Diane Duane's series would probably still be hard (it's a main focus, and I cried - more than once).
The Tamora Pierce one may not be quite as bad. Also, crap, the second series in her Tortall books also has an orphaned kid - although as noted, Mom comes back later as a goddess.
Of her books, I'd say the Circle books are more kid-stuff, but the Tortall books are better (but with some, non-explicit, sex in some series).
Circle books start with The Circle of Magic Quartet: Sandry's Book (I think this one has the flashback, actually), Tris's Book, Daja's Book, Briar's Book. Next is The Circle Opens (which is the same characters older, and really needs to be read after): Magic Steps, Street Magic, Cold Fire, and Shatterglass. Next is The Will of the Empress (same characters again, order critical) and Melting Stones (you could sort of read it out of order but it uses a character introduced in Street Magic, so maybe not). [Edit: there's another recurring character, Briar, and his mentor, in Melting Stones. Melting Stones was written/published after The Will of the Empress but occurs before it, so you may want to flip the order of the two.]
The Tortall books are a lengthier set of series and for the most part build on the characters and understanding of the previous series. They can be read out of order easier than the Circle books but may contain spoilers for previous books or expect you to know things about the world that aren't explicitly restated. Those series are:
The Song of the Lioness: Alanna: The First Adventure, In the Hand of the Goddess, The Woman Who Rides Like a Man, Lioness Rampant.
The Immortals: Wild Magic, Wolf-Speaker, The Emperor Mage, The Realms of the Gods.
Protector of the Small: First Test, Page, Squire, Lady Knight.
Trickster Series: Trickster's Choice, Trickster's Queen. (If she does NOT enjoy the earlier series, she might enjoy this one. The main character is very different from Pierce's usual, and there's a lot of, well, trickery and spy games. The main character is the daughter of two characters from the first series, though, so there's definitely spoilers about who does and doesn't live that long from the other known characters.)
Beka Cooper series: Terrier, Bloodhound, and Mastiff.
Mastiff is just recently out and I think still only in hardcover. The rest should all be available in softcover.
Edited to note: The Beka Cooper series is the most recently written. But, again, it can be read out of order - it happens quite a while before any of the others. Having first read The Song of the Lioness will let someone catch and enjoy one reference (Beka is the ancestor of one of the characters in the first quartet), but it's not critical to the story at all.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2011-11-26 03:58 pm (UTC)The Tamora Pierce one may not be quite as bad. Also, crap, the second series in her Tortall books also has an orphaned kid - although as noted, Mom comes back later as a goddess.
Of her books, I'd say the Circle books are more kid-stuff, but the Tortall books are better (but with some, non-explicit, sex in some series).
Circle books start with The Circle of Magic Quartet: Sandry's Book (I think this one has the flashback, actually), Tris's Book, Daja's Book, Briar's Book. Next is The Circle Opens (which is the same characters older, and really needs to be read after): Magic Steps, Street Magic, Cold Fire, and Shatterglass. Next is The Will of the Empress (same characters again, order critical) and Melting Stones (you could sort of read it out of order but it uses a character introduced in Street Magic, so maybe not). [Edit: there's another recurring character, Briar, and his mentor, in Melting Stones. Melting Stones was written/published after The Will of the Empress but occurs before it, so you may want to flip the order of the two.]
The Tortall books are a lengthier set of series and for the most part build on the characters and understanding of the previous series. They can be read out of order easier than the Circle books but may contain spoilers for previous books or expect you to know things about the world that aren't explicitly restated. Those series are:
The Song of the Lioness: Alanna: The First Adventure, In the Hand of the Goddess, The Woman Who Rides Like a Man, Lioness Rampant.
The Immortals: Wild Magic, Wolf-Speaker, The Emperor Mage, The Realms of the Gods.
Protector of the Small: First Test, Page, Squire, Lady Knight.
Trickster Series: Trickster's Choice, Trickster's Queen. (If she does NOT enjoy the earlier series, she might enjoy this one. The main character is very different from Pierce's usual, and there's a lot of, well, trickery and spy games. The main character is the daughter of two characters from the first series, though, so there's definitely spoilers about who does and doesn't live that long from the other known characters.)
Beka Cooper series: Terrier, Bloodhound, and Mastiff.
Mastiff is just recently out and I think still only in hardcover. The rest should all be available in softcover.
Edited to note: The Beka Cooper series is the most recently written. But, again, it can be read out of order - it happens quite a while before any of the others. Having first read The Song of the Lioness will let someone catch and enjoy one reference (Beka is the ancestor of one of the characters in the first quartet), but it's not critical to the story at all.