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Four young misfits find themselves living in a strictly disciplined temple community where they become friends while also learning to do crafts and to use their powers, especially magic.Tags
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terriko Poison study reminded me of the whole Circle of Magic series, and the Circle Opens one.
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Member Reviews
Tamora Pierce is one of my all time favourite writers. I adore everything she puts her mind to and her Song of the Lioness was one of the first fandoms I really got in to. I devoured it and then turned to the rest of her backlist. I'd scour messenger boards for spoilers, read all available fanfiction and anxiously anticipate every new book. I spent months and then years reading and rereading everything.
I was lucky enough to have the chance to meet her and for a woman usually confident and capable of putting herself out there I could barely speak. I was bouncing off the walls before, during and after and my mother could not stop laughing at me for being so starstruck. But Tamora Pierce is my hero.
Before there was Hermione Granger, show more Tamora Pierce gave us heroines like Alanna, Daine, Kel, Daja, Sandry, Tris and all of the other wonderful characters she created. Female characters who were brave and fearless and daring and stubborn and kind. Characters who were dedicated and loyal and capable of epic badassery and characters who were confident of and in their beliefs and the ways they needed to act to encourage change.
Tamora Pierce delivers satisfying and believable characters arcs, lush world building and vivid adventure stories that spark the imagination and create passionate life long fans.
Circle of Magic introduces four teens, Sandrilene "Sandry" fa Toren, Daja Kisubo, Briar Moss and Trisana Chandler who are brought together when they are found to have magic. Discovered by Niklaren "Niko" Goldeye, a mage with a talent for finding hidden things, the four are mages with rare abilities.
Taken to Winding Circle Temple, the four are housed in Discipline cottage under the care of Dedicates Lark and Rosethorn and found mentors in their areas. Apart from weather mage Tris who is mentored by Niko, the rest all find mentors with the same magic. Thread magic for Lark and Sandry, plant magic for Rosethorn and Briar and smith magic for Daja and Dedicate Frostpine.
Each book sees the quartet develop their magic abilities separately and together and build strong bonds of family and friendship between each other and their mentors. With adventure, magic mishaps, pirates and a host of other complications, the Circle of Magic books are exciting and action packed reading for fantasy lovers.
The first book, The Magic in the Weaving, is Sandrilene "Sandry" fa Toren's book. Although written in third person, Sandry is at the heart of this book and the large majority focuses on her history and her magic.
Kind, caring and fiery about injustice, Sandry is the thread that weaves the gang together. Literally. I adored this bit;
Now that her magic was focused, the spindle was as visible to Sandry as if she worked on the spiral road at noon; so were the bits of her friends that they had put into her lumpy thread. Gently she touched Briar with a magical hand, and drew out a slim green fibre. From Tris she drew a blue one, the colour of deep, fresh water. Daja’s was the reddish orange of a hot coal fire. Her own was the honey colour of undyed silk and flax.
Pierce, Tamora. Circle of Magic #1: Magic In the Weaving . Scholastic. Kindle Edition.
She was orphaned when a plague took her parents and the ensuing mob killed her beloved nurse but remains a force of positivity for herself and others. She is the great niece of the current ruler of Emelan, Duke Verdis, has travelled all over and is always ready to stick up for the underdog. Sandry wins over the prickly hearts of the other three with her persistence and her loyal and big heart.
[Sandry] sighed. “Not you, too! No, my mind’s made up. I’ll make friends with whomever I want, so there. I just need more uvumi [patience].”
Pierce, Tamora. Circle of Magic #1: Magic In the Weaving . Scholastic. Kindle Edition.
I loved reading about the four discovering their powers and slowly becoming friends with each other. I love them all but Briar would have to be my favourite. His attitude, sarcasm and logic are just perfection. And his relationship with Rosethorn is fantastic. I love how they're both prickly but somehow manage to work past it to become family.
Just as he was about to stand, he saw the trick. “You’ll hang me in the well.” Rosethorn sighed. That foot tapped again, impatient now. “No, I won’t. I water this garden with what’s in there – I’m not about to poison it.” This made sense.
