This is definitely a book and a series that I wish I read when I was younger. I am so happy that my friend Autumn @Kitty Cat Reads convinced me to pick up these books. Tamora is absolute fantastic and I adore her world of Tortall and her strong and full of life and personality characters! This book was first published in 1983 and I feel like it deserves more attention and is definitely a fantastic book (series) for young girls to read. I would not limit it to just the younger audience. I just read it this year at the age of 23 and found it to be absolutely wonderful and definitely has that feel and a feeling of childhood nostaligia that the Harry Potter series carries.

This book is the first in four about the adventures and trials that Alanna must face as she tries to become a knight in the place of her brother. In order to become a knight she must switch places with her brother and deceive all of court to thinking she is a boy. There is magical and fantastical elements weaved throughout the story and Alanna must learn to come into her own and help to defeat the evil that is brewing in the kingdom.

Pierce is absolutely brilliant! She has created such a fun and fantastic story filled with phenomenal characters! I loved that is fantasy world has its touches of the medieval era with knights and sorcery. It is a great adventure story and a wonderful introduction to Alanna and company, the world and series! Alanna is a strong, stubborn female lead that goes through some great character development and is quite cheeky! Pierce has also created a great cast of characters that Alanna meets and take part in the adventures. There is her companion Coram, the other pages and squires, including Prince Jonathan, Gary, Raoul etc. and then there is George Cooper. All of these characters have relationship and friendships with Alanna that add greatly to the story.

Overall this book has a fantastic storyline that is so captivating and entertaining that it is such a quick read. It follows a strong and feisty female lead that is a great role model to young girls to remind them it is okay to be different and follow their dreams. It has a wonderful setting and loads of characters that is so easy to get into and lost in the story. The writing is geared to a younger audience, but I did not find this a flaw, but took me back to the whimsical and easy life of childhood where anything was possible and in the realm of my imagination! I feel like I can't do this review justice. Basically if you haven't read anything by Tamora Pierce yet you should really give it a try because it will be worth the read! (at least in my experience)