Speaking of Tamora Pierce, I may as well just mention that for all of us who enjoyed the Alanna series you may just be interested in looking into pretty much anything Pierce has written. The stories are a little bit formulaic but if you don't get sick of that and are interested in falling in love with new characters just go ahead and enjoy!

The Trickster Duology by Tamora Pierce - this follows the adventures of Alanna's 16-years old daughter Alianna, who is a dissatisfied, court attending teen tired of her chosen lifestyle, but also unable to pursue her desire of becoming a spy (forbidden to her by her parents). Unfortunately, on a normal outing, poor Aly gets sold into slavery, setting in motion a series of events where Aly finds herself actively partaking in espionage, making use of her cunning personality and talents, and, of course, helping a prophecy come to fruition. Aly's a lovable character - strong and headstrong, with a surprisingly soft center. I enjoyed this duology immensly, but, as I would soon learn, it may be better to read the other series by Pierce before hand. The Trickster books can be read as stand alone after the Alanna books, but there will be a few references to characters and events that took place in the Immortals quartet and the Protector of the Small quartet. Depending on who you are this may be great news! Now you've got 8 new books to get through before getting to Aly's story :)

p.s. there are more books written by Pierce than I've mentioned above, but some takes place in a separate universe, versus these 4 which all take place in Tortall, and she's currently working on a new Tortallan tale, one which takes place 200 years before the events of the Song of the Lioness

***** 5 stars!

Duology Includes:
1. Trickster's Choice
2. Trickster's Queen