Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time


An introduction to Tortall

Alanna: The First Adventure by Tamora Pierce

In the Hand of the Goddess by Tamora Pierce

The Woman who Rides like a Man by Tamora Pierce

Lioness Rampant by Tamora Pierce

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The 4 books that make up the Song of the Lioness series are Tamora Pierce’s first exploration of her world of Tortall. A western medieval society with chivalry and magic of many kinds. I read the first book in this series (Alanna) when I was a child and for many years never even realised it had sequels. But it stuck with me over the years and about 10 years ago I found the books again and read them all with new eyes. I come back […]

Double Cannonballing with a Messy Author

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Twelve years ago I was sharing a house in Annapolis, Maryland. My housemate had 3 kids who visited every other weekend. Her youngest, Rosemary, introduced me to Tamora Pierce and I introduced her to Joan of Arcadia. I have since read most of Pierce’s books, both her Tortall and Emelan worlds. She has a gift for writing characters that stick with you. She has written some wonderful female characters. However, as a person, Pierce has revealed herself to be messy on race and representation. She […]

Meeting new friends and reuniting with old

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This is a collection of short stories, most of which take place in Tamora Pierce’s Tortallan Universe.  Well, six do, and four take place in other fantasy settings, and there’s one nonfantasy story that was inspired by one of Pierce’s early jobs.  I liked all of them, although one of them was a bit spoilery for me, as I haven’t read the books that it follows.  (They’re sitting in my TBR pile right now, actually.)   “Student of Ostriches” This story follows Kylaia, a young […]

The way audiobooks should be

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This is an awesome audiobook production!  Tamora Pierce, the author, reads the narration, but all of the characters have different actors who voice them.  And they do an awesome job!  (Honestly, Tamora Pierce sounds a little stodgy, like she’s reading to a child, and you can tell she’s very deliberate with her words and annunciation.  But hey, she’s not a voice actor, and it creates a noticeable difference between the narration and the actors. And you get used to it!) (In listening to the interview at […]

Just as good as I remembered!

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So, my library was having a new front door installed, so everyone had to temporarily enter through the basement door, which is where the bargain sale books are.  So, despite having *two* stacks of unread books at home, I bought some.  One of them was Tamora Pierce’s First Test, which takes place in the “medieval and fantastic realm of Tortall.”  I loved these books when I was younger, so I forked over my $0.25 for a bit of nostalgia.  The King’s Champion Alanna the Lioness […]

My favorite of the Emelan books.

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For the past several years, I’ve been sloooowly making my way through all of Tamora Pierce’s books, first with all the Tortall books, and then with Emelan. I’ve liked all the Emelan books, but have always preferred the Tortall books. This is the first Emelan book that has made that opinion waver a little. Maybe it’s just because this is the first time Pierce’s self-imposed structural limitations on this series have been lifted. The first four books were for children, about children (ten and eleven […]



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