Pierce, Tamora. Trickster's Queen.

PIERCE, Tamora. Trickster's queen. (Sequel to Trickster's Choice). Random House. 467p. map. c2004. 0-375-82878-8. $8.95. JSA 

To quote the review of the hardcover in KLIATT, September 2004: Pierce continues the story of brave and clever Aly, daughter of Alanna (from Pierce's The Story of the Lioness quartet) and heroine of Trickster's Choice (an ALA Best Book for YAs; reviewed in KLIATT in November 2003), in this feminist fantasy about conspiracies in an exotic land. Aly, age 17, is bodyguard to Dove, the potential queen of the Copper Isles, and her siblings, as well as spymaster for a rebel group hoping to put Dove on the throne. Aly must use her magic to protect her charges and to help the rebel group, as dangers lurk everywhere. She is aided--and courted--by Nawat, a young man who had once been a crow, who provides training in the fighting arts, as well as by crows, mages, and helpful little shape-shifting "darklings." Meanwhile, only the trickster god Kyprioth knows Aly's true identity as part of a famous family from the rival kingdom of Tortall. The Prologue briefly summarizes the events of the first book, but this complex and rewarding tale, with its admirable protagonist, will be best appreciated by those who have already read that one. A cast of characters and a glossary are appended. Paula Rohrlick, KLIATT