Tortall: A Spy’s Guide

Fans of Tamora Pierce’s Tortall series, ranging from The Song of the Lioness quartet to the Daughter of the Lioness duology, will enjoy this inside look into the lives of Tortall’s spies, knights, and mages. Though the book purports to be welcoming to newcomers to Pierce’s fantasy world, most of the content relies on reader recognition of allusions to characters and events from the novels, and A Spy’s Guide will likely seem disjointed to readers who don’t get them.

For readers who do get them, the book is a treasure trove of both entirely new information and reference guides to old information, such as detailed descriptions of Immortal species and a timeline of Tortall’s history. The material is loosely organized into subsections that can be read chronologically or on their own as the reader chooses, providing great insight into various characters—as well as how Tortall’s Shadow Service keeps track of everyone from royalty to servants. Beautiful illustrations complete the book, making it a lovely collector’s item for Tortall fans.