Tamora Pierce Books in Order (Updated March 7, 2026)

Tamora Pierce’s books are easiest to read when you stop treating them as one giant shelf and divide them into two universes.

The first is Tortall, which contains Alanna, Daine, Kel, Aly, Beka, and Numair. The second is Emelan, often grouped under the Circle Universe, which follows Sandry, Tris, Daja, Briar, Evvy, and their later books. These universes are separate continuities. You do not need to mix them.

For most readers, the safest approach is this:

• Read Tortall in publication order if you want the cleanest path through recurring characters and references.
• Read Emelan in publication order if you want the Circle books.
• Do not jump into internal chronology first unless you already know the world and want a prequel-style reread.

Where to begin, depending on what you want

1. Start with Alanna: The First Adventure if you want the classic Tamora Pierce entry point and the foundation of Tortall.
2. Start with Sandry’s Book if you want the Circle books first and prefer a second universe that develops as a shared-magic ensemble.
3. Start with First Test only if you specifically want Kel’s knight-training arc and do not mind arriving after some earlier Tortall history.
4. Start with Tempests and Slaughter only if you already know you want a prequel-centered Numair story rather than the original entry line.

The best overall reading order

If you want one practical route through the major books, read by universe and publication sequence.

Tortall

1. Alanna: The First Adventure (1983): Alanna swaps places with her twin brother so she can train as a knight in secret, establishing Tortall’s politics, gender barriers, and one of Pierce’s defining heroines.
2. In the Hand of the Goddess (1984): Alanna’s disguise grows harder to maintain as her page training deepens and the first book’s private gamble turns into public risk.
3. The Woman Who Rides Like a Man (1986): Newly knighted, Alanna leaves court for the desert, where the series expands beyond palace life and deepens her independence.
4. Lioness Rampant (1988): Alanna’s quartet closes with larger magical and political stakes, finishing the original Tortall entry arc.
5. Wild Magic (1992): Daine arrives in Tortall with a rare bond to animals, opening the Immortals sequence and shifting the world toward creature magic and divine danger.
6. Wolf-Speaker (1994): Daine’s magic becomes more public and more demanding as the series moves from discovery into responsibility.
7. Emperor Mage (1995): A diplomatic trip to Carthak widens the scope of Tortall and advances both Daine’s personal story and the larger political web.
8. The Realms of the Gods (1996): The Immortals quartet ends at full mythic scale, paying off the divine and wartime threads built through the earlier books.
9. First Test (1999): Keladry becomes the first girl to openly pursue knighthood training after Alanna, beginning a more institutional and discipline-driven quartet.
10. Page (2000): Kel’s second year sharpens the social pressure and practical demands of training, with her steadiness becoming the series’ core strength.
11. Squire (2001): Kel moves into a harder stage of preparation under Lord Raoul, and the quartet starts turning more directly toward war.
12. Lady Knight (2002): Kel’s final book brings her values into open conflict with wartime reality and completes the Protector arc.
13. Trickster’s Choice (2003): Aly, Alanna’s daughter, lands in the Copper Isles and shifts Tortall into a spy-and-rebellion story with stronger dependence on earlier family history.
14. Trickster’s Queen (2004): Aly’s covert role expands into revolution, making this duology best read only after its first volume and ideally after the earlier Tortall books.
15. Terrier (2006): Set centuries earlier, Beka Cooper’s first book works as a police-procedural prequel inside Tortall, with a younger and rougher Corus at its center.
16. Bloodhound (2009): Beka’s second case builds from street-level crime into a wider threat to the realm’s stability.
17. Mastiff (2011): Beka’s trilogy closes with a harder, longer hunt that tests her judgment as much as her courage.
18. Tortall and Other Lands (2011): This story collection is optional reading, useful once you already know the world and want side angles, gaps, and shorter visits.
19. Tortall: A Spy’s Guide (2017): This is a companion reference book rather than a main novel, best saved for readers who already know the setting and want lore, documents, and extras.
20. Tempests and Slaughter (2018): A prequel about Arram Draper before he becomes Numair, this starts the Numair Chronicles but is better appreciated after at least some earlier Tortall reading.

