Song of the Lioness: Alanna: The First Adventure

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 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 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.

Reader reviewed by Katrina

Hiding the truth from everyone, mingling with rogues, seperation from all those close, venturing into and unknown and sometimes scary world. Indeed, Alanna is a very brave girl. But also very ambitious.

Reader reviewed by Spartanx1x

This book is a good intro. to a captivating series. It takes place in an imaginary world in the land of Tortall. It is about a young girl switching places with her slightly egotistical twin brother so he can learn magic and she can become a knight. Her name is Alanna

Reader reviewed by Laura Loeb

Great adventure, I love Tamora Pierce's books this may not be my favorite of her quartets but it is my second choice (first being the following Quartet starting with Wolfspeaker.) Alanna is a great character and if you like fantasy and adventure these are the books for you and if you ask me the right guy got the girl.