Song of the Lioness: Alanna: The First Adventure

The First Adventure is about a girl living in a magical, medieval world, who wants to really be a knight but is forced to practice the arts of magic. Her twin brother really wants to be a mage but is forced to be a knight. In a rush, the two twins swapped, meaning Alanna could become what she always wanted to be, a knight. Forced to pretend she is a man, Alanna survives through many adventures, proving that women can just good as men.

I wouldn't recommend this book for 10+, where it has been placed in, especially the next few books. This book should be more for 12+, as they get older, you know, things happen.

I loved this book, I fell love with Alanna's determination. I had read first test and that quartet before reading this, even though I enjoyed them greatly, I definitely preferred these books. I powered through them and when I had finished them I went straight to the Wild Magic ones. I got bored of them as I got to the last one. Nothing can beat this book and it's sequels. Read it!!!

Reader reviewed by Kyla

Song of the Lioness: Alanna the First Adventure is about a girl in medieval times who wants to be knight so she pretends to be a boy. In this book she finds friendship, confidence, and love with the prince. I read this book in fifth grade and it had me asking questions. Because of that, I would not reccemend this to anyone in sixth grade or younger. All around, though, it was a good book.
~Kyla  : )

Reader reviewed by Natalie

I first came across Alanna: The First Adventure (Song of the Lioness
Book 1) when I was fourteen. I saw it again at the library the last
time I was there and, since Id forgotten a lot of the book, decided to
pick it up.

How could I have forgotten the brilliance of Tamora
Pierce? I read this series years ago, and still enjoyed it immensely
today. Granted, the book is a little elementary for my age (19), but I
still loved it. It provided a very quick, satisfying read.

As a
young girl, Alanna is destined to be sent off to study magic and learn
to be a noblewoman. But this stubborn, vivacious girl has other ideas:
she wants to be a knight! Her twin brother, Thom, wants to be a
sorcerer, so Alanna cuts her hair and the two switch places. Alanna
trains as a page at the palace, making new friends (including Prince
Jonathan, the heir to the throne), and increasing her control of the
Gift, the magical powers she was born with. As Alanna continues her
studies and adventures, she begins to realize that her Gift is much
more powerful than she originally thought it to be. The Gift, along
with her newly acquired skills and friends, helps her along her way to
prove herself as a worthy warrior, despite the (mostly unknown) fact
that she is a girl.

I was surprised by how much I still enjoyed
this book, even though its age range is for middle to high school
readers. Author Tamora Pierce has a magical (yes I know thats a
cliche) way with words, and is able to create a beautiful fantasy world
full of intriguing ideas that still appeals to me today. For those of
you who enjoy fantasy and are looking for a quick (I read it in two
hours) but enjoyable read, I would recommend checking this book out.
Im off to go reserve the sequels and check out other books by Tamora
Pierce. I know that she does write books for older audiences as well,
so Ill see what I find!

Reader reviewed by Flaky


The Song of the Lioness is a quartet of fantasy novels written by Tamora Pierce, which was first published in 2004. It is a narration of the life story of a girl who would let nothing stop her in the pursuit of an ambition to become a knight in a realm where girls are not allowed to do virtually anything.
Alanna of Trebond wants to train as a knight at the palace in Tortall, but girls are not permitted to train as knights so she disguises herself as a boy and swaps with her twin brother Thom. There at the palace Alanna learns that things arent as easy as she had thought they would be.
She goes through rough times growing up into a lady and concealing her feminity while she continues her fights against foes. Her father and brother die and she gets adopted by one of her teachers and a tribe. Though sad at heart Alanna is able to overcome her grief and continue life perfecting her combat skills and learning to love. The story is told in third person and it captures ones imagination making it difficult for the reader to leave the book until the story ends.
The Song of the Lioness is a very pleasant narrative portraying the struggles people undertake to achieve their goals. There is not a part of the novel that is not engaging and interesting. I would recommend this book to readers above the age twelve.

Reader reviewed by Mary

Alanna is the outgoing one who loves fighting. Her twin brother, Thom, is the quiet one who wants to learn magic. Alanna wants to become a knight. However, Thom is the one who is going to be sent to become a knight and Alanna is off to become a lady-that is until they decide to switch places. Alanna disguises herself as Thom and heads off to become a warrior. Thom goes off to the nuns to learn magic. Alanna discovers that it isn;t as easy as it looks. But of course, that doesn't mean she'll give up...

This book is well-written and stunning. Alanna is a character who will earn the reader's respect. The story is a magical adventure that will leave the reader wanting more. Luckily for the reader there is more in this quartet...

Reader reviewed by TA

Great begining of the many series, I started this book in 8th grade and now I have read all of them, this is a great book, with action and strong will.

Reader reviewed by Ruby


I really enjoyed this book! I read it quite some time ago though so I kinda foreget some of it, but all I remeber was I did a book report on Alanna and my teacher liked the story line! I reccomened this to anyone (well girls) who like adventure, and love magic!

Reader reviewed by Hiba

This is an awesome book. Being only a girl, the charateristices Alanna posesses and the way she proves herself to the knights and her comrades is delightful and admirable. This ia a book you will not want to keep down till the end. Be sure to read the other three nooks after this noe. They are the greatest ever!!!!

Reader reviewed by Stella

Alanna, the first book in the Song of the Lioness series, is a superbly written book that causes you to cringe, laugh, and cheer for the extremely likeable main character.

Set in a time similar to the middle ages in a fantasy kingdom called Tortall, Alanna is the story of a young girl, Alanna, who wants more than just the marriage and childbearing that is expected of her, she wants to be a knight. Along with her brother Thom, Alanna devises a plan to desguise herself as a boy and become a page. Th story follows Alanna's physical and emotional struggles as she tries to fit in with the boys while not giving away her true identity.

An absolutely wonderful first in an entire series of brilliant novels by one of the best young adult authors, Tamora Pierce.

Reader reviewed by linda

Tamora Pierce does not disappoint in this historic series about the adventures of a girl struggling to become a knight. Alana is like the Mulan of Tortall (the kingdom where she lives), she has to pretend to be a guy to get into knight school and then falls in love with two guys who are unaware that she is a girl. She also battles many fierce creatures and the evil duke who comes back to life. The last book was the best in my opinion because Alana decides who she will marry (after the two men figure out that she is a girl), finds a wife for the prince of Tortall, and helps defeat Tortall's foes.