Battle Magic

I may have said, sometime around the release of Will of the Empress, that I wanted a book about Briar in the time between that book and Street Magic, since he changes more drastically than does any other character, but honestly, I take it back. After the opening stages, the book becomes relentlessly, grindingly unpleasant--which war is, of course, but gritty realism isn't Pierce's forte and isn't what I read her books for, and I really could have done without the child torture and animal death. Though at the same time, it has the curious feeling of pulling its punches--hundreds, maybe thousands, of people die over the course of the book, sometimes rather graphically, but no named characters are among them. This issue is also evident in show more the way that Pierce sets up a situation in which the main characters' allies are doomed to death or enslavement unless the protagonists make a significant sacrifice in order to help them--and even if they do, they may very well fail--and then resolves it with a near-literal deus ex machina which makes all the characters' efforts and losses throughout the book seem pointless and unnecessary.

In addition, the countries to which we're introduced in this book have a much stronger one-to-one correlation--culturally, religiously, geographically, and so on--to real-world countries/cultures (primarily China, Tibet, and India) than did those in previous books set in this universe, which feels like a failure of creativity and is somewhat incongruous with the few details revealed about these cultures in previous books. show less

I have been waiting for another book Tamora Pierce book about any of the Circle of Magic four for so long. Yet I was not desperate to read about what happened to Briar between The Circle Opens: Street Magic and The Will of the Empress. The latter lets us know that he has been in a war, shows us how this experience has traumatised him and how he tries to cope with that. Hence I felt I knew what happened to Briar. Also, war's not fun.

I felt trepidation as I opened Battle Magic... and then I was overcome with delight at spending time with these characters again. And overcome with sadness when terrible things happened to them. I love how Rosethorn, Briar and Evvy are a found-family, much more than they are a mentor, her former-student and show more her former-student's student. I love their teamwork and their affection for each other. I wanted to give them all a big hug and whisk them back home to the rest of their foster-family in Emelan. I love that they don't turn their backs on a difficult, painful situation, because they believe they can help.

I have to admit that the Gongxe war seemed more terrifying when all I really knew was the affect it had had on the trio. Also, Pierce's storytelling seems much less perfect than it did when I was 17.

But I really liked Battle Magic, even if it was a hard book to enjoy sometimes, because war is hell. I liked the characters it introduced (well, most of them), and the landscape it captured, and matter of fact attitudes the characters have towards diversity; I liked that it was not just from Briar's point of view, but from Rosethorn and Evvy's as well.

[Rosethorn said] "Briar, it's not permitted. I had to swear an oath."
He knew she meant it. "I hate that, you know. Just once you could break an oath."
"Then how would you ever trust me, boy, or I you?"
"I'm not your boy."
In a shocking burst of affection, she leaned over the seed ball between them and hugged him. "You will always be my boy. And you would never listen to me again if I broke an oath." show less

Set between the Circle Opens quartet and The Will of the Empress, Battle Magic tells the story of Rosethorn, Briar, and Evvy's travels, how they got involved with war between Yanjing and Gyongxe, and how Evvy met Luvo.

I really liked the book, although to say I "enjoyed" it is difficult because while it isn't really a dark and unhappy book, there is a lot of unpleasant stuff like war and torture and death and at least one section made me cry. I particularly liked how it filled in the details of that time. One of my consistent complaints about the Emelan books is how much is left out in between each series, and this deals with that perfectly.

The second Tamora Pierce book I nabbed on my road trip. I have a lot of the same feelings for this as I did for Melting Stones, as if Tamora's books have become more simplistic and lacklustre since the old days of Wild Magic and Alanna.

I actually disagree with some of the other reviewers - I thought Emperor Weishu was a decent villain, both superficially charming and horrifically cruel.

The book is darker than most of the other Emelan books, especially with what happens to Evvy. However even then we encounter what seems to be a rookie mistake which drains much of the tension from the situation. Instead of being ordered "apparent death > friends mourn > survival revealed to the reader", the course of events goes "apparent death > show more survival revealed > friends mourn". We know Evvy is coming back!

On the other hand I do really appreciate the portrayal of Briar and Rosethorn's grief. Most authors go too far to the extremes when describing grief, either the characters seem to forget their deceased friend immediately, or they are rendered completely useless by angst and melodrama. Here, we find a nice balance, the characters are deeply affected, but they don't bring the narrative grinding to a halt.

Another departure from usual Emelan fare is the introduction of supernatural creatures and deities that would be more expected in the Tortall universe. Some of them are pretty cool, and I love their personalities, but this is a big change, since as far as I can remember the existence of the gods in the Emelan universe has been an open question. Now we know the are real, (but the characters maybe...don't?).

