Tamora Pierce (born December 13, 1954) is a prolific American writer in the SFF genre, particularly in the Young Adult category. Throughout the years Pierce has had many achievements and won many awards including the Margaret A. Edwards Award from the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) of the American Library Association in 2013.

Pierce is best known for stories featuring strong, capable young female heroines. Her first book series, The Song of the Lioness (1983–1988), followed the main character Alanna through the trials and tribulations of training as a knight. It is a much beloved series by many and today The Fantasy Hive are honoured to celebrate the reissue of the quartet which is published by HarperCollins today!

You can order your copy on the HarperCollins Website or on Bookshop.org

We have put together a collection of quotes from readers and authors on what Song of the Lioness means to them and how the series has influenced them. 

So without further ado please take a look at what they had to say…

Kat Marsh – The Fantasy Hive Reviewer

My core memories from when I first started to work out what my own taste in books looked like take place in my local library. I can remember pulling book after book from the shelves, determined to find something that I liked the sound of, but that no one had recommended to me first so it would be all my own discovery. Alanna by Tamora Pierce was one of the first books that I tried and absolutely fell in love with all on my own. 

The combination of the strong female protagonist, the castle setting, the training montages and Alanna’s courage and tenacity turned out to be a perfect cocktail of what I wanted and needed from a book. I chased the feeling of reading Alanna for the first time for years after that, using it as a gauge for the kinds of books I wanted to borrow from the library or beg my parents to buy me. 

Strong female protagonists and castle settings are still two big factors that will automatically get me to want to read a book and that’s all down to Tamora Pierce’s brilliant, ageless writing.

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Cat Treadwell – The Fantasy Hive reviewer 

Alanna was the first true female hero I encountered. She was real. She had periods, fought fiercely against societal norms and kept her sense of self through it all. Young-teen me had seen nothing like this before and devoured the series as they came out; I still like to revisit now (in my 40s). So grateful to Tamora for the gift of her stories.

Her Husband, Jim:

I read this series as a teenage boy, because my Mum saw the covers and thought I’d like them! 

Seeing a girl trying to portray a boy, it highlighted for me not only the issues that I dealt with in developing at that age, but also what girls do, which you don’t get taught as a boy. Yes, girls are capable and can do things. 

Also it wasn’t ‘this person is better than anyone else’ or ‘the chosen one’; everyone had to work and develop to achieve their goals. Alanna got where she did through practice and hard work.

Twitter/X: @druid_cat | Website

Darelle Cowley – reader

As an avid reader and writer currently pursuing traditional publishing, I can’t help but credit much of my passion to Tamora Pierce and her stories about relentless women. In the early 2000s, her Tortall universe sparked my joy of reading first, quickly followed by a passion for writing, with my earliest works being fan fiction inspired by her world and characters. Her stories are ones I return to often, still holding a lasting impact in my life after shaping much of my adolescence. Song of the Lioness and Alanna’s lessons and arcs remain relevant to this day as we see women continue to fight to break barriers and shatter ceilings. Her story is a timeless classic of finding one’s place in the world, navigating relationships, and pursuing your dreams in the face of adversity, remaining relatable even after some forty years since its debut.

Twitter/X: @darellecowley

Vinay Vasan – The Fantasy Hive reviewer 

Tamora Pierce’s Song of the Lioness series was among the first fantasy books I picked up when I was possibly in  my 2nd or 3rd year of college and along with Dave Duncan, these were my rites of passage to this genre in which I have stayed ever since. Now 1400 books later (across 20 years), I can still say Pierce’s works have a very special place in my heart. With Alanna, Pierce introduced me to leading women with their own agency who could own and propel narratives, change the existing order and be damn better than anyone (male or female). But never did this come across as just dumping a woman in a man’s role. Tamora Pierce’s writing and strong characterization made these women characters (Alanna, Diana, Kel) feminine but strong and tough. It was a revelation for me as most of the books I read were the strong male lead or the farmboy to lord kind of story. Having a different perspective and characters willing to challenge existing societal norms to pave a way forward was inspiring and I absolutely adore the 3 series that Pierce had in this world. In a way, because I was in college as well, some of the challenges were kind of similar in terms of bullies, professors who for some reason didn’t like you, painful assignments and friendships offered without any barriers.

