Alanna discussion

I loved the Tortall series and pretty much anything by Tamora Pierce, so what do I read that I will enjoy as much as the Totall books? I really enjoy fantasy and historical fiction with strong female characters. I would love some suggestions!

Oh, me too! I feel the same way, but I've dicovered that it is quite difficult to fidn anything like or comparable to the series by Pierce... :-(
You could try and ask for a book recommendation, and see if anyone has any suggestions ;-)

Ohh that's hard, Tamora Pierce's books are one of a kind!!
Have you read the Hunger Games? They're not all that similar to the Tortall books, but it's fantasy, with strong-ish female characters.
There's also books by Trudi Canavan. I've only read one - "The Magician's Apprentice" - and that was really good. It is quite similar to the Tortall books, it's set in a fantasy world, with magic and fighting and strong female characters. I recommend it! (:

Thank you:-D Those boosk sound really good, I'll check them out now;)

Try Graceling. Also a terrific strong female. Mercedes Lackey has many trilogies set in a place called Haven. Many of her books also follow that pattern. I would start with Arrows flight.

Thank you for these suggestions:-D I'm adding them to to-read now

Try Mercedes Lackey. She is excellent, and her books have a similar feel - or some of them do. Try Arrows of the Queen, The Fairy Godmother, or The Black Swan.

I've read almost everything by Mercedes Lackey, and I just recently read Graceling which I very much enjoyed. Also, I read Eon by Alison Goodman and that was a wonderful novel recommended by Tamora Pierce. If you haven't read it go get it! I hadn't heard of the "Magician's Apprentice" and the review aren't great but the series before that looks pretty good so I think I might look for that. The "Hunger Games" was such a good novel, I haven't read the sequels yet because I'm waiting for them to come out in soft cover so I don't know how the trilogy ends! Thanks for all the advice everyone, keep it coming!

I've also really enjoyed Patrica Briggs, both her Werewolf ones and her high fantasy ones are really enjoyable.

You might also try Patrica C. Wrede. I love her Enchanted Forest series, but in this case I am actually thinking her Cecelia and Kate books (Sorcery and Cecelia or The Enchanted Chocolate Pot, The Grand Tour, etc) or the two Mairelon stories (Mairelon the Magician, Magician's Ward, combined now in A Matter of Magic).

Thank you for these recommendations Darcie, these books all look very tempting;)

And Melissa, thank you for starting such a delightful discussion, I've never gotten so many good recommendations:-)

Anything by Diana Wynne Jones or Jessica Day George would be a good place to start. The wolf series by Jane Lindskold is excellent. Beauty: A Retelling of the Story of Beauty and the Beast and Beastly are two very different, but equally good, retellings of the Beauty and Beast story. Riddle-Master is an excellent epic fantasy that has a similar feel. You would probably like the Truth series by Dawn Cook, too. This is a very short list, just to get you started. Hope it helps.

Thank you Becky! :-D This is a wonderful list, can't wait to get started;)

I love Tamora Pierce's books and I have found very few that even come close to comparing with hers, but I really enjoyed the Green Rider series by Kristen Britain. The first book is called Green Rider.

Anything by Robin McKinley. The Blue Sword and Hero and the Crown are both favorites. I also enjoyed her take on the vampire genre in Sunshine. Alanna started my love of the fantasy genre so she always has a special place in my heart. Also Susan Cooper's Dark is Rising series. If you saw the awful movie "Seeker: The Dark is Rising" wipe it from your mind as the books are like stars compared to pond scum.

I agree with Katherine ^ about the Robin McKinley novels. I fell in love with them about the same time that I was reading Tamora Pierce.

I would also suggest the Hidden Country series by Pamela Dean. His Dark Materials, by Philip Pullman, is a good series, although highly controversial in some circles.

Also the Abhorsen series by Garth Nix.

Reading the names of all these authors brings a smile to my face because it makes me remember how much I enjoyed all of their books. I agree with everything that has been suggested above but here's a couple of other ones you might like. These are all over the place on reading level but all are great for the level they were written at.

Anne McCaffrey- Pern:Harper Hall trilogy (Dragonsong, Dragonsinger and Dragondrums) were excellent. I enjoyed some of her other works as well, but these were my favorite.