Emelan / Circle Universe

1. Sandry’s Book (1997): Four children with unusual forms of magic are brought together at Winding Circle, beginning the shared-found-family spine of Emelan.
2. Tris’s Book (1998): The second Circle of Magic novel develops Tris while reinforcing that the quartet works as one connected group story, not four isolated standalones.
3. Daja’s Book (1998): Daja’s metal magic and Trader background move to the foreground, while the group’s bond remains central.
4. Briar’s Book (1999): Briar’s volume closes the first quartet with the same shared-cast foundation and a stronger sense of what these four mean to one another.
5. Magic Steps (2000): The Circle Opens sequence jumps forward, with Sandry now older and teaching, so it works best after the original quartet.
6. Street Magic (2001): Briar’s book introduces Evvy and starts feeding material that matters later in Circle Reforged.
7. Cold Fire (2002): Daja’s Circle Opens novel keeps the post-quartet structure going by following one mage into a new crisis and community.
8. Shatterglass (2003): Tris’s volume closes Circle Opens and completes that second four-book movement.
9. The Will of the Empress (2005): This begins Circle Reforged and reunites the original four as young adults, so it lands best after both earlier quartets.
10. Melting Stones (2007): Focused on Evvy, this continues the wider Emelan continuity and is especially useful before Battle Magic.
11. Battle Magic (2013): Although published later, this takes place chronologically after Street Magic and fills in a major war story for Briar, Rosethorn, and Evvy.

Publication order vs chronological order

For a first read, publication order is still the best recommendation.

That matters most in Tortall, because some books were published later but occur earlier. The clearest example is Beka Cooper, which is set about 200 years before The Song of the Lioness, and Tempests and Slaughter, which is a prequel to the Numair readers already know from the Daine books. Reading those first is possible, but it changes how the world is introduced. Publication order preserves the intended layering of references and reveals.

In Emelan, publication order is also the safer path, but one extra note matters: Battle Magic was written after The Will of the Empress and Melting Stones, yet the official series notes place it chronologically after Street Magic. For new readers, publication order is still easier. For rereaders, a chronology-minded Emelan run can place Battle Magic earlier.

A practical recommended order for new readers

If you want only Tortall

1. Alanna: The First Adventure
2. In the Hand of the Goddess
3. The Woman Who Rides Like a Man
4. Lioness Rampant
5. Wild Magic
6. Wolf-Speaker
7. Emperor Mage
8. The Realms of the Gods
9. First Test
10. Page
11. Squire
12. Lady Knight
13. Trickster’s Choice
14. Trickster’s Queen
15. Terrier
16. Bloodhound
17. Mastiff
18. Tempests and Slaughter
19. Tortall and Other Lands – optional
20. Tortall: A Spy’s Guide – optional reference

This keeps the main historical development of Tortall intact. It also avoids beginning with a prequel line before you know why Numair matters.

If you want only Emelan

1. Sandry’s Book
2. Tris’s Book
3. Daja’s Book
4. Briar’s Book
5. Magic Steps
6. Street Magic
7. Cold Fire
8. Shatterglass
9. The Will of the Empress
10. Melting Stones
11. Battle Magic

That order follows how Pierce released the Circle books and avoids inserting the later-published Battle Magic into the middle on a first pass.

Which books are optional, and which are core?

Core Tortall novels

• Song of the Lioness
• The Immortals
• Protector of the Small
• Tricksters
• Beka Cooper
• Tempests and Slaughter

Core Emelan novels

• Circle of Magic
• Circle Opens
• The Will of the Empress
• Melting Stones
• Battle Magic

Optional companion or reference reading

• Tortall and Other Lands
• Tortall: A Spy’s Guide

These can enrich the world, but they are not required to follow the main arcs.

Tamora Pierce books by series

Song of the Lioness

1. Alanna: The First Adventure (1983): The original Tortall gateway, centered on Alanna’s secret training and the series’ foundational social barrier.
2. In the Hand of the Goddess (1984): The pressure of concealment and advancement rises together as Alanna’s place at court becomes harder to separate from her ambitions.
3. The Woman Who Rides Like a Man (1986): Alanna steps outside the usual structures of power, and the world begins to feel much larger than the palace.
4. Lioness Rampant (1988): The quartet ends by combining quest, duty, and identity into the shape of the wider Tortall legend.

