Cover of The Woman Who Rides Like a Man

The Woman Who Rides Like a Man

core novel 1986 Tortall

Record

First published1986
Original language EN
Work typenovel
Canon statuscore
Reader rating4.18 (84,602 ratings, collected 2026-09-14)
First-edition ISBN9780689311178
Internal chronology3

Synopsis

The Woman Who Rides Like a Man is the third book in the Song of the Lioness quartet, set after Alanna of Trebond has been knighted and has revealed herself as a woman to the Tortallan court. Seeking distance from the capital and the men who love her, she rides out into the desert at the kingdom's edge, accompanied by her cat Faithful and her old friend Coram. After bandits attack her party and break her sword, she is taken in by the Bazhir, a desert people whose customs bar women from positions of power. A deadly duel with the tribe's shaman leaves Alanna unexpectedly bound to take his place, training successors in magic and law while working to change the Bloody Hawk tribe's view of women. Even in exile, she cannot escape the pull of Prince Jonathan and George Cooper, both still hoping she will return.

Where it sits

  • Universe: Tortall
  • Series: Song of the Lioness core; position 3 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.

Sources

← Tortall dossier · All universes

Part of the Library. Fields without an identified source are omitted, never guessed.