Thanks, Unbound Worlds, for naming Alanna: The First Adventure among the 100 Best Fantasy Novels of All Time! From the article:
Alanna is [ . . . ] one of Pierce’s most compelling protagonists: stubborn, Gifted, and unwilling to let the world dictate who she should become.
Of course, Alanna is in fine company on this list. If you’re looking for some more books to read, check it out!
If you’re a fan of Tammy’s, you may be able to relate to this article in the LA Review of Books! In Growing Up Female, Josephine Wolff delves into the “thread of pragmatic feminism” in Tamora Pierce’s books, beginning in the very first adventures of Alanna, and continuing in heroines like Daine and Kel.
It’s an intense and cult-ish thing to discover Pierce’s books as a young girl. Pierce is a fantasy writer beloved by many readers who do not consider themselves fantasy fans. This is because, for all their sorcerers and dragons, her books, at their core, are about young women growing up and figuring out who they are: how to be weird and stubborn and heroic and angry, how to deal with getting their periods, how to control their tempers, how to handle jealousy, how to decide whether to sleep with their best friends or their teachers, how to prevent pregnancy, how to navigate romantic relationships with men many years their seniors, how to challenge and defeat men many years their seniors, how to be women who don’t conform to the rigid expectations of their (entirely imaginary!) world and time.
At Number 17, between Malala Yousafzai’s I Am Malala and Suzanne Collins’s The Hunger Games, is Tammy’s first Tortall novel. She’s delighted to be included on this list, and proud to be in such great company as Ms. Yousafzai, Maya Angelou, Alice Walker, Jane Austen and Khaled Hosseini.
Apparently Abigail Chandler of Bookbub‘s Blog thinks so! In her “Eight Books to Read Based on Your Favorite ‘Game of Thrones’ Character” post, she lists Song of the Lioness as the books fans of Lady Knight Brienne of Tarth should be reading….
Just in case you aren’t already a member, Bookbub recommends eBook deals, which prices usually ranging from Free to US$2.99, based on your interests. It’s free to join, and the books range from classics which are on special for a short while to newly-published work in a variety of genres.
Bookriot chose Alanna: The First Adventure as their Number One choice of Must-Read SF and Fantasy Novels by Female Writers.
Alanna: The First Adventure made No. 11 in Buzzfeed’s post on 29 Awesome Books With Strong Female Protagonists!
Alanna: The First Adventure was one of the questions on the 2014 Jeopardy! College Championship, under the category, “Female Fantasy Characters.”
Over at Entertainment Weekly, Hillary Busis wrote an article about why the Song of the Lioness series should be adapted into a movie or TV series. Check it out here: Adapt This: Tamora Pierce’s Amazing ‘Alanna’ Series.
NPR’s list of The 100 Best-Ever Teen Novels is out, and Tamora Pierce made the list with four of her six nominated series: The Song of the Lioness (#50), Daughter of the Lioness/Tricksters (#81), The Immortals (#83) and The Circle of Magic (#86).