Song of the Lioness Quartet by Tamora Pierce

Years ago, a teenaged friend recommended this quartet of fantasy adventure books to me, as it was her favorite series at the time. More recently a frequent visitor to my library told me how much she liked several of Tamora Pierce's fantasy books. For whatever reason, it took me some time to finally get around to reading them, but I'm quite glad I did!

Some months ago I finally read Alanna: The First Adventure in which our heroine trades places with her twin brother Thom, so that she can train to become a knight and he can further develop his magical Gift. Since there have been no recent warrior maidens, Alanna has to pretend to be "Alan" which of course presents many difficulties. However, Alanna perseveres in both maintaining the charade and in the physical challenges of training as a knight. While a handful of her closest friends become aware that she is a girl, it is only after her knighthood that her true gender is revealed to all.

As the series continues with In the Hand of the Goddess, The Woman Who Rides Like a Man, and The Lioness Rampant, Alanna makes lasting friendships, becomes highly skilled in combat, foils evil plots against the royal family, travels to distant lands, comes to terms with her own magical Gift, seeks a purpose to her life, and enjoys and struggles with romantic relationships.

I always appreciate strong female characters like Alanna. Pierce does an especially good job showing how Alanna struggles to be both a knight--independent, strong, ready for combat--and to enjoy more "feminine" parts of life--wearing a pretty dress when she wants to and, more importantly, finding a lasting relationship that won't put her in a cage. My thanks go out to Caroline and Brea for putting me on to this series.

Pierce, Tamora. Alanna: The First Adventure. New York: Simon Pulse, 2005.
---In the Hand of the Goddess.
---The Woman Who Rides Like a Man.
---The Lioness Rampant.