Tortall
#674.26 in the official ranking · full ranking
Books 18 books Status Ongoing 1983–present Reading commitment High Tamora Pierce Last reviewed 2026-08-07
Overview
A foundational YA fantasy kingdom spanning six sub-series and multiple generations: Alanna of Trebond's quartet (Song of the Lioness), Daine Sarrasri's quartet (The Immortals), Keladry of Mindelan's quartet (Protector of the Small), Aly of Pirate's Swoop's sequence (Daughter of the Lioness/Trickster's), Beka Cooper's trilogy set two centuries earlier, and the still-unfinished prequel sequence about the mage Numair Salmalín (The Numair Chronicles). Tortall is a medieval-inspired realm of monarchy, nobility and knighthood where magic ranges from village hedgewitches to royal court mages, and where deities actively intervene in mortal affairs, sometimes appointing human champions; the setting also extends into neighboring lands such as Scanra, the Copper Isles and the Yamani Islands. Tamora Pierce originally wrote the Alanna story for an adult audience before her agent suggested reshaping it into four books for teenagers, helping establish the template for extended, single-protagonist YA fantasy series that followed. The Beka Cooper trilogy was a finalist for the 2012 Mythopoeic Fantasy Award for Children's Literature, and the sequence as a whole is regarded as one of the most influential girls-in-fantasy series lines in the genre's history.
Epic fantasy · For YA
Core Canon: Reading Order (18 works) counts toward ranking
Song of the Lioness Tamora Pierce
| Work | Year | Internal chron. | Canon | Rating | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Alanna: The First Adventure | 1983 | 1 | core | 4.27 (138,512 ratings) |
 | In the Hand of the Goddess | 1984 | 2 | core | 4.24 (103,618 ratings) |
 | The Woman Who Rides Like a Man | 1986 | 3 | core | 4.18 (84,602 ratings) |
 | Lioness Rampant | 1988 | 4 | core | 4.28 (94,261 ratings) |
Alanna of Trebond's quartet; the founding sequence of Tortall.
The Immortals Tamora Pierce
| Work | Year | Internal chron. | Canon | Rating | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Wild Magic | 1992 | 5 | core | 4.31 (83,588 ratings) |
 | Wolf-Speaker | 1994 | 6 | core | 4.21 (61,330 ratings) |
 | Emperor Mage | 1995 | 7 | core | 4.29 (66,205 ratings) |
 | The Realms of the Gods | 1996 | 8 | core | 4.31 (58,090 ratings) |
Daine Sarrasri's quartet, set a decade after Song of the Lioness.
Protector of the Small Tamora Pierce
| Work | Year | Internal chron. | Canon | Rating | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | First Test | 1999 | 9 | core | 4.25 (63,957 ratings) |
 | Page | 2000 | 10 | core | 4.26 (52,320 ratings) |
 | Squire | 2001 | 11 | core | 4.31 (55,550 ratings) |
 | Lady Knight | 2002 | 12 | core | 4.33 (55,822 ratings) |
Keladry of Mindelan's quartet, the first girl to openly train as a knight after Alanna.
Daughter of the Lioness (Trickster's) Tamora Pierce
| Work | Year | Internal chron. | Canon | Rating | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Trickster's Choice | 2003 | 13 | core | 4.26 (68,358 ratings) |
 | Trickster's Queen | 2004 | 14 | core | 4.28 (61,842 ratings) |
Aly of Pirate's Swoop (Alanna's daughter); the enum has no 'duology' value, registered as sequence.
Beka Cooper Tamora Pierce
| Work | Year | Canon | Rating | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Terrier | 2006 | core | 4.16 (70,428 ratings) |
 | Bloodhound | 2009 | core | 4.28 (40,363 ratings) |
 | Mastiff | 2011 | core | 4.27 (30,441 ratings) |
Set roughly two centuries before Alanna's era; Beka Cooper is Alanna's own ancestor per Pierce's internal chronology.
The Numair Chronicles Tamora Pierce
| Work | Year | Canon | Rating | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Tempests and Slaughter | 2018 | core | 4.09 (18,742 ratings) |
Numair Salmalín's youth; only the first of a planned multi-book prequel sequence has been published as of 2026-08-07, per Article 2 it is admitted in progress rather than withheld.
