Sandry's Book

August 30, 1999
The first two books in Pierce's Circle of Magic series feature a talented needleworker and a merchant girl who can create storms and tides. Ages 11-up.

September 1, 1997
Gr 4-7-Sandry wants desperately to learn to spin and weave despite her noble birth; she finds that she can spin light into her threads. Tris comes from a family of merchants but has an uncanny feel for weather and hears voices on the winds. Briar, a former street urchin and thief, communicates with plants. Daja is a Trader, but metalworking calls her now. Sandry's Book focuses equally on these four children, all abandoned or orphaned and all equally unaware of being mageborn-gifted with a particular talent and magical abilities. The four meet at Discipline Cottage, part of Winding Circle Temple, where the powerful mage Niko has brought them to heal the wounds of their past and to learn to channel and control their abilities. Although the four have some conflicts with their new surroundings and with one another, they are united when misuse of magic at another temple puts everyone in mortal danger. A bit unfocused, the story features too many main characters with individual stories to tell and borrows too much from our own world to be surprising. The youngsters are appealing and the conflicts between them are logical and believable. However, while Daja's affinity for metals and Briar's for plants are well defined, it is harder to tell how Sandry will use her magical talent, or what Tris's abilities have to do with the crafts that are predominant throughout the book. In spite of its faults, this is an enjoyable fantasy for middle-grade readers, who will look forward to the next book in the series.-Susan L. Rogers, Chestnut Hill Academy, PA

September 1, 1997
Gr. 6^-9. Readers who enjoyed Mary Frances Zambreno's "Journeyman Wizard" (1994) and Diana Wynne Jones' Christopher Chant stories will want to read this first book in Pierce's new series about four misfits who must learn to harness their powers: Daja, an outcast trader; Briar Moss, a convicted thief; Trisana, a merchant's daughter abandoned by her family; and Lady Sandrilene (Sandry), an orphaned noblewoman. They have each run out of options when they are rescued by the mysterious Niko and brought to Winding Circle Temple. At first they are suspicious of one another, but as they learn their crafts, they become friends. Pierce has created an excellent new world where magic is a science and utterly believable and populated it with a cast of well-realized characters. Sandry is the star in this volume, providing the unifying thread that allows the quartet to combine their powers to survive a devastating earthquake. Teens will eagerly await the planned sequels. ((Reviewed Sept. 1, 1997))(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 1997, American Library Association.)

September 1, 1997
First in a projected series by veteran fantasy writer Pierce (the Song of the Lioness books), this unfocused tale tells of four young mages who discover their magical abilities while living in a strictly disciplined temple community called Winding Circle. Each is from a different social class, and each is associated with one or more of the four elements. Naughty thief Briar, the only boy, has a special connection with plants and earth. Trader Daja is a smith mage, able to manipulate fire and molten ore. The most powerful of them all is homely Tris, a merchant girl, who masters both air and water to create storms and stop tides. Lady Sandry's talent is for needlework and fabrics; she binds the group of friends and weaves their magics together. Pierce's spunky children and their creative sorcery are as engaging as ever, but the story gets off to a shaky start. The narrative shifts the spotlight among each of the four characters (shown in separate environments) in all three of the first chapters, making it hard for the reader to find a through line with any of them. Once they meet, the characters' gradual mutual acceptance is painfully predictable, and the climactic group effort to escape from an underground cave during an earthquake is muddled and lacks drama. The results are less than magical. Ages 10-up.