Kate Forsyth-Witches of Eileanan series (can't remember how many there are)

JV Jones-The Barbed Coil

Eileen Wilks- Lupi series (starts with Tempting Danger. There are six of them right now I believe)

Sherwood Smith- Crown Duel

Moria J Moore- Heroes series (starts with Resenting the Hero)

Susan Fletcher-Dragon Trilogy (Dragon's Milk, Flight of the Dragon Kyn, and Sign of the Dove)

Happy reading!

Haniccol wrote:
Moria J Moore- Heroes series (starts with Resenting the Hero)..."
I loved these and forgot to mention them. Thanks for bringing them up.

I love all of Tamora Pierce's books. Whenever i read about Tamora Pierce I always see PAOLINI.PIERCE.PULLMAN. I

I love all of Tamora Pierce's books. Whenever i read about Tamora Pierce I always see PAOLINI.PIERCE.PULLMAN. I read Pullman first,Paolini second, Pierce third, but I don't know which author is better, Paolini of Pierce.

Paolini or Pierce

Pierce is very good. I've read her books multiple times. I also loved the Eragon series by Paolini, but you've got to check out Patrick Rothfuss; The King Killer Chronicle. The first is The Name of the Wind and the second is The Wise Man's Fear. They are very good, and reminds me alot of Pierce. I'm impatiently awaiting the third in the series.

I have a few suggestions. by Sharon Shinn is a great little fantasy with magic, royalty, politics and a little romance. It's one of my faves of all time.

Also by Jane Yolen, which includees both White Jenna and Sister Light, Sister Dark are great in my opinion.

Also, anything by Maria V. Snyder. You should start with though.

I love Tamora Pierce and it is hard to find books that are as good as her books set in Tortal, but I found the the King Killer Chronicle and they very good if not as good a the tortal series.

I just thought of another series I loved. The first book is called The Cry of the Icemark by Stuart Hill. It has great strong female character.

I LOVE Tamora Pierce!! Books that I enjoyed after reading hers are

His Dark Materials trilogy by Phillip Pullman
Icemark Chornicles by Stuart Hill
Castle series by Diana Wynne Jones (also check out her other works!)
Inheritance cycle by Christopher Paolini

Chronicles of Narnia- this was before Pierce, but I still love it!

Wizard of the Grove by Tanya Huff

It's an older book but it's very similar to Tamora Pierce. Anything by Tanya Huff you'll find has a strong female character very much like the women of Tortall

The only thing to read aftr a Tammy Pierce book, is more Tammy pierce books. If you haven't read everything, you sure as hell better :D Moving on, Poison Study was awesome, by Maria V. Snyder. All of her stuff, pretty much rocks. Cinda Williams Chima, has 2 very kick-ass series. Eon, which I haven't read, but was loved by Tammy, I hear is good. Tammy also liked the Demon King, fyi ;) Graceling, was absolutely fabulous. The guy reminds me of a mix of George and Rosto. <3 Tammy has a goodreads profile, so if you look through the things she's read, you might get some ideas there :)

And Accademy 7!! I can't believe I forgot it! Accademy 7 by Anne Osterlund. It was pretty good too. If you want strong girls that don't necessarilly fight/kill people Janette Rallison rocks. It's a Mall World After All and Just One Wish were so different yet both so awesome. I adored them. If you want kick-butt spies/ thieves the gallagher girls and heist series by Ally Carter totally rock. You can skip the first gallagher girls book if you want though. Cuz who needs Josh? here's the 2nd one:

Siyana wrote: "The only thing to read aftr a Tammy Pierce book, is more Tammy pierce books. If you haven't read everything, you sure as hell better :D Moving on, Poison Study was awesome, by Maria V. Snyder. All ..."

What are the names of the series by Cinda Williams Chima? Also, thank for mentioning Posion Study and Graceling because I really enjoyed reading them and I would encouraged people to read them too.

The Warrior Heir: the first one in one of the seies & The Demon King: the first one of the other series. I adore the demon king with a passion, and my friend has read the other series at least a dozen times i nthe past 6 months. she's a tad obsessed.....

Siyana wrote: "The Warrior Heir: the first one in one of the seies & The Demon King: the first one of the other series. I adore the demon king with a passion, and my friend has read t..."

Thanks! I will put them on my "to read" book list!

The Cry of Icemark is very good,it centers on a strong girl character....

I support the recommendations for Phillip Pullman's "His Dark Materials". It's difficult to find heroines like Tamora Pierce's, but I'll try. Donna Jo Napoli's "Beast" and "Song of the Magdalene" are great ("Song" has a strong female protagonist, "Beast" is just a really good read).

