In the Hand of the Goddess
core novel 1984 Tortall
Record
| First published | 1984 |
|---|---|
| Original language |  EN |
| Work type | novel |
| Canon status | core |
| Reader rating | 4.24 (103,618 ratings, collected 2026-09-14) |
| First-edition ISBN | 9780689310546 |
| Internal chronology | 2 |
Synopsis
In the Hand of the Goddess is the second novel in Tamora Pierce's Song of the Lioness quartet, picking up as Alanna of Trebond, still disguised as a boy, is taken on as squire to Prince Jonathan of Conte. Her new role means closer proximity to the royal family and deeper danger, since a squire is expected to fight alongside his knight. When war breaks out with the neighboring kingdom of Tusaine, Alanna must prove herself on the battlefield while keeping her identity hidden from everyone but a small circle of trusted friends. At court she gains a small, purple-eyed cat named Faithful, who becomes her companion, and continues to develop her healing gift under difficult circumstances. Both Jonathan and George Cooper, the King of Thieves, grow closer to her, while Alanna's uneasy suspicion of the ambitious Duke Roger of Conte deepens into open distrust.
Where it sits
- Universe: Tortall
- Series: Song of the Lioness core; position 2 of 4 in the series' recorded order
- Author: Tamora Pierce
Notes
- From the series record (Song of the Lioness): Alanna of Trebond's quartet; the founding sequence of Tortall.
Neighbouring works
Publication order and internal chronology are tracked as two separate orderings and are never conflated: a book's place in one says nothing about its place in the other.
- Publication order, within the series Song of the Lioness: position 2 of 4: previous Alanna: The First Adventure (1983) · next The Woman Who Rides Like a Man (1986)
- Internal chronology, within Tortall: position 2 of 14: previous Alanna: The First Adventure (1983) · next The Woman Who Rides Like a Man (1986)
Sources
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Song_of_the_Lioness
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_the_Hand_of_the_Goddess
← Tortall dossier · All universes
Part of the Library. Fields without an identified source are omitted, never guessed.