The Woman Who Rides Like a Man by Tamora Pierce

Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy
Author: Tamora Pierce
Published: March 1986
Publisher: Atheneum
Pages: 268 {paperback}

Review on Goodreads

Initial Thoughts upon Finishing

You can’t go too far wrong with a Tamora Pierce book, right? This series is such a lovely, easy read and Alanna is a really well-developed character. I love how this really toes the line with reading like a middle-grade book but is definitely exploring young adult themes. You can see why people just love all of Pierce’s books if this is what I’ve got in store for what I haven’t read yet!

The Woman Who Rides Like a Man

This is the third book in the Song of the Lioness quartet so if you haven’t read book one, leave now.

The book picks up not long after the conclusion of book one. Alanna is now a knight and well-respected by her peers. She has a fierce reputation and much responsibility. The plot of this instalment felt faster to me than the first two books but that is possibly because I read those back-to-back and think of them as one story.

Which means this story is about her own adventures and missions that she is sent on. I liked the desert setting of this one! Alanna finds herself in a desert tribe where magic is present and she ends up having to prove her own skills. A lot of interesting concepts are explored with gender balance and self-growth that I really appreciated!

Is It Worth Continuing the Series?

Definitely! This is such a fun story that truly reminds me of all the fun to be had within Ranger’s Apprentice by John Flanagan. Alanna is a great character to follow as she grows with every new experience that she encounters.

I loved the way that these books seem to mature as the story progresses on and I’m really curious what the fourth and final book will have in store for us. I’m almost surprised that Pierce didn’t turn this into a much longer series with countless adventures of Alanna as she does the king’s work.

Summary

This was a great continuation of this story and I have little to fault it for! I would’ve loved it to be even longer but that is the nature of this series, it’s quite short. Loving the world and the characters and honestly really impressed by the character development! Can’t wait to start book four!