Should I start reading Tortall? Why, or why not?

[Michael]

Cassandra Clare has publicly stated that the Tortall franchise has directly influenced her The Shadowhunter Chronicles, ever since then I have been interested in it. Is this as good as The Lord Of The Rings or Game Of Thrones?

[Rachel]

It is SOOOOOO much better (in my opinion). Tamora Pierce is my favorite author. She writes amazing, believable YA fantasy with smart girl protagonists who kick butt. The Protector of the Small series is my favorite, but I love The Song of the Lioness and The Immortals as well. Whenever I tell people what author I look up to and aspire to be in my writing, it's Tamora.

[cc]

I adore Tamora Pierce. I actually enjoy her writing much more than I do Clare's, though I do like them both.

Protector of the Small is my favorite as well, though I have yet to dislike any of her series. I'd also recommend her Circle of Magic Quartet; it's not set in Tortall, but is just as good as the books that are.

I seriously cannot say enough good things about Pierce & am genuinely frustrated she hasn't gotten as much praise & popularity as her books deserve.

[Rachel]

Caitlin wrote: "I adore Tamora Pierce. I actually enjoy her writing much more than I do Clare's, though I do like them both.

Protector of the Small is my favorite as well, though I have yet to dislike any of her ..."

lol, you speak to my frustration for years, I see how much publicity Sarah Maas gets for her Throne of Glass series (which is okay) and I'm like, umm, Tamora has been doing that for YEARS. I love how her characters struggle to become the best, because it makes it so much more real!

[cc]

It does. And their struggles & social statuses are so much more believable than a lot of other books.

I heard someone describe Pierce as "like a Sarah J. Maas knockoff, just not as good!" & I almost exploded. I haven't read anything by Maas, but you can't call something a knockoff if it was there first & Pierce is a queen!

[Allison]

I absolutely love the Song of the Lioness series, the main character is much more relate-able than any of the characters in LOTR or GOT...but having said that, you can't really compare these series' because Tamora Pierce writes for children. It's just a different level of story-telling, so I don't know if you could even say one way or the other if it is "as good as" LOTR and GOT

[Michael]

Are there any fantasy tropes in Tortall, like Dragons, Elves, and Dwarves. Or any Magic?

[Kassyreadsalot]

Is there a particular order to read the tortall books because I plan on reading them soon

[Rachel]

Michael, There is magic and lots of mythical creatures, my favorite being stormwings (who doesn't love Lord Rikash?) which Tamora invented.

Kassandra, read Song of the Lioness series first, you don't have to, but I wish I had since if you read the others first you get spoilers for how the other books ended!

[cc]

I second Rachel's advice. Chronologically, it goes Song of the Lioness, Immortals, Protector of the Small, & the Trickster's duology. There's also the Bekah Cooper series which can be read first or last - it's about a side character's great grandmother &, while set in Tortall, seems like an entirely different world. If you choose to read her world outside of Tortall, starts with the Circle of Magic Quartet, the Circle Opens, & I think she might have even another new spin off.

I very strongly disagree with the claim that these books are written for children. The characters start out as children, but the content is not G-rated. Pierce's books tackle issues like rape, abuse, sexuality, violence, cruelty, & war. I distinctly remember Stormwings being naked, smeared in feces, & ripping chunks of flesh from dead children.

The characters are more relatable & the stories easier to follow than Tolkien's or Martin's works, but I can't say they're better. I enjoy them more, yes, but those other authors are well loved for a reason.

[Paula]

I will put my hand up as well and say I only heard about Temora just a few months ago but in that time I have read everyone of her books. She is an excellent author I would be happy to read any new books. I think it is a cop out to say these books are for children. These are excellent books that are relatable to all ages.

[drowningmermaid]

Michael wrote: "Cassandra Clare has publicly stated that the Tortall franchise has directly influenced her The Shadowhunter Chronicles, ever since then I have been interested in it. Is this as good as The Lord Of ..."

It is in no way as politically complex as GRRM, and the scope is not near as broad and intricate as LOTR. You're talking about some pretty high-brow fantasy there.

This series is a lot more similar to, say, D&D novels or Anne McCaffery or Eragon. Very simplistic, very bright, clear good and bad. And a rather Mary Sue-ish female lead who is able to do... a lot more than is realistic.

They are great fantasy fun if you like fantasy fun, but don't go in expecting anything wildly unique.

[Rachel]

drowningmermaid

I agree the other authors' works are high-brow and certainly much more in-depth world building, but to me Tamora Pierce's protagonists are a lot more realistic than some of the other YA fantasy out there right now (Maas, being the most prominent I can think of). I could see how someone would assume a more Mary Sue-ish role reading The Song of the Lioness with Alanna, but have you read Pierce's Protector of the Small series with Keladry? It could arguably be the best and most realistic portrayal of a girl rising to power (in a warrior-type role) I've ever had the pleasure of reading. It is one of my top three favorite series of all time :)

[drowningmermaid]

Rachel wrote: "drowningmermaid

I agree the other authors' works are high-brow and certainly much more in-depth world building, but to me Tamora Pierce's protagonists are a lot more realistic than some of the oth..."

