Protector of the Small Series Overview

Protector of the Small by Tamora Pierce

Spoilers for Protector of the Small and all preceding books in the Tortall timeline. You have been warned. This also isn't written in any particular order this time, just as thoughts came to me.

I have always loved Protector of the Small. I was first recommended it by my Junior High Librarian, Mrs. O. Protector of the Small was actually my introduction to the world of Tortall and Tamora Pierce's work. It's stuck with me all these years and even though I just finished it, I can say I'm looking forward to reading it again in the future.

This time around, I may have found the teenage romances a bit on the annoying side. You might have noticed that in my reviews, assuming you read them. I'm pretty sure they were just kind of a side note before this read but... yeah. Much shrugging. Not a fan of the romance. Apparently Kel isn't really, either. I found out during my reread that Tamora Pierce has said that Kel is a "aromantic asexual," which kind of tracks... though I'm not entirely sure about the "aromantic" part. She seemed romantic enough to me. But, again, I dunno. I've got the asexual part down, but sex isn't off the table for me and I do love my boyfriend so... *throws up hands in defeat.*

Having read the series before, I knew all the stuff surrounding Joren. I had forgotten that he died and actually confused his ending with the ending of one of Alanna's adversaries. But yeah, Joren's a disgusting misogynist and I hate him from the word "go." That said, I do feel like Kel getting the treatment she did from other misogynists was fairly realistic. I feel like it was necessary in that this is essentially a book for adolescent girls and it sort of prepares them for what it's like in the real world. Kel faces down men who don't believe she's good enough to be in their field in a quasi-medieval world in the same we we're still having to do in 2024. Seriously, this stuff still happens. Kel's a good role model in some ways in which to deal with that nonsense. Not the best, but Kel never claims to be perfect.

I didn't find Blayce all that interesting, either. Like yes, what he did to the children to make his mechs was gross and needed to be dealt with but... Blayce himself was just boring. The entire point of the end of the story was how Kel manages to rally people to her side and not really the defeat of Blayce. It is the culmination of the training that Raoul decided she needed. Kel is definitely a commander, of commoners, nobles, animals, etc. She just has the ability to do the direct commanding and trust the people she's delegated to. It's great.

I feel like the griffin was added in to add more fantasy to this otherwise non-fantastical story. Like yes, Kel's animals are all super smart and act in ways normal animals wouldn't. However, even with the return of the Immortals, Kel doesn't really interact with any outside of the centaurs in the Royal Forest and the griffin. The griffin isn't even really that fantastical, outside of his ability to melt cages and fly. He essentially serves as a surrogate child Kel isn't even supposed to get too attached to.. and an abusive one at that.

I like Lord Wyldon's turnaround from beginning to end. I do think he was super harsh in the beginning (see my First Test review), like, super harsh, with an unrealistic view of women. I feel like he came around slowly, but steadily. The fact that he honestly though Kel wasn't going to finish her training after she'd done most of it just because she got kidnapped or whatever it was made me want to slap him... but the fact that he came around to her enough that he realized he was stupid for not giving her permission to go after her people in the end... I also think was honestly a little unrealistic to just let go with little remarking, but it fits with Kel's overall story. I think Owen softened Lord Wyldon some more once he became Wyldon's squire. That infectious attitude toward things could not have helped but rub off at least a little, even if it was wartime.

It struck me on this read-through that these are largely stories about nobles and not the commoners of Tortall. Kel is seen as extremely odd for caring about the commoners, actually. Raoul and Wyldon think she’s absolutely nuts for going to rescue Lalasa. Merric thinks she's nuts for going after the people of Haven. It’s really hammered home how weird it is for the noble of Tortall to care about commoners. I really like that about Kel. She’s like “I’m becoming a knight for all the people, not just the nobles.” It’s progressive of her for her circumstances. It's definitely not a perfect representation, but it's better than a noble just caring about other nobles.

I feel like Protector of the Small is a nice middle ground between the sparse descriptions of Song of the Lioness and the overly descriptive Beka Cooper series. It's by no means perfect, but I feel like I could inhabit Kel's world. There's enough description for me to imagine what things actually look like and enough left to my imagination to fill in the rest.

Anyway, I love Protector of the Small. I think the first half of the quartet is better than the second, but the quality doesn't drop off drastically. I think it's a good series for the adolescent market it's aimed at, but it's also definitely readable as an adult. It doesn't talk down, which is awesome.