Has Tamora Pierce Announced A New Tortall Novel?

Alright, diving into Tortall timeline order is actually a bit trickier than it seems because the series jumps around. For a strict chronological read, you'd start with 'Beka Cooper: The Provost's Dog' trilogy. It's set a couple hundred years before Alanna's time and follows an ancestor of George Cooper. The magic system feels a bit different—more raw, street-level—and the society is noticeably less advanced. Then you move into the core quartet, 'Song of the Lioness', with Alanna. After that, it gets messy. 'The Immortals' quartet with Daine runs concurrently with the last two Alanna books, then 'Protector of the Small' with Keladry is next chronologically. The 'Trickster' duo and the Numair book slot in after. Honestly, reading in publication order first is my strong recommendation, because Pierce built the world progressively. Chronological order on a re-read is fascinating for spotting little connective threads, but you miss the evolving depth of the worldbuilding. I tried a pure timeline read once and found the tone whiplash from Beka's gritty, journal-style first-person to Alanna's more classic third-person adventure a bit jarring. The references in later books to earlier-set events also land better if you've already met the characters being referenced, not the other way around.

Walking into Tamora Pierce's bookshelf is like stepping into a windswept training yard—full of grit and heart. The very first book she published was 'Alanna: The First Adventure', the opening novel of the 'Song of the Lioness' quartet, which hit shelves in the early 1980s (commonly cited as 1983). That book introduced Alanna, a girl who disguises herself as a boy to train as a knight, and it immediately set Pierce apart by centering a fierce young heroine who learns and grows through real struggle rather than being a bystander to heroics. Reading 'Alanna: The First Adventure' now, I still admire how direct and earnest it feels. It’s not just nostalgia: the themes of agency, friendship, and the cost of living by your convictions remain resonant. That first published work launched a career that kept expanding—later books explored different parts of the same world and other young women coming into power. For me, discovering 'Alanna' was the kind of bookish moment that reroutes your tastes; it made me hungry for more fantasy where girls are allowed to be complicated and brave. I still recommend it whenever someone asks for smart, character-driven YA fantasy.

If you want a classic, jump straight into 'Song of the Lioness' — it's the one that lit my spark for Tamora Pierce and still feels like a rite of passage. The series follows Alanna, who cuts her hair and pretends to be a boy to train as a knight. It’s got that delicious mix of swashbuckling adventure, coming-of-age honesty, and quiet moments of magic and friendship. The prose is brisk and accessible, so it reads quickly, but the emotional beats land hard: identity, loyalty, and the cost of choosing your own path. Start with 'Alanna: The First Adventure', then keep reading in publication order through 'In the Hand of the Goddess', 'The Woman Who Rides Like a Man', and 'Lioness Rampant'. That order preserves character development and the slow-burn relationships; you’ll appreciate how Alanna grows from a reckless teenager into a complicated hero. There’s also value in the way Pierce explores gender and power without overcomplicating it — it feels earnest, not preachy. After you finish Alanna you’ll probably want more: if you loved the knightly arc, try 'Protector of the Small' next for Kara’s training tale, or hop to 'Immortals' for a bridge between magic and animal shapeshifting. For me, reading Alanna first was like finding the map to the rest of Tortall — it hooked me and I kept following it, pages turning late into the night.

I fell into Tamora Pierce’s worlds like falling into a warm, chaotic library — and my go-to reading order is the one that taught me to love her voice first: publication order, with a couple of small tweaks. Start with the 'Song of the Lioness' quartet: 'Alanna: The First Adventure', 'In the Hand of the Goddess', 'The Woman Who Rides Like a Man', and 'Lioness Rampant'. Those books introduce the core Tortall vibe — coming-of-age, gender-bending sword play, and Alanna’s stubborn heart. From there I’d slide into 'The Immortals' quartet: 'Wild Magic', 'Wolf-Speaker', 'Emperor Mage', and 'The Realms of the Gods'. They shift tone toward nature and animal magic with Daine and also start to deepen the world. After that, read the 'Protector of the Small' quartet — 'First Test', 'Page', 'Squire', 'Lady Knight' — which is a more grounded, training-to-knighthood arc that benefits from the emotional scaffolding Pierce builds earlier. Once you've got Tortall under your belt, I recommend the Emelan books: the 'Circle of Magic' quartet ('Sandry's Book', 'Tris's Book', 'Daja's Book', 'Briar's Book') and then 'The Circle Opens' quartet ('Magic Steps', 'Street Magic', 'Cold Fire', 'Shatterglass'). If you want bridges or extras, drop in 'Battle Magic' (it features characters from both sides and reads well after 'The Circle Opens'), and save the 'Beka Cooper' trilogy ('Terrier', 'Bloodhound', 'Mastiff') for when you want a grittier, earlier-era Tortall experience — it’s chronological prehistory of the main series but emotionally richer read after you know the world. I love publication order for the way it reveals Pierce’s growth; it felt like growing up alongside the books, which I still find comforting.

Growing up with a stack of well-worn fantasy paperbacks, I fell hard for worlds that felt lived-in rather than just stage sets for quests. For me, Tortall has that heartbeat — it’s a patchwork of medieval politics, messy social realities, and mythic flourishes that let characters breathe. Tamora Pierce didn’t just drop in dragons and call it done; she built a society where gender, class, trade, and law shape choices. From interviews and the way the books unfold, you can see she wanted a place where girls could train as knights, where magic and the mundane intersect, and where consequences matter. That desire — to write heroines who are competent, flawed, and practical — feels like the core spark behind Tortall. Beyond that core, there’s a stew of inspirations: old myths, historical detail, and a love of animals and the outdoors. You can sense medieval inspiration in the court rituals, in the pageant of tournaments, and in small touches like heraldry and apprenticeships; at the same time, Pierce bends those tropes so that a girl can be a swordsman and a street kid can rise through the system. The result is a setting that supports multiple series — like 'Song of the Lioness', 'The Immortals', and 'Protector of the Small' — while keeping continuity and a real sense of place. I always come away from those books thinking the world existed before the story started, and that’s a huge part of why I keep revisiting Tortall.

Alright, let’s settle this perennial fandom debate about where to start with Tamora Pierce. If you ask me, the absolute best entry point is the 'Song of the Lioness' quartet, starting with 'Alanna: The First Adventure'. It’s the foundational work for the whole Tortall universe, introducing the magic system, major countries, and themes Pierce revisits for decades. You meet Alanna as a kid swapping places with her twin to become a knight, and the journey from page one is just classic. Some folks swear by starting with 'Protector of the Small' because Keladry’s story is more straightforward and the writing is more polished, but I think that robs you of the foundational lore. You’d miss all the little nods to Alanna and the Lioness legend that make Kel’s triumphs hit harder. Reading out of internal chronological order can be fun for a re-read, but for a first-timer, publication order is the way to go. After Lioness, I’d jump to 'The Immortals' quartet, then 'Protector of the Small', saving 'Trickster' and 'Beka Cooper' for later—they’re denser and benefit from knowing the world inside out. My two cents, anyway. The Emelan universe ('Circle of Magic') is a whole separate thing and can be started anytime; it’s a softer, more found-family focused series.