Circle of Magic: Sandry's Book by Tamora Pierce

[meganbmoore]

Sandry is a young noblewoman who was recently orphaned, and sent to Winding Circle community for her education.  Briar is a street rat on his third strike who is given the choice of the monks of Winding Circle, or the docks.  Tris is a merchant's daughter who is followed around by freak events of nature.  Daja is a young trader turned outcast because of her fascination with metalcraft.  Before long, each does something to cross the other students and teachers at Winding Cross, and gets sent to a house called Discipline, where they live together under the watchful eyes of a handful of teachers with specializations in different areas.

The book was good, and I like the whole "problem kids forced to work together who become friends" trope, especially when, as here, it's eventually revealed that there was another purpose in bringing them together.  I like Sandry.  A lot.  I'm glad that the wellbred noble girl wasn't made to be rude or bitchy or shallow or dumb, but smart and nice, and the emotional center.  I like Briar, though I suspect at least part of that is because he used to be a street rat, and still thinks in the context of street gangs.  I don't particularly like Tris and Daja.  I don't dislike them, but I don't really like them, either.  Both are of the "needed and well off working class young character with pride who doesn't get along with others" character type.  Though I usually grow to like the character type (once they get over not liking everyone and wallowing in self-pity) a series really only needs one of that type, not two.  Hopefully, they'll grow apart in characterization as the series continues.

Also, even though she's the titular character, Sandry isn't much more prominent than the other three.  Even though each of them is a titular character in subsequent books, I hope they remain ensemble books, instead of focusing on the title character.  Otherwise, I'll likely get distracted by being annoyed that my favorite character (so far) didn't get to be the main focus of her book.

Comments

[coraa.livejournal.com]

They do remain ensemble books, although Briar's Book is more centered on his character than the others are on theirs, I think. (Which was peachy by me, because I like Briar -- and Rosethorn -- a lot.)

I'm just about half a chapter into it, but the first book of the sequel quartet appears to be pretty much entirely abut Sandry. Which I appreciate, because I really liked her, too. I like characters who enjoy traditionally feminine pursuits who aren't painted as being dumb or shallow or unambitious or frivolous for it, and I love that she's good-hearted and the most emotionally intelligent of them even though she's the noblewoman -- and that her sweet temper (except when she sees injustice done and gets stubborn) is an actual benefit and a good thing, rather than being a sign of stupidity.

[the_rck]

The books in the second series are pretty much each about one of the characters from the first series. They're set later (at least a year, maybe two or three years), at a point when the kids are old enough to travel and are too far apart to interact with each other. I liked the character growth shown in the second series because part of each book is that the main character has to become a teacher in turn.

I did find the plots of the second set of books a little repetitive. Each has some sort of criminal that's endangering people or killing people and that the main character has to deal with/catch/avoid. Each character deals with that differently, though, and the settings vary quite a bit.

I liked the book set after the second quartet, The Will of the Empress, better because I liked seeing the characters together again.

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

3 sets total, then?

[the_rck]

I think The Will of the Empress is intended as a stand-alone. There could be more books in that world (I'd certainly read them), but I didn't get the impression that it was meant as the start of another quartet of books.

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

The whole thing about how being traditionally feminine is weak and/or uninteresting, and that being nice and caring is stupid and/or foolish is one of my most despised fictional ideas. It's why I react so incredibly negatively, even though I try not to, to characters like Starbuck, who (in what I watched of BSG) was all about enforcing that you couldn't be those things and still be a strong woman. If we're going the hard warrior woman route, I'd rather characters like Riza Hawkeye, who aren't afraid to be normal women under the hard, pragmatic exterior.