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4.17 AVERAGE
4.17 AVERAGE
When visiting the city with his teacher, Rosethorn, Briar is confronted with a plague that puts the two of them into quarantine. Every resource is brought to bear to stop the spread of the disease before it escapes any further, but the death toll continues to rise.
Released from quarantine, they return to their temple home to work on finding a cure, only to find the danger there as well.
Pierce does a good job of bringing "modern" scientific inquiry into her fantasy setting. Rosethorn's very contemporary views of cleanliness and organization are not out of place in this setting. Briar's internal struggle to find his place in this world and to finally accept that he's no longer a street rat is also well done.
I love these full cast recordings. They are fun to listen to.
Released from quarantine, they return to their temple home to work on finding a cure, only to find the danger there as well.
Pierce does a good job of bringing "modern" scientific inquiry into her fantasy setting. Rosethorn's very contemporary views of cleanliness and organization are not out of place in this setting. Briar's internal struggle to find his place in this world and to finally accept that he's no longer a street rat is also well done.
I love these full cast recordings. They are fun to listen to.
Yep, definitely a good idea to listen to a book about a magical plague while also living through 2020. I mean. Everyone having to wear masks and gloves. Briar and Rosethorn having to quarantine after caring for the sick. Everyone working to find a cure. Rosethorn feeling burnt out from working too hard and being away from her plants... Super relatable.
I love the full cast audio production of this series. The voice actors are perfect for every character.
I love the full cast audio production of this series. The voice actors are perfect for every character.
Briar Moss ştia că era doar un vis, dar nu-i păsa. Stătea într-un stejar imens, inima unei păduri mari. Avea o pungă de piele plină ochi cu smaralde i se afla în poală, iar stejarul îi şoptea la ureche secretele copacilor. Îşi trecea degetele printre pietrele preţioase, admirându-le culoarea şi mărimea când acestea se evaporară. Copacul dispăru. Acum, doi bărbaţi solizi, care păreau răi, îmbrăcaţi în piele neagră, îl împingeau pe un coridor umed, întunecat. Îl îmbrânciră într-o celulă şi trântiră uşa groasă în spatele său. Aceasta se izbi atât de tare, încât iscă o serie de ecouri, fiecare la fel de răsunător ca primul.
Băiatul deschise ochii. Era în spatele unei căruţe, cuibărit într-o grămadă de colete şi apărat de burniţa rece a zilei de un cearşaf de vele impermeabil. Ceva huruia încontinuu, ca uşa celulei din visul lui.
Dădu pânza deoparte, pentru a-l privi pe călăreţul care lovea cu atâta hotărâre în lemnul căruţei.
— Pleacă, Sandry! mârâi el. Aveam cel mai frumos vis posibil, şi tu m-ai trezit!
Domniţa Sandrilene fa Toren, o fată de vârsta lui Briar, ridică din umeri. Mişcarea făcu însă ca picăturile să se rostogolească de pe pelerina ei de ploaie şi de pe pălăria cu boruri late.
— Scuze!
Nu era nici urmă de mâhnire în ochii ei albastru-deschişi.
— Ce era aşa important şi nu putea aştepta? întrebă Briar.
Nu avea rost s-o dojenească. Vorbele aspre curgeau peste Sandry ca ploaia de pe mantia ei.
— Mă gândeam, începu ea hotărâtă. Tris are o zi de naştere… Daja are o zi de naştere. Numise celelalte fete care locuiau cu ea şi cu Briar. Eu am una. Mai rămâi tu.
— M-ai trezit ca să vorbim despre zile de naştere? scânci el.
— Ai spus că nu-ţi aduci aminte de a ta…
— Nu!
— Atunci, alege una, îi ceru Sandry. Nu este corect să nu ai una.
— Nu am nevoie de una. Am nevoie de somn! Vine vara, şi asta înseamnă plivit. Trebuie să mă odihnesc cât mai pot, şi tu nu mă laşi.
Fata suspină adânc. Poneiul ei îl privi pe Briar cu reproş, ca şi cum era vina lui că Sandry sălta agitată în şa.
