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I love any book by Tamora Pierce. This series is good and if it was by any other author I would call it great. However, since I have such high expectations for Tamora Pierce I cannot call it truly wonderful.
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I thought this was a fun series. The characters used "magic" in ways I have never read of or thought of before. I'd wish for Briar's gifts if I got to choose.
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Book 1 in the Circle of Magic series.
This book has the title "The Magic In the Weaving" in the UK.
This book opens up a new TP universe. Although the US book is called "Sandry's book", this first book introduces all 4 of the main characters, Sandry, Tris, Daja and Briar.
Sandry is a young noble who has been hidden by magics during an epidemic.
Tris is the daughter of a merchant house who has been handed over to the temple after reporting hearing voices.
Daja is a Sea Trader, the ship went down with all hands, and she is declared trangshi or outcast for her bad luck.
Briar is a street-thief sentanced to the docks for life.
These four very different children are brought together to Winding Circle where they discover more about themselves than they ever thought possible.
This is a well written book to set up this series. It ends with a rush so make sure you have book 2 handy so you can carry on reading! TP has cleverly introduced a very similar universe but with enough differences to make you pay attention.
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"Sandry's Book" is the first in Tamora Pierce's "Circle of Magic" quartet. (The foursome was recently followed with a sequel quartet called "The Circle Opens".) The four books do tell a series of events, but work just as well when read out of order.
The story opens with four children in four equally bad situations. As their stories unfold, the children--the daughter of a duke, a young thief, a Trader and a girl with a connection to the weather so strange that her own family abandoned her. As their stories, and magical abilities, intertwine it becomes clear that these characters have more in common than readers (or the characters themselves) would have thought.
Eventually, the children are discovered by Niklaren "Niko" Goldeye (I have been enamored with his name since I read this book when I was fourteen, still stand by the assessment that it's the best name ever). Adrift in their respective communities (or lack thereof), Niko takes them all to Winding Circle, a temple community where the children fall into a temple called Discipline where, finally, each of the four begin to find their place in the world.
Like any good fantasy, this book (and the series in general) features a lot of detail as Pierce builds a convincing world for her novel to inhabit. As a result, the story does describe the daily life and rituals of the temple. I had the misfortune of finding a negative review with the audacity to say that "Sandry's Book" focused too much on the occult. Aside from being completely inaccurate (such information comes up IN RELATION to the plot not to create some pseudo-subversive book on witchcraft), I found the trepidation distasteful and on par with saying Harry Potter should be censored because Hogwarts trains witches. Plus, aside from that, the information--like the information in so many challenged books--is harmless and only serves to teach readers something new (as every good book should).
Moving on from the issue of censorship, I liked this book because of all the strong female characters.
Three of the four main characters are girls. Not the secondary-character-type girls that sometimes populate fantasy novels of this type (a specific example being "A Wizard of Earthsea" by Ursula K. Le Guin). No, these girls are strong-minded and tough--two of my favorite qualities for book heroines. My personal favorite of the foursome is Tris, but Sandry is pretty cool too. A spunky noble, Sandry is an anti-princess discussion all by herself.
This book is one of the few that I feel could be solidy situated as a children's novel (although given some recent YA titles I've encountered, an argument probably could be made to place it there). The plot is straightforward, and the writing cogent, which make it ideal for a younger audience who lacks the experience to follow a winding narrative. At the same time, Pierce creates a story that is engaging and action-packed for readers of any age. I haven't gotten around to reading any of Pierce's books outside this series, but if "Sandry's Book" is any indication, I definitely should.
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My 9 yr old daughter an I have read Tamora Pierce's books on Tortall, and found them very good. These books were recommended to me also, and since I enjoyed the Alanna series very much, I decided to read these. They aren't as good as the books on Tortall. What's more, although Pierce writes about magic in all of her books, these ones in particular I have found to be quite occult in nature.
The occult elements include magic circles, craft magic, and gods/goddesses. The human mages are part of a Temple and practice meditation. Their blessing is tracing a "gods circle" on their chests with their fingertips.
Just as a warning to parents who like to monitor what their children read, these books could almost be a primer to Pagan/Wiccan rites. Read them before your kids do, or with them... but if you are concerned about the occult, don't let them read these books on their own.
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