I speak from a place of bias but Alanna was the first real female character I ever read about. thanks pierce <3

Tamora Pierce always writes fantastic work. This graphic novelization is very well done. The artistry is wonderful and represents the story well. Although not every nuance can be put into graphic form, this was very well done and will be a great lead in for new or tentative readers in the fantasy genre.

As it is a graphic novel, it was great to see the characters come to life. Some of them were how I envisioned them while reading, but some were not quite there.

Can't speak to this as an adaptation, as I've never delved into the series before this, but on it's own it stands well enough. Art style was good overall -really like how magic was portrayed, particularly the scene where Alan heals Jon.

A more than competent adaptation, however fails to catch the spark of the original novels. Feels like there's something a bit too simple or generic with the artwork. The story remains great.

I enjoyed reading this traditional knight's tale that has a slight twist. The protagonist is a young woman who wants to be a knight. It was enjoyable to see the gender role flipped in a realistic way. I look forward to reading more of Alanna's adventures.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this free eARC in exchange for my honest review.

This graphic novel version of Song of the Lioness is an exciting and heartfelt coming-of-age fantasy story. I think that both boys and girls would be interested in this story about a young girl who wants to be a knight. It would be especially helpful for reluctant readers, and/or readers struggling to transition from picture books to chapter books. I appreciate the way Pierce approaches the subject of Alanna's changing body and the tumultuous emotions that accompany that- especially since Alanna is pretending to be a boy. Gender, and defying gender norms, is a main theme in this book and that may be controversial for parents. I would recommend this for kids aged 12 and up.

Thank you NetGalley for providing this book!

This was an adventure of coming of age in a world that has gender biases. It is fast paced, action packed, and a pinch of magic to push the plot along.

The FMC is likable and experiences growth. Learning to love the unique things that make you YOU, while also pushing the bar on what society deems as a man’s or woman’s role in life.

This story would be appropriate for children around 7th grade and up, as there was body talk, slightly suggestive imagery, bullying, fighting, and death.

This was a quick read and the ending is open for a second book…

This is the first book in the graphic novel adaptation of Tamora Pierce’s beloved Song of the Lioness quartet. Alana of Trebond is a young noblewoman who desperately wants to become a knight, so she disguises herself as a boy, travels to the capitol, and begins training as a page. Her stubbornness, loyalty, and skill with magic win her friends and the opportunity to prove her true self.

I have a feeling that this adaptation will reinvigorate interest in the original Song of the Lioness quartet. The characters are compelling, and the story is action packed. It may leave readers wanting more, but in an exciting way that will encourage them to read the full novel, with even more character development, hijinks, and adventures. I’m not sure how I missed these books as a kid, but I’ve added them to my TBR.

The Alanna Quartet was one of the first series I picked up in Middle School that I absolutely loved. I've reread the novel many times and was not dissappointed by the graphic novel adaptation! I think the pacing was well done and the illustrations of characters and settings were spot on! Can't wait to purchase this one for my own collection!

I love this graphic novel!
If you were to ask me what my favourite book, the one that was most fundamental to me growing up was, it would always be this book!
I read this series growing up and I still love it to this day. Getting to re-read a story I LOVE in a graphic novel was so delightful! The art is amazing and adds to the story perfectly. The text adaptation was also perfect.
I thoroughly enjoyed this!
5 stars

it was adorable it shows our alana as the kind of girl who needs reassurance but will do anything for her dream which is inspiring and heart warming at the same time. would of been even better if we could of read it in coulour.

This was one of my favorite novel series as a kid. I would read and reread it over and over again. I could not get enough of Alanna. This graphic novel spoke to my soul. It brought me back to my earlier days of reading and I felt all the warm fuzzies. I love the art style. I think it works beautifully well with the plot.

I just want to say thank you for bringing me back in time and allowing me to experience this as a graphic novel for the first time all at once. I feel like I need to reread the whole series again now.

What I love most: Alanna is spunky, yet a totally normal girl pretending to be a boy, the juxtaposition of the prince and king of thieves, the horses

This graphic novel was my first foray into Tamora Pierce, and I am officially hooked. This was a great entry point into the world of Tortall, and I'm definitely going to be picking up the full text novels, in preparation for future graphic novel adaptations (and because I am desperate to hear about Alanna's adventures). However, because I have not read the original novel, I cannot speak to this adaptation's quality as an adaptation of that original text.

