History Literature / SongOfTheLioness

* CoversAlwaysLie: ** ''Literature/SongOfTheLioness'': [[https://tamorapierce.fandom.com/wiki/Song_of_the_Lioness_covers Here's]] a cover gallery.The Knopf paperbacks all depict Alanna in amazingly 80s clothing not seen in Tortall, such as a white tank top.
** ''Literature/SongOfTheLioness'': [[https://tamorapierce.fandom.com/wiki/Song_of_the_Lioness_covers Here's]] a cover gallery.

* CoversAlwaysLie:
** [[http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/1442427655/ref=s9_simh_gw_p14_d0_i1?pf_rd_m=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&pf_rd_s=center-2&pf_rd_r=1P06XNHK2G11J8DCPW2P&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=247518427&pf_rd_i=468294 One edition]] of ''The Woman Who Rides Like a Man'' looks like the male models for [[{{Literature/Twilight}} a certain other]] series got lost on their way to the shoot. Aside from the fact that Alanna's romantic woes are only a tiny part of the story, look at the characters' clothes -- you'd be forgiven for thinking that the book takes place in modern times...
** On a lesser note, the horse pictured on this edition's covers for ''In the Hand of the Goddess'' and ''Lioness Rampant'' is a very decidedly dark brown color. One would assume that this horse is meant to be Moonlight, Alanna's signature mare, who is described on several occasions in the novels to be more of a creamish color, hence the name.

** Demonic entities like the Ysandir have not appeared in any subsequent series, although they did get a mention in the third ''Literature/BekaCooper'' book. Similarly, this is the only series to mention the Old Ones.

* GrassIsGreener: Alanna feels stifled by Tortall's gender roles, and rightly so. But she gets some perspective when Thayet informs her that the consensus among ''Sarain's'' nobility was that Alanna should have been put to death for daring to take a man's role.

* HeadInTheSandManagement: King Roald was known as "the Peacekeeper", and as a result would avoid confrontations at any cost. On one hand this means that he doesn't punish Alanna for lying about who she was to become a knight, simply wanting her to get out of the way for a while, and on the other hand Roger gets off free from his attempts to kill the Queen [[spoiler:after his revival]].

* HeirClubForMen: Despite being the only child of the late Warlord, Thayet cannot take the Saren throne because it is written in the ''Book of Glass'' that women shall never rule Sarain. There's an implication it's either magically or divinely enforced.

** Alanna, meanwhile, did not want the job and only got it because she [[YouKillItYouBoughtIt killed the previous shaman in self-defense]], and had to stay to counter the sorcerers of the enemy Hill Tribes. She also pretty quickly started training up apprentice shamans so she could move on. While she is depicted as more powerful than the other shamans, she's also one of the most powerful magic users in the entire series, favoured by the Goddess (who occasionally helps her out), behind only Duke Roger, her brother, Numair and Jonathan armed with the Dominion Jewel and tapping into the magic of Tortall itself. All either specialised in sorcery or explored it far more than she did, and considering that her brother is second only to Numair, she would probably have similar potential. It is also quite plainly shown that she has, in many ways, as much to learn from the women of the Tribe as they might do from her.

* RealityIsUnrealistic: Played with. Alanna, at the slightly below-average 5'4", is often called tiny, though this may only be because she spent much of her life disguised as a boy among other boys -- big boys at that -- and carried over even after she revealed her true gender.

** There's also his forcing a kiss on her ''immediately'' after promising to give her space. The '80s were a different time where portrayals of romance were concerned, and Pierce has since said she regrets writing their romance this way and it's the thing she most wishes she could go back and fix.

* HeroesWantRedheads: The love triangle between Jon, George, and Alanna.

* LoveTriangle: [[LovableRogue George]], [[RoyalsWhoActuallyDoSomething Jonathan]] and [[HeroesWantRedheads Alanna]] have this issue until Alanna cuts them loose to pursue adventure and other options, though ultimately [[FirstGirlWins George wins]]. Unusually, George and Jonathan like and trust each other and there's never any tension about Alanna between them, or really any pressure on Alanna to choose. There's also really only one real moment of jealousy, and while George is saddened to hear Alanna's hooked up with Liam there's no tension over that, either. It's unusually relaxed for a love triangle.

* SexuallyTransmittedSuperpowers: Daine's mother used to be an ordinary midwife in a remote village, until she happened to have an encounter with the God of the Hunt during one of his visits to the mortal realm. It didn't kick in right away, but after she 'died', her erstwhile lover essentially helped her soul AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence, making her the brand-new Goddess of Midwives. So now they're married. In heaven. And neither one of them considered it worthwhile to inform their daughter of this arrangement until several years later, leaving her to blunder around and nearly drive herself insane with her half-god powers in the meantime. Okay, so they were both on probation due to the whole new-goddess-and-guarantor thing, but you'd think they could've at least sent the kid a note, eh?