Juliet Marillier writes wonderfully, though most of her female heroes are not nearly as active as say, Alanna and Kel, but they are strong of heart and often strong in magic. Not sure how old you are/your maturity level, but her adult books may be little graphic at times, but she also has a young adult series ("Wildwood Dancing" and "Cybele's Secret").

Jacqueline Carey has written a bunch of books, but her biggest series starts with "Kushiel's Dart". I adored "Kushiel's Dart" (and the following book, I don't have the time to continue with the rest of the series right now, but I will eventually) but I do not recommend this for someone who is squeamish about sex, and especially BDSM.

Susan Cooper's The Dark Is Rising Sequence is absolutely brilliant too.

Check out author Sherwood Smith, starting with Crown Duel.

try wicked lovely by Melissa Mar. 5 books amazing series

try Eon and Eona (its sequel) ... I bought the books coz Tamora loved them and gave them both 5 star ratings here at goodreads :D After reading them, I gave them 5 stars too :D

this series is amazing!

Is that how good Eon is? I haven't read it yet but my friend keeps begging me to...

Robin McKinley (beware that Deerskin is hard to take in places)

Kristin Cashore's Graceling and Fire are great.
Anne McCaffrey's Harper Hall and Tower and the Hive
City of Masks has a series
Raised by Wolves&Trial by Fire



Dragon Keeper was good too
Bones of Faerie and Faerie Winter

Someone already mentioned Crown Duel and you DEFINITELY should read it. Tht was one of my favorite books at the time.

Jeanette wrote: "Try Graceling. Also a terrific strong female."

I second this completely! My constant thought while reading it was that it FELT like a Tamora Pierce book, even though there's not much in common with one beyond that the main character is awesome (And then I finished Graceling and had to go back and reread some of my Tamora Pierce books...) I also recommend reading Poison Study/Magic Study/Fire Study, because while the books aren't perfect (and TRIGGER WARNING: They do deal fairly explicitly with rape in some places), they're also a lot of fun with a competent heroine.

And of course, if you've not read all of Ms Peirce's books, I do recommend them!

I try not to plug my own books all over other people's threads, but I remember exactly how I felt when I first finished Tamora Pierce's books and I was looking for something - anything - else to fill the gap. She is one of my all-time favourite writers and I like to think that anyone who loved her work would enjoy mine. Especially Daughter of the Flames, which is already out, and FrostFire, which is due out in July. They're both high fantasy with strong female leads, lots of battles and sword-fighting, and a bit of romance.

Other than that, I'd second the recommendation for Graceling by Kristin Cashore, and ANYTHING by Robin McKinley. Ursula Le Guin's YA Earthsea books are wonderful. And, thinking back, I remember that the closest I came to feeling the same thing about another story that I did for the Lioness Books was when I read Crown Duel by Sherwood Smith - it's an absolutely brilliant book, which a great heroine and a really different, intriguing hero. Give that a go.

read: to play the lady by Naomi Lane
It reminds me of the books a lot and its really good

Tina wrote: "Is that how good Eon is? I haven't read it yet but my friend keeps begging me to..."

check out my review! i'm about to post it. there r some spoilers but they wont make any sense to u. my reviews are REALLY weird....

cool i'll check out

I second, and third Juliet Marillier, Kristen Britain, Robin McKinley and Maria Snyder. I didn't see anyone mention Shannon Hale here though.

You should give her books a try. She wrote Book of a Thousand Days, Princess Academy, and the Bayern series. Most of these have strong female characters and are interesting reads. :)

Rachael wrote: "I second, and third Juliet Marillier, Kristen Britain, Robin McKinley and Maria Snyder. I didn't see anyone mention Shannon Hale here though.

You should give her books a try. She wrote Book of ..."

oh!!! i love the bayern series by Shannon Hale!

I smile as I read this because so many of these authors are favourites of mine as well. Pierce, Lackey, and McCaffery got me hooked on fantasy at a young age. Many of the above are on my shelf and have been well read.

I"ve never read Crown Duel, but Inda (also by Sherwood Smith) was fabulous. I also recommend the The Pit Dragon Chronicles, Volumes 1-3: Boxed Set: Dragon's Blood, Heart's Blood, and A Sending of Dragons by Jane Yolen. Mercedes Lackey's Joust had a similar premise too.

As for those I haven't read (yet) - thanks for the suggestions!