Pierce, Tamora. Circle of Magic #1: Magic In the Weaving . Scholastic. Kindle Edition.
Rosethorn is a total badass and I love how Briar looks up to her.
“No. Listen, you four,” Rosethorn said, “while you’re here, address problems or questions or needs to Lark. She likes children, the Green Man alone knows why. “I don’t like children in my garden – not without my say so, anyway,” she added with a glance at Briar. “Play somewhere else. Tell Lark where you go, always. Me, you leave alone. And that workshop on the side of the house, the one that’s mostly wood? That’s mine, too. Touch anything in there, and you will die the worst death I can invent.” She looked at each of them in turn, then smiled, showing teeth. “I’m glad we had this little talk.”
Placing her napkin beside her plate, Rosethorn went outside. For a moment there was silence. Then Lark said, “Her bark is worse than her bite.”
“Bet her bite’s poisonous,” muttered Daja.
“And with the bark you die slow,” added Tris. They grinned, then remembered that merchants and Traders disliked each other, and turned away.
Pierce, Tamora. Circle of Magic #1: Magic In the Weaving . Scholastic. Kindle Edition.
The fight to save Little Bear was funny. I loved that Sandry had managed to make the others feel obligated to help. Tris irritated me a little bit with that though, I wanted her to be a bit more willing. And if she wasn't, fine but she really annoyed me when she told Sandry to be quiet because the fight was already bad enough. Have some guts. Just because Tris screwed up with the magic, doesn't change the fact that the boys were in the wrong beating up an animal. I liked that Sandry was going to bat for him.
And I loved Briar and his shakkan plant
Briar sought out his shakkan as soon as he returned to the cottage. It had taken no harm from the quake; the shallow dish was uncracked, the earth inside just as he’d left it. Putting his hands on the thick trunk to thank the tree, he now felt the power that had been hidden in it before, sunk deep in each fibre. It also had buds at the end of each twig. “None of that,” he warned, starting to pinch them off. “Your helping me doesn’t mean I’ll let you grow any which-way.” He felt something like a tree-sigh under his hands. The shakkan thought, Perhaps one new bud? “Oh, all right,” Briar said. “Which do you want to keep?”
Pierce, Tamora. Circle of Magic #1: Magic In the Weaving . Scholastic. Kindle Edition.
The shakkan totally deserves a new bud for helping save them.
The friendship between them all gets off to a rough start but soon develops into mutual respect, affection and loyalty and it was great. Plus their little found family with their mentors was perfection. I particularly enjoyed how they use their powers to save themselves when they end up trapped in the cavern with Little Bear.
A classic fantasy series with magic, friendships and adventure. 5 stars. show less
I was lucky enough to have the chance to meet her and for a woman usually confident and capable of putting herself out there I could barely speak. I was bouncing off the walls before, during and after and my mother could not stop laughing at me for being so starstruck. But Tamora Pierce is my hero.
Before there was Hermione Granger, show more Tamora Pierce gave us heroines like Alanna, Daine, Kel, Daja, Sandry, Tris and all of the other wonderful characters she created. Female characters who were brave and fearless and daring and stubborn and kind. Characters who were dedicated and loyal and capable of epic badassery and characters who were confident of and in their beliefs and the ways they needed to act to encourage change.
Tamora Pierce delivers satisfying and believable characters arcs, lush world building and vivid adventure stories that spark the imagination and create passionate life long fans.
Circle of Magic introduces four teens, Sandrilene "Sandry" fa Toren, Daja Kisubo, Briar Moss and Trisana Chandler who are brought together when they are found to have magic. Discovered by Niklaren "Niko" Goldeye, a mage with a talent for finding hidden things, the four are mages with rare abilities.
Taken to Winding Circle Temple, the four are housed in Discipline cottage under the care of Dedicates Lark and Rosethorn and found mentors in their areas. Apart from weather mage Tris who is mentored by Niko, the rest all find mentors with the same magic. Thread magic for Lark and Sandry, plant magic for Rosethorn and Briar and smith magic for Daja and Dedicate Frostpine.