The Immortals

1. Wild Magic (1992): Daine’s first book brings animal communication and immortal creatures to the front of the setting.
2. Wolf-Speaker (1994): Daine’s relationship to the natural world turns from gift to burden as outside threats grow clearer.
3. Emperor Mage (1995): Carthak becomes the stage for politics, culture clash, and a bigger test of Daine’s power.
4. The Realms of the Gods (1996): The divine stakes become literal, closing the quartet at its most expansive level.

Protector of the Small

1. First Test (1999): Kel’s strength is persistence rather than disguise, making this a very different kind of knight-training story from Alanna’s.
2. Page (2000): The series digs into the daily grind of earning respect inside a system that still resists her.
3. Squire (2001): Kel’s apprenticeship raises the consequences and starts aligning her personal growth with national danger.
4. Lady Knight (2002): Kel’s final volume turns preparation into action and pays off the quartet’s long training arc.

Tricksters

1. Trickster’s Choice (2003): Aly pushes Tortall toward espionage, colonial politics, and prophecy rather than knight-training.
2. Trickster’s Queen (2004): The rebellion plot moves from setup to execution, making this an immediate continuation rather than a separate adventure.

Beka Cooper: A Tortall Legend

1. Terrier (2006): A Lower City investigation introduces an earlier Tortall through guard work, ghosts, and criminal networks.
2. Bloodhound (2009): Beka’s second book widens from one investigator’s beat into a realm-level financial threat.
3. Mastiff (2011): The last Beka novel combines travel, pursuit, and loyalty tests in a more mature close to the trilogy.

The Numair Chronicles

1. Tempests and Slaughter (2018): Arram Draper’s school years in Carthak begin a prequel sequence meant to explain how Numair became Numair.

Circle of Magic

1. Sandry’s Book (1997): Sandry’s thread magic opens the Winding Circle story and binds the four leads together.
2. Tris’s Book (1998): Tris’s weather-linked powers deepen the quartet’s sense of unstable but growing community.
3. Daja’s Book (1998): Daja’s magic and exile from Trader life become the emotional center of the third volume.
4. Briar’s Book (1999): Briar’s street background and plant magic close the first quartet while showing how interdependent the four have become.

Circle Opens

1. Magic Steps (2000): Sandry returns as teacher as well as mage, marking the series’ move into a more mature second phase.
2. Street Magic (2001): Briar’s story introduces Evvy and lays groundwork that later books rely on.
3. Cold Fire (2002): Daja’s volume ties craft, danger, and mentorship into another city-centered crisis.
4. Shatterglass (2003): Tris’s book closes the quartet with a glassmaker, storm-linked magic, and a sharper edge than the first series.

Circle Reforged

1. The Will of the Empress (2005): The original four reunite as young adults, and the emotional changes between them matter as much as the external plot.
2. Melting Stones (2007): Evvy’s stone magic takes center stage in a volcanic crisis that expands the same continuity.
3. Battle Magic (2013): A wartime story for Briar, Rosethorn, and Evvy that fills in major events from the broader Circle timeline.

Latest release status

The most recent published Tamora Pierce book I could verify is Tempests and Slaughter (2018). Official site material still says Pierce is working on the second Numair Chronicles book, with three books planned for that series, but I did not find a confirmed publication date for book two. The Circle site material also says further Circle Reforged books are pending, with the next planned around Trisana Chandler at Lightsbridge, again without a release date.

So the safest current status is: no newer published novel after Tempests and Slaughter has been confirmed in the sources reviewed, but both Tortall and Emelan have future installments still described as planned or in progress.

FAQ

Do I need to read all of Tortall before Emelan?

No. They are separate universes.

Can I start with Beka Cooper because it happens earlier?

You can, but it is not the best first recommendation. It is a prequel line inside Tortall, not the clearest introduction to how the world was published and revealed.

Can I read Tempests and Slaughter first?

Yes, but most readers should not. It works better once Numair already has meaning for you from the Daine books.

Is Battle Magic out of order?

In publication terms, no. In internal chronology, yes, it falls earlier than its release date suggests.

What is the best Tamora Pierce starting point?

For most readers: Alanna: The First Adventure.
For readers who specifically want Emelan first: Sandry’s Book.

Final recommendation

If you want the most natural first experience of Tamora Pierce, begin with Alanna and continue through Tortall in publication order. Treat Beka Cooper and Tempests and Slaughter as prequel-flavored branches that are better once the main setting already feels familiar. Read Emelan separately, starting with Sandry’s Book and staying in publication order there as well.