Băiatul deschise ochii. Era în spatele unei căruţe, cuibărit într-o grămadă de colete şi apărat de burniţa rece a zilei de un cearşaf de vele impermeabil. Ceva huruia încontinuu, ca uşa celulei din visul lui.
Dădu pânza deoparte, pentru a-l privi pe călăreţul care lovea cu atâta hotărâre în lemnul căruţei.
— Pleacă, Sandry! mârâi el. Aveam cel mai frumos vis posibil, şi tu m-ai trezit!
Domniţa Sandrilene fa Toren, o fată de vârsta lui Briar, ridică din umeri. Mişcarea făcu însă ca picăturile să se rostogolească de pe pelerina ei de ploaie şi de pe pălăria cu boruri late.
— Scuze!
Nu era nici urmă de mâhnire în ochii ei albastru-deschişi.
— Ce era aşa important şi nu putea aştepta? întrebă Briar.
Nu avea rost s-o dojenească. Vorbele aspre curgeau peste Sandry ca ploaia de pe mantia ei.
— Mă gândeam, începu ea hotărâtă. Tris are o zi de naştere… Daja are o zi de naştere. Numise celelalte fete care locuiau cu ea şi cu Briar. Eu am una. Mai rămâi tu.
— M-ai trezit ca să vorbim despre zile de naştere? scânci el.
— Ai spus că nu-ţi aduci aminte de a ta…
— Nu!
— Atunci, alege una, îi ceru Sandry. Nu este corect să nu ai una.
— Nu am nevoie de una. Am nevoie de somn! Vine vara, şi asta înseamnă plivit. Trebuie să mă odihnesc cât mai pot, şi tu nu mă laşi.
Fata suspină adânc. Poneiul ei îl privi pe Briar cu reproş, ca şi cum era vina lui că Sandry sălta agitată în şa.
adventurous
emotional
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Was a bit surprised by the ending. And because of that I'm also surprised that it ended so quickly given this is the last book in the series. There didn't seem to be much reflection on the gravity of what they did. Possibly there will be more explanation and development in the following series The Circle Opens. I hope so, but I'll have to wait and see.
When I was reading these books for the first time, this was my least favorite of the quartet. As I'm revisiting them I was actually a lot more invested than I remember. Briar's story is definitely very emotional. It focuses on the strength of the relationships that he's built, and the risks that he's willing to take in order to protect them.
The last book of a series of four: it's my favourite of the bunch, and by a significant margin. While the four kids who are the protagonists of this series all have admirable skills in their various crafts, I trained as a botanist so naturally Briar, who is essentially being trained as the same, is the one doing the work I am most interested in. A plague has come to the local community - an apt book for our times, to be sure - and the herbalists and plant mages are all working with the various other healers in trying to find a cure for the disease before it kills any more of the local populace.
For all it's hung about with the trappings of magic, this is the most science-focused of the books. Briar, his mentor Rosethorn, and company spend a lot of time taking samples from patients and analysing those samples in what is basically a magical laboratory, trying permutation after permutation of test and potential cure. This is exactly the type of story that is designed to appeal to me, and so it's no surprise really that I liked it the best. For all the magical backdrop to medicine in this world, however, I appreciated that the big magical save done by the kids (there's one in every book, and it's honestly the least interesting thing about them in my opinion) really has nothing to do with the community effort to find a cure. It's just a whole lot of trained and competent people working together, for science!!! Of all the Circle of Magic books, this is the one I'd read again. Really enjoyed it.
For all it's hung about with the trappings of magic, this is the most science-focused of the books. Briar, his mentor Rosethorn, and company spend a lot of time taking samples from patients and analysing those samples in what is basically a magical laboratory, trying permutation after permutation of test and potential cure. This is exactly the type of story that is designed to appeal to me, and so it's no surprise really that I liked it the best. For all the magical backdrop to medicine in this world, however, I appreciated that the big magical save done by the kids (there's one in every book, and it's honestly the least interesting thing about them in my opinion) really has nothing to do with the community effort to find a cure. It's just a whole lot of trained and competent people working together, for science!!! Of all the Circle of Magic books, this is the one I'd read again. Really enjoyed it.