Twitter/X: @vinayvasan | Website 

Julie Crisp, SFF Literary Agent

Tamora Pierce’s Song of the Lioness was a series I read and reread as a younger teen. Everything about her main character Alanna appealed to me. Her rejection of her supposed path in life, her determination to forge her own destiny, standing up for those who were bullied by others and her strength in pursuing what she wanted. She wasn’t a damsel in distress, in fact most of the time it was she who was doing the rescuing. All the time balancing the shock of periods, figuring out how to hide her breasts and working through her growing feelings of attraction for two very different boys. I suspect she mirrored a lot of what teenage girls felt/feel frustrated about: having to hide our true selves, not fitting into ‘moulds’ that society creates for us and wanting an opportunity to prove ourselves. She’s a character I can’t wait to share with my own children…

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Nicole Evans, Author of Blood Price

Pierce’s SONG OF THE LIONESS series not only taught me there was a status quo (fantasy books by white men), but also broke it when I met Alanna, a young girl who wanted to be a knight, like I did growing up. I felt so seen by her and her struggles and realized the void that I had been missing in female authors and female protagonists in my young reading life. Having seen Alanna experience her period on the page was a direct influence to my epic fantasy novel about periods, BLOOD PRICE, coming out this October. Tamora Pierce truly changed my life with this series and I will be indebted to her forever.

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Sarah Rees Brennan, author of Long Live Evil

Tamora Pierce has influenced generations of fantasy readers with her centring of many warm, strong, different and heroic women in magical lands. Her wit and her imaginative worldbuilding is unparalleled but it’s the golden heart of her stories that endures. Song of the Lioness was one of my first ever fantasy novels and one of the most unforgettable.

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Kody Boye, author of The Plague Bloom trilogy  

I discovered Tamora Pierce’s work in my school’s library when I was just a teenager. During that crucial time in my life, I was slowly learning about how one’s identity is shaped by their surroundings. “The Song of the Lioness” was especially impactful, because as someone struggling with their sexuality in my early teens, I strived to find work that resonated with me. Tamora Pierce’s work was not only transformative to me as a person, but as a writer. Her vision of young people shaped my desire to want to write YA fiction.

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E. Saxey, author of Unquiet

I must have read the first book twenty times, and it’s still one of my favourite fantasy schools. I keep writing about schools and universities, and this one nails the challenges and the pleasures: hard work, excellent friendships, teachers both supportive and corrupt. 

As a queer kid reader, I loved how Alanna has to learn the rules of being a boy (and squire/knight), then how to be a girl (and lady), and eventually carve out a space where she can live.

When I was nine years old I thought that ‘Faithful’ was a step too far, but now I’d quite like a magical talking cat.

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Sarah Beth Durst, author of The Spellshop

I decided I wanted to become a writer when I was ten years old. I didn’t know if it was possible, though, for an ordinary person to become a writer — I’d certainly never met one. I imagined that writers sprang into being fully formed like Athena from Zeus’s head. But then a friend handed me ALANNA: THE FIRST ADVENTURE by Tamora Pierce… And I have this crystal-clear memory of reading that book and thinking to myself, “If Alanna can become a knight, I can become a writer.”  

Quite simply, that book changed my life.

About a decade later, I had the opportunity to meet Tamora Pierce and discovered that she is as awesome and great-hearted as any of her characters. We’ve been friends ever since. And I continue to reread her books whenever I want to remember that there is good in the world.

Tamora Pierce and her books helped shape who I am as a writer and as a person.

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Kit Rocha, author of Queen of Dreams

Thirty years ago, I met Alanna for the first time, and she blew the top of my brain off. Believing in yourself even when people are underestimating you because you’re a woman, trusting your friends to love you for who you are, chasing your dreams even when most people would tell you those dreams are impossible—the themes are as timeless now as they were forty years ago. Rereading them this year for my podcast (The Hot Nuance Book Club) has only cemented what I always knew: the DNA of who I am as a writer and maybe even as a person can be found in these pages. Tamora Pierce has helped create multiple generations of fearless fantasy authors—and I have no doubt she’ll go on to inspire many, many more.

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Zoë Marriott, author of upcoming The Moonlit Maze

I think The Lioness Rampant series is timeless because it has a deeply humane and compassionate central message: that diversity is strength, and good can only triumph against evil when we embrace everyone fully for the unique individual they are. Alanna is a woman who is frighteningly gifted in ways that are non-traditional for a woman in her world. Some people reject and shame her for that. But she ultimately saves that world because she has the courage to forge a new path, to be herself, and that only happens because of her friends and found family who accept and encourage her potential. That’s a message which I think we need – young people need – now more than ever. And of course, the series is also the most cracking adventure, with dense, gorgeous world-building and the most unforgettable cast of characters! 