Each book sees the quartet develop their magic abilities separately and together and build strong bonds of family and friendship between each other and their mentors. With adventure, magic mishaps, pirates and a host of other complications, the Circle of Magic books are exciting and action packed reading for fantasy lovers.
The first book, The Magic in the Weaving, is Sandrilene "Sandry" fa Toren's book. Although written in third person, Sandry is at the heart of this book and the large majority focuses on her history and her magic.
Kind, caring and fiery about injustice, Sandry is the thread that weaves the gang together.
Now that her magic was focused, the spindle was as visible to Sandry as if she worked on the spiral road at noon; so were the bits of her friends that they had put into her lumpy thread. Gently she touched Briar with a magical hand, and drew out a slim green fibre. From Tris she drew a blue one, the colour of deep, fresh water. Daja’s was the reddish orange of a hot coal fire. Her own was the honey colour of undyed silk and flax.
Pierce, Tamora. Circle of Magic #1: Magic In the Weaving . Scholastic. Kindle Edition.
[Sandry] sighed. “Not you, too! No, my mind’s made up. I’ll make friends with whomever I want, so there. I just need more uvumi [patience].”
Pierce, Tamora. Circle of Magic #1: Magic In the Weaving . Scholastic. Kindle Edition.
I loved reading about the four discovering their powers and slowly becoming friends with each other. I love them all but Briar would have to be my favourite. His attitude, sarcasm and logic are just perfection. And his relationship with Rosethorn is fantastic. I love how they're both prickly but somehow manage to work past it to become family.
Just as he was about to stand, he saw the trick. “You’ll hang me in the well.” Rosethorn sighed. That foot tapped again, impatient now. “No, I won’t. I water this garden with what’s in there – I’m not about to poison it.” This made sense.
Pierce, Tamora. Circle of Magic #1: Magic In the Weaving . Scholastic. Kindle Edition.
Rosethorn is a total badass and I love how Briar looks up to her.
“No. Listen, you four,” Rosethorn said, “while you’re here, address problems or questions or needs to Lark. She likes children, the Green Man alone knows why. “I don’t like children in my garden – not without my say so, anyway,” she added with a glance at Briar. “Play somewhere else. Tell Lark where you go, always. Me, you leave alone. And that workshop on the side of the house, the one that’s mostly wood? That’s mine, too. Touch anything in there, and you will die the worst death I can invent.” She looked at each of them in turn, then smiled, showing teeth. “I’m glad we had this little talk.”
Placing her napkin beside her plate, Rosethorn went outside. For a moment there was silence. Then Lark said, “Her bark is worse than her bite.”
“Bet her bite’s poisonous,” muttered Daja.
“And with the bark you die slow,” added Tris. They grinned, then remembered that merchants and Traders disliked each other, and turned away.
Pierce, Tamora. Circle of Magic #1: Magic In the Weaving . Scholastic. Kindle Edition.
The fight to save Little Bear was funny. I loved that Sandry had managed to make the others feel obligated to help. Tris irritated me a little bit with that though, I wanted her to be a bit more willing. And if she wasn't, fine but she really annoyed me when
And I loved Briar and his shakkan plant
Briar sought out his shakkan as soon as he returned to the cottage. It had taken no harm from the quake; the shallow dish was uncracked, the earth inside just as he’d left it. Putting his hands on the thick trunk to thank the tree, he now felt the power that had been hidden in it before, sunk deep in each fibre. It also had buds at the end of each twig. “None of that,” he warned, starting to pinch them off. “Your helping me doesn’t mean I’ll let you grow any which-way.” He felt something like a tree-sigh under his hands. The shakkan thought, Perhaps one new bud? “Oh, all right,” Briar said. “Which do you want to keep?”
Pierce, Tamora. Circle of Magic #1: Magic In the Weaving . Scholastic. Kindle Edition.
The shakkan totally deserves a new bud for helping save them.
