Tortall Books In Order

Publication Order of Song of the Lioness Books

Publication Order of The Immortals Books

Publication Order of Protector of the Small Books

Publication Order of Daughter of the Lioness Books

Publication Order of Beka Cooper Books

Tortall isn’t as much a series as it is a collection of series written by Tamora Pierce. ‘Tortall’ is used as a classification for a litany of series because the location plays a central role in the plots of those series.

+The Story

Tortall is a fictional country created by Tamora Pierce. It mirrors the European Middle Ages in many ways. The culture is rife with nobility, knights, and court politics. Magic is also practiced freely, which is why even the King’s court has mages.

Deities are revered in this world and many of them often see fit to participate in the goings on of humanity. It isn’t unheard of to find humans acting as champions for the gods and fighting in their battles.

Tamora Pierce has set so many of her stories in Tortall and its capital Corus that it has become common to categorize them all under the ‘Tortall’ name. There are five major series in the Tortall universe, each with its own cast of characters that are fighting their own battles to achieve their own goals.

Though, in some cases, characters will cross over.

The Song of the Lioness, the first of the Tortall series, was initially designed to be a single book. However, when Tamora’s agent saw her manuscript, she convinced her to break it into four separate novels.

Tamora Pierce writes young adult novels and, at the time, there was a stigma in that particular genre against lengthy books. Publishers did not believe that young readers had the capacity to consume large volumes of text.

So Tamora complied and produced four smaller books instead of one massive tome. The result was the story of Alanna told in four sections. Alana is a noble-born girl who wants to become a knight in a world where noble-born girls are expected to go to the convent to master the art of being proper wives.

The Song of the Lioness finds her donning her twin brother’s clothes and going to the temple to train as a knight. The series follows her journey as she rises through the ranks, proves all the naysayers wrong, makes powerful friends, explores her magical roots and finally finds her place in the world, this as she also does her part to keep Tortall safe from an old enemy.

The Immortals, the second of the Tortall series, revolves around Veralidaine Sarrasri. Orphaned at a young age, Daine is 13-years old when she learns that she has been blessed with wild magic.

Her powers are so strong, though, that their manifestation is often mistaken for insanity. Daine’s journey sees her train under the most powerful mage in Tortall and participates in a war of gods and strange magics.

Daine’s wild magic allows her to communicate and even transform into animals. As such, this series, which also constitutes four books, has a notable number of animal characters.

The Protector of the Small Series tends to attract comparisons with the Song of the Lioness because of the similar themes at play in both series. Protector of the Small is the story of Keladry of Mindelan.

Alanna’s successes opened the way for girls to enter knighthood. And with the laws finally officially changed, Kel becomes the first female to openly pursue knighthood. Her journey isn’t without challenges.

Many doubt her determination and even her tutors seem certain of her inability to undertake the rigors of knighthood. So they bully and harass her. And Kel perseveres through it all and becomes a symbol for other girls with dreams of a knighthood to follow.

Along the way, Kel becomes embroiled in a war brewing on Tortall’s northern border.

People tend to underestimate Tricksters, the fourth series in the Tortall universe because it only constitutes two novels. However, lengthwise, Tricksters is just as long as its predecessors because its books are twice the size of Tamora Pierce’s typical novels.

Tricksters came out at the height of the popularity of the Harry Potter Books. J.K. Rowling’s work was a game changer for publishers because it showed them that young audiences had the capacity to read big books.

So Tamora wasn’t pressured to cut the size of the books in Tricksters, hence the duology that resulted.

Tricksters tells the story of Alienne of Pirate’s Swoop. Aly is the daughter of Alanna, the protagonist of the Song of the Lioness Series. When she is introduced, Aly wants to become a Tortallan spy.

However, her parents forbid her to pursue that path. So Aly leaves home, a decision that sees her captured by pirates and enslaved. It is during this period of turmoil that Aly meets the god of tricksters.

The fifth of the Tortall series is Beka Cooper. Even though it was published much later, Beka Cooper takes place two centuries before the Song of the Lioness, the first series in the Tortall Universes.

Beka Cooper tells the story of Rebekah Cooper, a young trainee for the Provost’s Guard, the equivalent of Tortall’s police. Beka’s story is told to a young boy called George Cooper. When George is caught stealing, his mother, ashamed of George’s actions, decides to tell him about his famous ancestor.

The Cooper series is written as a diary in the first person. The idea is for readers to understand the turmoil Beka Cooper experienced as a trainee through her own words.

+Alanna, The First Adventure

Alanna of Trebond is a girl. Girls cannot become knights. The law won’t allow it. But that is exactly what Alanna wants to become. She craves action and adventure. Yet her twin brother doesn’t even want the privilege.

He would rather study magic. So they switch places. While Thom goes to the convent to study magic, Alanna puts on her best Thom disguise and begins her journey to knighthood, unafraid of all the challenges and the dangers that await her at the temple.

+Wild Magic

Daine is a young girl that loves horses. She has a knack for them. One can tell as much when they see her herding ponies to Tortall with the royal horse mistress. In fact, Daine is so good at her job it becomes increasingly difficult to hide the truth.

Daine has magic. Not only can she talk to animals but she can make them obey her commands. Before Daine can come to terms with her powers, she must first learn to trust them, herself and the humans around her.