Lioness Rampant

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A great sense of excitement and achievement comes from reading the final book in a series. Perhaps it’s the journey or perhaps it’s this idea that here be the final showdown, whatever the reason we make our way through (most) final books like lightning. So it was for me with the final book in the Song of the Lioness series.

Lioness Rampant is the ultimate adventure of Sir Alanna of Trebond. Beginning with quest to find the fabled Dominion Jewel and bring it home for the glory of Tortall, the book chronicles her final journey into womanhood –will she end up with Prince Jonathan, George King of Thieves, or Liam the Shang Dragon- alongside returning home to find Tortall in chaos and the evil Duke Roger come back from the dead.

Definitely the most exciting book of the series, Lioness Rampant is where absolutely everything happens. All the ideas that Pierce had in store for Alanna were finally thrown onto the pages in a do-or-die manner, which you would think would just give the book that crammed-full feeling like the others but actually it finally works. There is more space given in this novel for things to be explained properly and for us to get a better insight into the characters, which pays off when it comes to story’s the emotional climaxes –of which there are many; not as many as Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, but many. 

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Drama, suspense, and emotional investment are finally established –better late than never- and it makes for a truly captivating read. Happily, we also get a sounder understanding of how big the world is and the various types of peoples it’s home to, which suddenly brings depth and really rounds out the series.

Pierce’s descriptive language and the imagery it creates is finally on point and what’s nicest about all of this is that it leaves us feeling completely satisfied at the end.

A tad more adult than its predecessors, Lioness Rampant is a wholly satisfying end to a great children’s fantasy series.

Lioness Rampant was written by Tamora Pierce and published by Random House in 1988.