The friendship between them all gets off to a rough start but soon develops into mutual respect, affection and loyalty and it was great. Plus their little found family with their mentors was perfection. I particularly enjoyed how they use their powers to save themselves when
A classic fantasy series with magic, friendships and adventure. 5 stars. show less
I felt that this book started very, very strongly - enough so that I ordered up the 3 sequels when I was only about a third of the way through it.
Unfortunately, I felt that as the story progressed, it got much more formulaic - a group of young people are brought to a magic school by a mysterious but wise mentor, and each discovers that one 'element' of nature is their particular specialty, as far as magical talent.
Feel like you might have read something like that before? Probably.
However, the tale-telling is both charming and entertaining enough that I do plan on reading all 3 sequels. They go quickly, too.
Unfortunately, I felt that as the story progressed, it got much more formulaic - a group of young people are brought to a magic school by a mysterious but wise mentor, and each discovers that one 'element' of nature is their particular specialty, as far as magical talent.
Feel like you might have read something like that before? Probably.
However, the tale-telling is both charming and entertaining enough that I do plan on reading all 3 sequels. They go quickly, too.
This book is SUCH a good book for our current pandemic times; I said somewhere that Tamora Pierce books are 50% learning meditation, 50% crafting, and I stand by that but it's clearly deliberate with this series in particular. Just so soft and soothing to read, even the dramatic parts. And the character are fun even if they don't really feel super fleshed out in this space, and the relationships with mentors are so good. I'll definitely be rereading the rest of the series, but this was so good in this moment so if you need something short and soft, check it out!
This is (fractionally) my favorite Circle of Magic story. That's at least partly because this is the book with the most world-building - introducing us to all four of the kids and to their teachers, among others. I really like Sandry, her magic and her upbringing...it's funny, here and later it's mentioned that her parents were lightminded gadabouts who traveled just for fun. But every time I haven't read the series in a while, I forget that and make them diplomats...like my parents! Definitely a case of personal viewpoint coloring what I read...
I started reading Pierce's books at the recommendation of a friend, starting with her Tortall books. Pierce is one of those authors that gets better with every book, so when I finished the Tortall books and started the Circle of Magic books, I felt I was taking a step back, since these books were earlier than the more recent of those books. But I did like this world, this vision of magic very much, and soon the characters--and the books began to grow on me. This is Sandry's book, and it's centered on her more than anyone, but this is really the first book dealing with a circle of not just magic, but friends, so Tris, Daja, and Briar are important as well. Each is a distinct character, each has a special gift, and each has no one at the show more start and learn to rely on each other. show less
Nice introduction to the Magic Circle series. Although Sandry's introduction in the novel is related first and with more detail, the story encompasses the other 3 characters who make up the circle (Tris, Daja, and Briar). The novel breaks for each character by chapters. Author Pierce handles this format very well and the switching is smooth enough to maintain the pacing
The writing style is this book leans to a younger YA audience, compared to The Will of the Empress, the book I read first. Despite the simpler tone, the book was a good read and all the characters amusing and annoying, as dictated by the plot.
My main difficulty with the book was the sequence where a disaster occurs, creating a dire situation. The description of this show more catastrophe was not very clear and drew in too much extraneous detail, so the developments were hard to mentally visualize. show less
The writing style is this book leans to a younger YA audience, compared to The Will of the Empress, the book I read first. Despite the simpler tone, the book was a good read and all the characters amusing and annoying, as dictated by the plot.
My main difficulty with the book was the sequence where a disaster occurs, creating a dire situation. The description of this show more catastrophe was not very clear and drew in too much extraneous detail, so the developments were hard to mentally visualize. show less
Sandry hides from a smallpox epidemic in a cupboard--only to find that she's trapped inside. When her candle runs out, she is comforted by a glow in her embroidery.
Daja survives a shipwreck by willing a supply box toward her.
A petty thief, Briar is thrown in jail and tends to the moss he finds there.
Tris is tormented at school, but her bullies find themselves threatened by wild winds.
None of them have traditional forms of magic, but Niko Goldeneye believes they might have hidden powers. He hopes to teach them to harness their gifts, before their uncontrolled power leads to tragedy. But though the children are thrilled to be taught, they're wary of associating with each other.
