alanna is at least twenty. Also- if you thought that Cleon and Kel would be permanently in love, so did they. I wouldn't know, but my guess is that love and crushes always feel real when they are happening. That was realistic, as was the fact that teen romances do not always survive. Don't usually survive, actually. But a not of midevil realism- nobles did marry for politics, or money, and sometimes it wasn't just power manuvering. Cleon's people would have starved if he hadn't married the heiress his mother picked. I'm not saying it was right for him, but it was realistic in the context of a basically midevil world.

I like that Kel is a "commander", too. She is good at it. I coudl beleive her as she sorted out the squabbles and problems of Haven, just as I could beleive her as she fought or bantered with her freinds. I like that Neal is present, as a healer (remember whose squire he was- he definitely learned well from the Lioness) and both he and Kel have great lines. I like Neal espessially- and I like that he marries Yuki, rather than Kel. Their romance isn't visible, but he definitely loves her. His humor and temper (he rants at Kel, basicly with her permission, about the sergeants ignoring convict soldiers' medical problems) are both still there. He is DEFINITELY the same character. In some books where characters reappear, you wonder.

I found Kel's relationship with Fanche (a female refugee leader) interesting, espessially because Fanche is definitely a positive character even if she dislikes the heroine. Other minor characters were well drawn- I like Tobe, even if he is virtually invisible. At the end, I found myself worried about Saefas, who is an extremely minor character, because he was wounded as Kel went off to fight the Baddies in Chief. I found myself mourning for some of the "minor" characters who _did_ get killed- Tamora Pierce's world is that real to me. Kel mourns them, too.

Lord Wyldon shows a more positive- and more forgiving- side in this book. He gives Kel the refugee camp not to punish her, but because she is honestly the only person who can be trusted with it. He admits that he was wrong to order her not to save her people, and he forgives Kel and Owen for disobeying orders.

I loved Kel's love of clerks. Most military-fantasy heroines & heros are contemptuous of beaurucrats. However, they exist, and they are useful, and Kel knows that.

Incidentally, I like that in Tamora Pierce's books, the same characters reappear seen through different eyes and seem different- while remaining themselves. Alanna loves Jonathan but knows he has flaws; Daine is completely in awe of him, and Kel dislikes him but is loyal. The Stormwings have a similar change: Daine at first hates them, then grows to like Rikash, and finally tells the Great Gods that the Stormwings have a right to stay in the Mortal Realms. Kel hates Stormwings. She is about the only battle commander who insists on burrying the enemy dead as well as her own. Neal tells her that the Stormwings can't help being what they are. "They are what they were made to be...You're what you were made to be, too." Through most of the story, a female Stormwing whose name I'd have liked to have been told keeps talking to Kel. At Haven, she tells Kel that the Stormwings are a little sorry about the masacre (well, that's as much as you will get from Stormwings, except about kids. They are protective of kids...in Trickster's Queen they snatch some out of danger in a riot. They are not all evil) and later she lands and talks to Kel briefly a few times. AT the very end, Kel tells Blayce hte Nothing Man that she had thought that Stormwings were monsters, but htey weren't: He was. And that time only, she left the Scanran dead for the Stormwings. I couldn't help but remember Rikash's words to Daine (sorry for the cross-reference) about a woman who, traveling in lands destoryed by war, dreamed Stormwings into being "...she wished for a creature so repulsive that even humans would think twise before making war...that creature would defile what mortal killers left, so that no one could lie about how glorious a soldier's death is." I know that some people will think I am crazy...but Earth could use Stormwings. Blayce was the real monster. Let the Stormwings tear his body to peices; they at least are no mroe than they must be. THey are "a nightmare of battle", and if the nightmare keeps even one person from teh reality, I cannot hate tehm.

Sorry, that was completely off-topic. Lets get back on.

I liked all along that Kel is not beautiful. She is ordianery, and heroic in a beleivable way. This woman could exist on Earth. She would be extroirdinary, but she is in no way difficult to beleive. And in a midevil world- even if she's getting more distant, the Chamber's right about her being the Protector of the Small, seeing real people in thsoe weaker than she.

The villain Blayce is the Nothing Man, and I call him that in my mind because he is too repulsive to have a name. He murders children and enslaves their souls, for which crime he was expelled from the magic schools of hte City of the Gods. Kel calls him "a rat of a man", completley unremarkable, physically. I find that a releif- too many fiction characters are unbeleivably atractive, or ugly. The Nothing Man is a true monster... but I can beleive in his existance, too. On Earth he would not have been a necromancer, but I can all too easily beleive him as a Nazi or any other evil regime-helper. Stenmun is also evil but real, and the unseen Maggur is not blazingly unbeleivable, either.

I liked how Owen stayed in the action, and I liked how he and Tobe sneaked after Kel. (Not that Raoul sending Dom, and Neal, Merric, and the others coming along, wasn't just as great. But I have a soft spot for Owen- he was the first page that helped Kel fight bullies.) He's brave, and I just plain like him. THank goodness I can't actually meet him, I'd probably have a crush. Crushes sound like a royal pain.

There was a lot of violence in this book, which I don't like. But it is appropriate to the setting. The dark aspects of the book- slavery and rape on the parts of the enemies- are present in our world, too, like it or not. THe only thing that had a major role in this book and is impossible is the Nothing Man's necromancy and killing machines... and we have our equivalents. Blayce had nothing on atomic bombs. Other than that and minor things, it was completely applicable to Earth in a war zone.

I am glad that Pierce showed us a glimpse of the future- New Hope as a town, Kel and Neal attending Raoul's wedding, and the child seer Irnai's wry comments on Neal's future. With Haven's fate in mind, I really needed that glimpse of the future to tell me that Kel would survive this.

I appolagize for rambling.

Disappointing? Never!
Having bought this book at far more than its going price, I was determined not to find it a disappointment, as some of my friends seemed to have done. And you know what? I didn't.
I LOVED it. This wonderful final installment is a must-read for all Tammy fans.
Lady Knight proves that Kel is in her element as a commander as she takes charge at a refugee camp. She does well, but is restless, knowing that she needs to carry out the task that the Chamber of the Ordeal has set her. But when something goes terribly wrong, she knows that she has to take things into her own hands.
The book rarely focuses on Kel's personal life, which I missed a little, but she's a knight, her country's at war, and she has other things on her mind, so I can't blame her. If you're looking for romance, this isn't the book you'll find it.
The book doesn't answer all your questions- especially about Kel's relationship with a certain King's Own sergeant (hint hint!)- but if it did, it wouldn't be half as much fun. The return of Neal, Owen, and other characters that were missed in Squire is a definite plus.
Read it!