Tamora Pierce has been one of my favourite authors since I was 10 years old, a love that persists as I inch closer and closer to thirty.
YA fantasy set in it's own, medievalesque universe and primarily female protagonists. Depending on the series, you have...— A common girl who can hear the dead and becomes a member of the city's police equivalent (Provost's Dog trilogy, beginning with Terrier; can be read before or after any of the other books by the author without being spoilery)
— A noble girl (10 in the first book, all grown up in the fourth) disguises herself as her twin brother to become a knight in an era where this is forbidden for girls. Also has magical abilities and at one point gets a talking cat, so that's fun. Starts with "save my friend" in the first book and ends with "save my country" in the last. Books one and three include this world's answer to the Middle East, while book four introduces its equivalent to Vietnam. (Song of the Lioness quartet, beginning with Alanna: The First Adventure; can be read on it's own or chronologically before the series below)
— A draper's son begins studying to become a powerful mage—the same one that features heavily in the Immortals quartet. Set in the equivalent of Egypt/Ancient Rome. (Only the first book, Tempests & Slaughter, has been released so far; can be read at any time, really, since it doesn't give spoilers for the other quartets).
— An orphaned commoner (16 in the first book, or possibly 14?) with a ~connection to animals signs on with a pony seller and eventually learns how to control her wild magic. My favourite book by the author is actually the third in this series, which also includes this world's answer to Egypt! This is also the most ~grand fantasy~ of her series so far since eventually you get dragons. (Immortals quartet, beginning with Wild Magic).
— A noble girl (10 in the first book, grown up in the fourth) does NOT disguise herself as a boy to become a knight because Alanna already broke that glass ceiling, but is still the first such female to enter training openly and faces discrimination for that. She has NO magical powers and NO talking cat, and spent her early years in the world's equivalent of Japan (who send a delegation in book 3). The first TP book I read was the second in this series. (Protector of the Small quartet, beginning with First Test)
— The daughter of Alanna the Lioness and the king's spymaster (or second in command; can't remember what's up with Myles by this point) is kidnapped by slavers and taken to this universe's answer to Indonesia on the cusp of a civil war. (Trickster duology, beginning with Trickster's Choice).
She's also released a collection of short stories and a spy's guide in the same universe.
She also writes in the Circle universe, focusing on four young mages from differing backgrounds, three male and one female. The universe consists of two quartets (when the mages are 11? and late teens?, respectively) and 3+ stand alone novels built into the chronology.
Also I was so excited to meet TP two years ago that I cried when I hugged her, so there's that.
YA fantasy set in it's own, medievalesque universe and primarily female protagonists. Depending on the series, you have...
— A noble girl (10 in the first book, all grown up in the fourth) disguises herself as her twin brother to become a knight in an era where this is forbidden for girls. Also has magical abilities and at one point gets a talking cat, so that's fun. Starts with "save my friend" in the first book and ends with "save my country" in the last. Books one and three include this world's answer to the Middle East, while book four introduces its equivalent to Vietnam. (Song of the Lioness quartet, beginning with Alanna: The First Adventure; can be read on it's own or chronologically before the series below)
— A draper's son begins studying to become a powerful mage—the same one that features heavily in the Immortals quartet. Set in the equivalent of Egypt/Ancient Rome. (Only the first book, Tempests & Slaughter, has been released so far; can be read at any time, really, since it doesn't give spoilers for the other quartets).
— An orphaned commoner (16 in the first book, or possibly 14?) with a ~connection to animals signs on with a pony seller and eventually learns how to control her wild magic. My favourite book by the author is actually the third in this series, which also includes this world's answer to Egypt! This is also the most ~grand fantasy~ of her series so far since eventually you get dragons. (Immortals quartet, beginning with Wild Magic).
— A noble girl (10 in the first book, grown up in the fourth) does NOT disguise herself as a boy to become a knight because Alanna already broke that glass ceiling, but is still the first such female to enter training openly and faces discrimination for that. She has NO magical powers and NO talking cat, and spent her early years in the world's equivalent of Japan (who send a delegation in book 3). The first TP book I read was the second in this series. (Protector of the Small quartet, beginning with First Test)
— The daughter of Alanna the Lioness and the king's spymaster (or second in command; can't remember what's up with Myles by this point) is kidnapped by slavers and taken to this universe's answer to Indonesia on the cusp of a civil war. (Trickster duology, beginning with Trickster's Choice).
She's also released a collection of short stories and a spy's guide in the same universe.
She also writes in the Circle universe, focusing on four young mages from differing backgrounds, three male and one female. The universe consists of two quartets (when the mages are 11? and late teens?, respectively) and 3+ stand alone novels built into the chronology.
Also I was so excited to meet TP two years ago that I cried when I hugged her, so there's that.