Quick answers
- How many books are in Tortall? Tortall's Core Canon is 18 books.
- What is the reading order for Tortall? Publication order, starting with Alanna: The First Adventure. Full list and years in the Core Canon table above.
- Is Tortall finished? Ongoing (1983–present).
- How much reading does Tortall take? High reading commitment (estimated from 18 Core Canon books).
- How is Tortall ranked? #67 in this site's official ranking, based on 1,208,029 reader ratings across 18 Core Canon books. See the full ranking for how this is calculated.
Why is it ranked #67?
Ranked #67 in the official ranking.
- Average reader rating of 4.26 across 18 core books.
- Backed by 1.2M reader ratings.
- 0.01 behind #66, Malazan.
- Below the top-10 average of 4.45.
Why explore this universe?
Top-tier rated · 18 books · Ongoing · 1.2M ratings · Ranks #67 overall
Good choice if you want a long-running epic fantasy universe that's still ongoing, with new books still coming.
Reading order
Publication order (18 Core Canon books)
- Alanna: The First Adventure (1983)
- In the Hand of the Goddess (1984)
- The Woman Who Rides Like a Man (1986)
- Lioness Rampant (1988)
- Wild Magic (1992)
- Wolf-Speaker (1994)
- Emperor Mage (1995)
- The Realms of the Gods (1996)
- First Test (1999)
- Page (2000)
- Squire (2001)
- Lady Knight (2002)
- Trickster's Choice (2003)
- Trickster's Queen (2004)
- Terrier (2006)
- Bloodhound (2009)
- Mastiff (2011)
- Tempests and Slaughter (2018)
Documented internal/story order: 14 of 18 Core Canon books
- Alanna: The First Adventure (1983)
- In the Hand of the Goddess (1984)
- The Woman Who Rides Like a Man (1986)
- Lioness Rampant (1988)
- Wild Magic (1992)
- Wolf-Speaker (1994)
- Emperor Mage (1995)
- The Realms of the Gods (1996)
- First Test (1999)
- Page (2000)
- Squire (2001)
- Lady Knight (2002)
- Trickster's Choice (2003)
- Trickster's Queen (2004)
Internal chronology is documented for 14 of 18 Core Canon novels: the numbered Alanna / Immortals / Protector of the Small / Trickster's sequence. Beka Cooper (set two centuries earlier in the same kingdom) and The Numair Chronicles (an unfinished prequel sequence) are not yet mapped onto the same ordinal scale.
Awards (verified)
- Margaret A. Edwards Award (Career Award (YALSA)), 2013: won: Alanna: The First Adventure; ALA/YALSA's own citation names 'Song of the Lioness series and The Protector of the Small quartet' explicitly; recorded against Alanna: The First Adventure (the flagship opening novel) as the representative work since the award spans two series rather than one book.
Related universes
- Same author Circle of Magic (Emelan): Both by Tamora Pierce. Circle of Magic (Emelan) is confirmed an entirely separate world from Tortall, sharing no characters, geography, or history.
You might also like
Suggestions computed from what Tortall and each of these worlds have in common on record (subgenre, audience, shape, reading commitment and score), not a documented narrative connection.
- The Grishaverse Romantasy / Epic fantasy · Ongoing · High commitment · 4.17
- Gwendalavir Epic fantasy · Complete · Low commitment · 4.31
- A Saga das Pedras Mágicas Epic fantasy / Romantasy · Complete · High commitment · 4.15
- The Chronicles of Damar / Spindle's End Epic fantasy · Complete · Low commitment · 4.14
Official resources
Research details
Ranking metrics: weighted average 4.26 across 1,208,029 ratings on 18 Core Canon books. See Why is it ranked here? above for the full breakdown, or the full ranking.
How do we know this?
Admission: Tortall admitted; Core Canon = the six main-line quartets/sequences (18 novels) accepted 2026-08-07
Sources: (see source tier definitions)
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tamora_Pierce_bibliography
- https://www.tamora-pierce.net/about/honors-and-awards/
Related universes: see the Related universes section above.
Last reviewed: 2026-08-07
Rule: Core Canon = all 18 novels across the six sub-series, one shared internal chronology of the same kingdom; same continuous-saga treatment as Sevenwaters and Kushiel's Legacy. Admitted as an in-progress series because The Numair Chronicles remains unfinished.