Daughter of the Lioness Books in Order

Daughter of the Lioness, also known as the Tricksters duology, shifts Tortall's focus from knights and mages to spies and revolution. Its heroine, Alianne of Pirate's Swoop, or Aly, is the daughter of Alanna the Lioness and George Cooper. She has grown up surrounded by legends and is entirely unimpressed by parental plans for a safe, respectable life.

Aly wants to be a spy like her father. George will not put her in that kind of danger, and Alanna refuses to encourage her. After one argument too many, Aly runs off for what she imagines will be a short sea adventure. Instead she is captured by slavers and sold in the Copper Isles, a chain of islands west of Tortall where dark skinned raka natives have long been ruled by lighter skinned conquerors.

In Trickster's Choice, Aly is bought by the Balitangs, a displaced noble family with deep raka ties. There she catches the attention of Kyprioth, the local trickster god, who makes her an offer: if she can keep the Balitang family alive through the summer, he will send her home. What begins as a wager spins into something much bigger as Aly uncovers a prophecy about a new raka queen and realizes the family she serves sits at the center of it.

The second book, Trickster's Queen, finds Aly fully committed to the raka rebellion. She organizes spy networks, decodes political maneuvering at court, and works alongside raka and luarin allies to topple a hated royal line. Romance, gods, and the weight of leadership complicate everything, but the heart of the story is in strategy, patient planning, and the question of what happens after a successful revolution.

These novels are more explicitly political than the earlier Tortall books. They look at colonization, color based caste systems, and what it means for a young woman of mixed heritage to help reshape another country's future. At the same time they deliver the conspiracies, daring escapes, and sharp banter you would expect from a story about George Cooper's daughter.

Daughter of the Lioness is best read after Protector of the Small, when you already know Tortall and the adults in Aly's life. For readers who enjoy intrigue, code names, and gods meddling with human plans, it offers a satisfying, slightly older corner of the Tortall universe.