I started this series with the thought that it was going to be a do over of Pierce's previous, successful Alanna the Lioness Quartet, which followed a girl (named Alanna, of course) who dressed like a boy and took her twin brother's place in page training while he took her place in magic school (not dressed as a girl). The four books of that quartet follow her progress from page, to squire, to knight and king's champion--with her sex being discovered along the way. I was pleasantly surprised to find that not only does Pierce give Keladry her own unique strong personality and story, but also that in some ways I enjoyed Keladry's story more than Alanna's.

Keladry's struggle to be the first openly female page in Tortall strikes me as being braver than Alanna's secret struggles. Being openly female Keladry has to deal with all the aggression and contempt of the males who don't want to her to succeed, as well as a blatant double standard (even though the law since Alanna's time says that girls can train as pages, Keladry is put on probation for her first term).

On top of that, where Alanna has the help of her magical powers and the Mother Goddess of her universe, Keladry works through her problems on her own.

Definitely a girl empowering story!