The Circle of Magic

Eh, why not. Not a whole lot else to write on today, and I didn't get down to the river like I'd planned.

The Circle of Magic by Tamora Pierce is one of the book series' I've been reading at work to keep me from going absolutely nuts. So far, it covers two quartets and two individual books that are a bit more loosely linked together. Technically, it's classified as juvenile fantasy, though in all honesty, it's one of those series that ... well, let me put it this way: children die in this series with some frequency. There was at least one story that included the death of a baby, and war and death are described in some detail.

So yeah, a children's series. Totally.

The first quartet opens on a series of highly unlikely coincidences: four remarkable children are each rescued from miserable - even life-threatening - circumstances by a mysterious benefactor named Niklaren Goldeye (who happens to be a seer), and brought to the quiet temple community of Winding Circle. Two things rapidly become apparent: the children are not fitting in well with their peers, and they have some skill at magecraft. They are brought to live together at Discipline Cottage, where together, they face off against bullies, earthquakes, pirates, forest fires, and plague, even traveling to death's door and back. Along the way, they find powerful teachers, learn life lessons, and squeeze in all the education they can handle, not to mention working incredible feats of magic, the most important of which being a simple thread circle that wove their four lives - and magics - together as one.

I've always rather enjoyed this series, partially because of the fantastic-yet-down-to-earth setting, partially because of the relatable characters, and partially because I'm a bit of a sucker for strong female leads - of which there are three in the first quartet, with strong supporting women as well. I also like how magic is handled in it - with magic, nothing useful can be gained without good, hard work, and mages are honestly mostly just another stripe of craftsperson, even when they aren't actually craftspeople as well. The schism between 'academic' mages (the traditional book-learning, rune-shaping, spellcasters) and 'ambient' mages (people who work magic through arts, crafts, and nature) is also rather believable and interesting.

Over all, a good fantasy series if you're into that kind of thing, and a series of solid coming-of-age stories told from four unique perspectives if you're into that kind of thing.

Just remember: despite all the murder and disaster and such, it's a kids' series.

Really.