I really loved the exploration of the concept of gender in this book, which was almost certainly a fresh perspective in fantasy for teens, at the time of the original text's publication, and still will ring true with audiences of today. I imagine the explorations of these themes will delve even deeper as the series progresses. I think if the graphic novel had a little bit more length (0r perhaps two volumes!) we would see these themes explored a little bit more here, as I'm sure they are in the original text.

I also think that this will be a great transitional text for hesitant readers in younger highschool grades, to move from graphic novels to trying full text novels, much in the way that the Percy Jackson graphic novel adaptations do for hesitant middle grade readers. It would also be a fantastic transition text for those readers hoping to try moving into young adult from middle grade.

I received an eARC of this title through NetGalley in return for an honest review.

Honestly, I was so excited to see this become a graphic novel series. This series was one of my first book loves as a kid. I felt so seen by the heroine who wanted to be a knight instead of do "girly" things. And as the character grew, so did her idea of what "girly" things she wanted and didn't want.

Honestly, I felt this graphic novel was hard to read as a digital book. There were so many words and they were tiny. I know a lot happens in each of these books as it covers multiple years of her life, however, I feel like (at least from the digital copy I read) the text was daunting and hard to read and keep up with what was happening.

Everything else was great. The art was amazing, the way each character is drawn is well done. I think I will want to give this book a chance as a physical copy instead of digital to give it the best chance.

I have been a fan of Tamara Pierce for over 20 years, and this did not disappoint! It follows the story of young Alanna, who wants to become a knight. This book takes us through the first year at the castle and all the fun/adventure/struggles that go along with it. Since this is a graphic novel adaptation, not everything from the original book is included, but I thought they did a great job at condensing it. Also, the illustrations are beautiful and clear and definitely add to the story. I highly recommend this graphic novel, as well as ALL of Tamara Pierce's books!

"Song of the Lioness, Book 1: Alanna" is a retelling of Tamora Pierce's "Song of the Lioness" YA fantasy fiction series, adapted into a graphic novel series by Vita Ayala and Sam Beck. We get to meet Alanna of Trebold, a teen girl who wants to be a knight even though currently all knights are boys. She swaps places with her brother and pretends to be a boy (Alan of Trebold) so that she can learn knight skills. The book does a good job at adapting the work into a graphic novel, though it felt a bit short and that a lot of detail from the novel was lost, though it is a good introduction to those who have not read the series. A recommended purchase for graphic novel collections.

I could cry I love this book so much. The graphic novel definitely lives up to the hype of the original books. The artist has rendered Alanna in full color glory and I hope they do the whole series. Seeing some of these scenes depicted visually pulled at my heartstrings even more. This story has always been brilliant and the new medium is amazing.

I grew up with Tamora Pierce's books and I can't wait for this book to introduce her to a new audience.

Thank you to Netgalley, Tamora Pierce and ABRAMS Kids for a complimentary digital copy of this graphic novel in exchange for an honest review.

I first read Tamora Pierce's seminal 'Song of the Lioness' quartet back when I was a kid myself and seeing that there is now a graphic novel adaptation of it really took me back. I love that they chose to re-create this story, originally released in the 80s and the art is gorgeous and really fits how I saw all the characters from the original series. I also love the choice of adapters here with one being a nonbinary person of colour, which really works with our somewhat genderfluid heroine, Alanna - back when I first read this and seeing Alanna dressing as a boy and trying to hide how her body was changing as she grew, I didn't take this for a trans storyline but on re-reading this it really shines through as a trans experience of sorts. Never does Alanna or Alan as they're known, say that they don't want to be a woman knight, but they are also pretty horrified about certain things they experience with their body which really does mirror a trans experience.
The arc version I received was in black and white rather than colour so I think this did hamper the visual storytelling somewhat and the quality wasn't perhaps the best particularly as it went further into the graphic novel unfortunately - hopefully this quality issue will be fixed with the addition of colour for the final release in May.
Overall, I liked this graphic novel but I did feel like with them basically squeezing a whole novel in here, we definitely lost a lot of the detail and the subtleties of character relationships - the only ones I truly believed in throughout this graphic novel was with the History teacher and the Prince, the others and all the side characters generally felt too under-developed to really be able to tell them apart. It's been too long since I read the original novels to tell if this was a fault in the original book also, but I suspect this was due to the more rushed pacing of the graphic novel. Some of the chapters feel very short and off kilter as they're depicting certain events but the pacing does get better towards the end when the group are on a journey to a far off land and the events which happen there.
I thought this was a good adaption but definitely had some room for improvement - I'm interested to see how the rest of the series will be adapted however!