I was surprised by how much I enjoyed this book. The show more characters' personalities come across in a ham-handed way, and their hidden fears and powers are hardly subtle. But I think that's mostly because this is YA for a younger crowd (under 15) than I'm used to. The magic is wonderfully described. No matter how exciting the action or weird the magic, I was always clear on what was happening. I've heard this mocked as having "weather for a villain," but that was actually a positive point, for me. The climax is "just" the childrentrying to survive being buried in an avalanche , but it was very stirring, and I was glad to find that the scope was kept personal. I'm tired of heroes having to save the kingdom, the world, the universe; it's a refreshing change to have them struggle to just save themselves. show less
Daja survives a shipwreck by willing a supply box toward her.
A petty thief, Briar is thrown in jail and tends to the moss he finds there.
Tris is tormented at school, but her bullies find themselves threatened by wild winds.
None of them have traditional forms of magic, but Niko Goldeneye believes they might have hidden powers. He hopes to teach them to harness their gifts, before their uncontrolled power leads to tragedy. But though the children are thrilled to be taught, they're wary of associating with each other.
I was surprised by how much I enjoyed this book. The show more characters' personalities come across in a ham-handed way, and their hidden fears and powers are hardly subtle. But I think that's mostly because this is YA for a younger crowd (under 15) than I'm used to. The magic is wonderfully described. No matter how exciting the action or weird the magic, I was always clear on what was happening. I've heard this mocked as having "weather for a villain," but that was actually a positive point, for me. The climax is "just" the children
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Author Information
83+ Works 121,997 Members
Author Tamora Pierce was born in South Connellsville, Pennsylvania on December 13, 1954. She received a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Pennsylvania. Her first book, Alanna: The First Adventure, was published in 1983 and she became a full-time author in 1992. She writes fantasy books, mainly involving young heroines, for young show more adults. She is the author of numerous series including Song of the Lioness; The Immortals; Circle of Magic; Protector of the Small; The Circle Opens; Daughter of the Lioness; The Circle Reforged; Beka Cooper; and The Numair Chronicles. Her novel Battle Magic was a New York Times bestseller. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Some Editions
Awards and Honors
Awards
Series
Work Relationships
Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- Sandry’s Book
- Alternate titles
- The Magic in the Weaving (UK) (UK)
- Original publication date
- 1997-09-01
- People/Characters
- Sandrilene fa Toren; Daja Kisubo; Briar Moss; Trisana Chandler; Niklaren “Niko” Goldeye; Duke Vedris IV (show all 12); Dedicate Lark; Dedicate Rosethorn; Dedicate Frostpine; Dedicate Gorse; Dedicate Moonstream; Dedicate Crane
- Important places
- Emelan; Winding Circle Temple; Discipline Cottage
- First words
- In the Palace of Black Swans, Zadkin, capital of Hatar: Blue eyes wide, Lady Sandrilene fa Toren watched her near-empty oil lamp.
- Quotations
- (Briar's first visit to Rosethorn's garden) All of the plants nearly sang with happiness, doing the work they were made to do. They welcomed him, reaching out from their cords to wind instead around his fingers, legs, and ar... (show all)ms.
- Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)Obedient to his orders, Daja scratched his ears and Tris his rump.
- Disambiguation notice
- There is ISBN confusion here because of publisher's accidental reuse of ISBN. Don't combine this one with Wild Wood by Jan Needle!
Classifications
- Genres
- Fantasy, Fiction and Literature, Tween, Teen, Young Adult
- DDC/MDS
- 813.54 — Literature & rhetoric American literature in English American fiction in English 1900-1999 1945-1999
- LCC
- PZ7 .P61464 .S — Language and Literature Fiction and juvenile belles lettres Fiction and juvenile belles lettres Juvenile belles lettres
- BISAC
Statistics
- Members
- 4,181
- Popularity
- 3,669
- Reviews
- 52
- Rating
- (3.95)
- Languages
- English, German, Polish
- Media
- Paper, Audiobook, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 30
- ASINs
- 12