I might check out Keladry! I didn't mean to imply that Pierce is a bad writer or anything, just that she's aiming for a much simpler, heroic story than the epic fantasy tomes the first question mentioned. (Although, I do remember thinking that Alanna's ability to do basically everything seemed like overkill.) If you go in expecting GRRM, I'm not sure you'd like Tortall... If you go in expecting CClare, though, I think you'd probably like it.

[Rachel]

drowningmermaid wrote: "Rachel wrote: "drowningmermaid

I agree the other authors' works are high-brow and certainly much more in-depth world building, but to me Tamora Pierce's protagonists are a lot more realistic than ..."

Oh, no worries, I never got that impression (that she was a bad writer) from your statement. High-brow and YA fantasy are definitely on two different planets which makes Tamora closer to Clare than GRRM:)

Definitely check out Kel! I think Tamora realized she gave Alanna a lot of unrealistic things: beautiful, warrior and mage, prince and king of thieves for love interests, ultimate nemesis Duke Rodger -so when she wrote the Kel series she made the girl plain, no magic, no high and important friends, no help from others, no disguise as a girl (which made all the guys torment her except for one or two), etc. I think a lot of people (myself included) initially loved Alanna when we were young because her story was so cool but as I got older I ended up appreciating the Kel series a lot more. And I think her writing with the Tricker dualogy and Bekah Cooper prequel has become a lot more realistically developed as well:)

[Denis]

Rachel wrote: "I very strongly disagree with the claim that these books are written for children. The characters start out as children, but the content is not G-rated. Pierce's books tackle issues like rape, abuse, sexuality, violence, cruelty, & war. I distinctly remember Stormwings being naked, smeared in feces, & ripping chunks of flesh from dead children."

Yes, the books do deal with those topics, but they are touched on in an extremely PG manner. I would give these books to 10 year olds to read, which I would consider to be "children" and not "teenagers"/"young adults".

[Roni]

You should so read this! It is epic! But I do agree that this book is not for children under ten.

[Melissa]

Read them ALL. Read everything she writes because it's beautiful and encouraging, and the females are strong!! Everyone of her characters experience growth and in fact, I grew up with Alanna! She's one of the authors that made me want to write.

[Hannah]

I'd say that Tamora Pierce is much better than Cassandra Clare's published works.
As for not being 'wildly unique'. Alanna; the First Adventure was published in 1983. It was original then, even if many authors have covered similar ground since then.
YA wasn't a big marketing category until recently, so Pierce's books were in the children's section. When I was 13 teenage books consisted of a couple of shelves containing Sweet Valley High and Point Horror.

I'd say that if you enjoy Kristin Cashore, Sarah Mass, and Maria Snyder you'll enjoy Pierce. Though it can be irritating that 30 years on writing strong female characters in fantasy fiction is still considered innovative.

[Ana]

Kassandra wrote: "Is there a particular order to read the tortall books because I plan on reading them soon"

I would suggest reading The song of the lioness quartet first because that is the first quartet in Tortall. From there I would say The Immortals quartet then the protector of the small quartet, then The Trickters duo because all of those tie in together. Also The Beka Cooper Trilogy ties in with the song of the lioness quartet. I also recommend the 8 books that take place in Emelan. I love all of Tamora's books.

[Sparrowlicious]

So far, I only read the first book of the 'Song of the lionss' quartet and found that the book was very well-written. Of course you have to keep in mind that these books were written for children. Which means they don't have adult themes and they skip boring stuff like most of the training.
Of the other books mentioned here (Cassandra Clare's first series, Throne of Glass, Graceling, etc) I only know a few or actually only parts and snarks by other reviewers but from what I gather they lack the magic and quality Tamora Pierce puts in her work.
So actually while Pierce aims her books more at children, they do seem superior in quality when you compare them to certain books that are aimed at teens.
(Let's not forget Alanna's friendship with the prince in the first book, or any other male character for that matter. Any YA book would've twisted that into some weird pseudo-romance.)

[drowningmermaid]

Sparrowlicious wrote: "So far, I only read the first book of the 'Song of the lionss' quartet and found that the book was very well-written. Of course you have to keep in mind that these books were written for children. ..."


Specifically, a pseudo-romance that involves a pointless love triangle between a "brooding dbag" and a "best friend" (more of a lackey) who obviously has no chance.

There IS romance later in the series, but it's plainly a subplot and not the whole reason for the series existence.

[Amanda]

Tamora Pierce was one of the two authors who influenced me into reading paranormal books when I was young. Along with Anne McCaffrey (RIP), They were the first two authors I ever purchased and collected in high school.
They are YA and they are written in fours so your never overwhelmed with a particular series at once. I loved them all but I think my favorite had to be the circle of magic books. I was a kid with a rough childhood buried in books, so always had that get away dream fantasy of random magic powers... oh reality why do you torment me so!

[Jules]

Tamora Pierce is the author that actually made me enjoy reading. I've read all of her books a million times and would recommend them to anyone. I agree about reading them in chronological order. That's what I did and I think it made the series more enjoyable because I liked seeing the characters come back in later series as adults. I hope all that is posted in this discussion convinces you to read her books because they made me love reading and I have never regretted reading any of her books!