As a writer, I always felt the influence of the Lioness Rampant was pushing me to look deeper into my characters’ motivations, to remember that they were people who existed long before I wrote about them and would after the final page of the story was complete.

Even people who stand in the main characters’ way – even the most terrible villains – are still people, with vulnerabilities and dreams of their own. And even the greatest heroes can be afraid, or selfish, or taken up with desires and doubts. I think Tamora Pierce taught me that no matter how fabulous your fight scenes, how brilliant your world-building, how awe-inspiring your magic, ultimately characters were the thing that would bring a story to life and make it immortal.

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Tej Turner, author of Bloodsworn and the Avatars of Ruin series 

I think that Tamora Pierce’s Song of the Lioness series has stood the test of time because it was ahead of its time. Through its story we watch Alanna boldly navigate a patriarchal institution and change it for the better whilst also gradually learning to embrace her womanhood and recognise it as something powerful rather than a weakness. I read it as a child and it was the series that made me fall in love with the fantasy genre, and it undoubtedly influenced the writer that I became. I still return to it sometimes as a comfort read because despite being centred around a young character, its themes were mature, and it is a story enjoyable for all ages.

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Delilah Waan, author of Petition 

I don’t think I can understate how influential Tamora Pierce’s works have been on SFF, and how important her books are to me, and countless others. I’ve read pretty much everything she has published, and if there’s one thing I’ve taken away from her books it’s this:

You can’t control who you’re born as. That’s life. The world will try to use that against you, to put limits on who you are and what you can do. That’s life too. Fighting against that is hard—but fighting to become the person you want to be, and fighting to make the world better is worth it.

Thank you, Tammy, for writing your stories. They were exactly what I needed as a girl. Your heroes were the examples that gave me the conviction I needed as a young woman. Your courage to write books with unconventional protagonists is what inspired me to write books from the perspectives that weren’t getting published.

And, some thirty years on from the moment I stumbled across Alanna’s story in my library, your books are still exactly what my daughter needs in her life.

Delilah’s article on Tamora Pierce |  Website

Gemma Amor, Bram Stoker and British Fantasy Award nominated author

I found Tamora Pearce at an extremely formative age, I was thirteen and discovering fantasy as a genre for the first time. Her Wild Magic series had lit a fire in me that remains today, creating a thirst for quietly strong, resilient yet feisty female protagonists who didn’t rely solely on magical powers or wealth to overcome adversity: they were sharp-witted, humorous and eminently human. The Lioness Quartet was no different. I was obsessed with Alanna of Trebond from the moment I met her. The series dealt with issues I struggled with myself: bullying, trying to find a place in the world, being a tomboy when ladylike behaviour was constantly expected of me, I found nothing but comfort and wonder in Pierce’s books. I still do.

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H.G Parry, author of The Magician’s Daughter 

I found Tamora Pierce when I was twelve, first through Protector of the Small (my all-time favourite) and then through the Song of the Lioness. Tortall is one of the great fantasy realms, but it was her characters that I fell for. Her heroines were fighters, in every sense of the word. They trained hard in all weathers, they learned magic and sword-fighting and chivalry, they wrestled with monsters and friendships and the right thing to do. Tamora Pierce told us all that girls could be warriors, protectors, mages, and heroes; she also told us that it would be hard work, against impossible odds, and because of that we believed her. I loved that then, and I love it now.

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Stephanie Burgis, author of Wooing the Witch Queen 

I still remember how revelatory it felt to discover Alanna as a girl and see a heroine who got to fight, be tough, and defeat her enemies while still getting to experience love and romance. Reading her adventures made my own childhood better, and it definitely influenced how I wrote my own heroines once I was old enough. I love getting to share them with my own daughter now!

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Stark Holborn, author of Ninth Life

As a young teenager, I discovered Tamora Pierce’s work at just the right  time; I had started to read epic fantasy, but few of the series I  encountered had female lead characters, let alone ones who were so  fully-realised. The fact that Pierce represented everyday challenges and experiences that I was encountering too – such as menstruation and self-image as well as wider issues like institutional misogyny – was both exciting, validating and a comfort. Her characters were allowed to be nuanced; flawed, scared and indecisive, and always memorable. They cemented themselves in my heart forever to the extent that I still return to the books whenever I’m in need of a pick me up. (Also – Daine forever)

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As you can see, Song of the Lioness is a highly regarded series and has touched each reader in significant and long-lasting ways. It is a must read for any SFF fan and if you’ve not had the pleasure of experiencing it yet, now is the perfect chance.

You can order the reissues on the HarperCollins Website or on Bookshop.org