adventurous
emotional
lighthearted
mysterious
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Terminal illness, Blood, Medical content, Classism
Moderate: Excrement, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma
Minor: Body shaming, Bullying, Fatphobia
medium-paced
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Briar’s perspective in this series has always fascinated me, mostly because nearly all of Tamora Pierce’s books are about young women. There are males in them, of course, and often Pierce dives into their heads at least a little, but they’re usually love interests or friends. None of what I’ve read of hers has featured a male lead, and she writes them very well. Briar wasn’t what I expected, which I enjoyed, because people are complicated and don’t fit neatly into little boxes. He’s thoughtful, thanks in no small part to his relationship with his foster sisters. He’s also fiercely attached to Rosethorn, as if she’s the mother he never had and now he’ll do anything to protect and keep her.
The other books dealt with dramatic but swiftly passing events: earthquake, pirates, forest fire; Briar’s book dealt with illness and plague, a more creeping disaster. Rosethorn says something that really defined the tone of the disaster for me:
“You know why I hate plagues?”
The girl hesitated, confused by the abrupt change of subject. That was the fever, she realized. It made Rosethorn’s mind skip about. “Why?” Daja asked.
“Most disasters are fast, and big. You can see everyone else’s life got overturned when yours did. Houses are smashed, livestock’s dead. But plagues isolate people. They shut themselves inside while disease takes a life at a time, day after day. It adds up. Whole cities break under the load of what was lost. People stop trusting each other, because you don’t know who’s sick.”
The helplessness they all feel at this plague is present not just at the very end, near the climax, but throughout the book. They start out with plague and they end with it, and it mirrors the sense of “What in the world can we do to battle something we can’t see or touch?”
Briar learns much more about healing magic than plant magic in this book. He and Rosethorn had some very touching scenes, especially near the end, and as a result, Rosethorn is probably my favorite of the children’s mentors. In the “Circle of Magic series,” Daja and Tris got to explore their magic perhaps the most fully of any of the characters, and undergo the most significant character development. The “Circle Opens” series is where you realize how seriously powerful they all are, and I’m definitely enjoying them more for having gone back and read the first quartet!
This series was really great to read, and I definitely recommend it for any Tamora Pierce fan, or any fan of elemental magic. The characters are young, so it’s probably more middle-grade than young adult literature, and though I’m far past either of those age groups, the characters were easy to connect with, and the writing style engaging and intelligent.
The other books dealt with dramatic but swiftly passing events: earthquake, pirates, forest fire; Briar’s book dealt with illness and plague, a more creeping disaster. Rosethorn says something that really defined the tone of the disaster for me:
“You know why I hate plagues?”
The girl hesitated, confused by the abrupt change of subject. That was the fever, she realized. It made Rosethorn’s mind skip about. “Why?” Daja asked.
“Most disasters are fast, and big. You can see everyone else’s life got overturned when yours did. Houses are smashed, livestock’s dead. But plagues isolate people. They shut themselves inside while disease takes a life at a time, day after day. It adds up. Whole cities break under the load of what was lost. People stop trusting each other, because you don’t know who’s sick.”
The helplessness they all feel at this plague is present not just at the very end, near the climax, but throughout the book. They start out with plague and they end with it, and it mirrors the sense of “What in the world can we do to battle something we can’t see or touch?”
Briar learns much more about healing magic than plant magic in this book. He and Rosethorn had some very touching scenes, especially near the end, and as a result, Rosethorn is probably my favorite of the children’s mentors. In the “Circle of Magic series,” Daja and Tris got to explore their magic perhaps the most fully of any of the characters, and undergo the most significant character development. The “Circle Opens” series is where you realize how seriously powerful they all are, and I’m definitely enjoying them more for having gone back and read the first quartet!
This series was really great to read, and I definitely recommend it for any Tamora Pierce fan, or any fan of elemental magic. The characters are young, so it’s probably more middle-grade than young adult literature, and though I’m far past either of those age groups, the characters were easy to connect with, and the writing style engaging and intelligent.