As the book drew to the close I found myself wondering exactly how it was going to be wrapped up, because it seemed as if there was a whole extra book of action left to come. However we end up with a literal deus ex machina, which is a little unsatisfying. Perhaps it should have ended on a more uncertain note.

Still, a decent read. I've only got the Beka Cooper series left to go, I hope that's more like the Tamora Pierce I remember. show less

Never make a Mage angry!

Once again a foray into the magical world of Emelan leaves you breathless and wanting more. The richness and texture of Pierce's novels drags you right in from the start and holds you there captive as you walk the walk and feel the emotions of her characters.
Living Circle adherents and plant mages Dedicate Rosethorn and Briar, along with apprentice rock mage Evvy (Evumeimei), have been travelling for two years and we find them in the Kingdom of Gyongxe, the home of many faiths. Actually a sanctuary for faiths we discover as the story continues. The first temple of the Living Circle is here. This is a place where the mountains meet, ruled by the eleven year old God-King, where painted gods move on walls and show more statues come to life.
The Three journey into the Kingdom of Yanjing and there find disturbing evidence that the emperor, a man of of exceeding ambition and cruelty has turned his face towards the seat of the gods to declare his god head. He intends to invade. As Dedicate Dokyi later says, '[the Emperor] hears Gyongxe is the spindle on which the world turns. He thinks if he takes Gyongxe, people will say he is the spindle.'
The three leave to warn the God-King and the temples. As they leave they release a captive prince, Parahan. All are pursued by the emperor's soldiers and mages.
Evvy is captured and tortured. In her tortured state she is drawn through rock to safety by the song of Luvo, the heart of a mountain. Luvo becomes an important friend and force to be reckoned with.
Terrible battles, shamans, mages and and walking gods are part of the ensuing conflict.
As Rosethorn declared, 'Weishu...the emperor of Yanjing was a monster in human skin.'
All are fighting for a secure, safe world against insurmountable odds.
An absolutely fabulous addition to the Circle stories.

A NetGalley ARC show less

Rosethorn is still weak from her death and magic-fueled resurrection, so she embarks upon a lifelong dream: a tour of the world's gardens. Her protege Briar comes along, both to see the gardens and to keep an eye on her health, and with Briar comes his new student Evvy.

The book opens as they end their visit to Gyongxe, a sort of pseudo-Tibet (sky burials, led by a child chosen to rule because he literally has the wisdom&personalities of elders within him, mountainous, etc). They are invited to visit the much larger, more powerful empire in Yanjing (a magical China-analog) and see the emperor's famed gardens. Rosethorn leaps at the chance, but during their visit at the intensely formal imperial court they notice more and more disturbing show more clues that the emperor is planning war on Gyongxe. They leave the court in hopes of warning Gyongxe before the invasion begins. Rapidly, they are embroiled in all-out war.

Like always with Pierce's books, I tore through this. It's a fast and easy read, starring likable characters and fascinating magic. But I felt dissatisfied. [b:Will of the Empress|153783|The Will of the Empress (Circle Reforged, #1)|Tamora Pierce|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1390187660s/153783.jpg|1060295] and [b:Melting Stones|492486|Melting Stones (Circle Reforged, #2)|Tamora Pierce|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1388443902s/492486.jpg|480682] were written and published before this book but take place after, and unfortunately they don't entirely work together--in WotE Briar seemed to have been at war and then imprisoned for a long time (so long that he had to construct a mind palace to stay sane), whereas this book softens that to having been doing ranged damage at two battles, and that's it. Pierce delivers some of the horror of war: Evvy is captured, tortured, and literally wakes up tossed on a pile of corpses, including the dead bodies of her seven beloved cats. Briar and Rosethorn's plant magic is used skillfully and cleverly, and at times is truly scary, like when they make bamboo trees grow around and inside enemy mages. But the war itself is composed of very few battles, privations, or hard choices, and ends with an intervention by the gods that was foreshadowed but nevertheless feels like cheating. show less

And we finally get the actual story of the war that caught up Briar, Rosethorn, and Evvy. It's not quite as nasty as I was expecting from their reactions, but it's quite nasty enough - the emperor is amazingly foul. The whole thing with the rose garden shows that - and then it's reiterated, and reiterated, and... Evvy is explicitly tortured, though she seems to react more strongly to her cats being killed than to what happened to her (ok, she reacts strongly to both). Rosethorn's side mission is interesting - personally, I'd have ended with Earth for her on the introduction, but maybe there's rules about the order. And the side effects on both her and Briar make the rest of the story more interesting. We do get to see the meeting with show more Luvo - but that's part of the problem with the book, that I know what happens next, so there's no real fear or tension. But overall - I'm glad I read it (and I have no idea how I missed it for so long), but it's not a favorite. I may just reread The Will of the Empress (which is also nasty, and I'm surprised Briar didn't react more strongly - but still better than this) and pretend this and Melting Stones don't exist. show less