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Magic Steps The Circle Opens Book 1 Tamora Pierce 9780590396059 Books

Download As PDF : Magic Steps The Circle Opens Book 1 Tamora Pierce 9780590396059 Books

Magic Steps The Circle Opens Book 1 Tamora Pierce 9780590396059 Books

I loved this book! I always identified the strongest with Sandry, and seeing her frustration with Pasco and her Uncle was so relatable.
It's been a while since I picked up a Tamora Pierce novel, and I forgot how violent they get. It's tasteful, but unlike a lot of other YA or children's novelists, Pierce doesn't always pull punches. People get straight-up murdered in this book. Even an infant. Which is horrifically brutal for a book, but totally realistic for the story.
In all honesty, I thought the book was going to go in a different direction than it did - I was worried for Lord Vedris! - but I really loved where it went. It tied together really nicely, and the action scenes are always good. The ending with what Sandry did was BALLSY and I LOVE IT. Finally, we get a protagonist who is ready to make the hard choices and get her hands dirty instead of roll over like an obedient puppy when faced with a hostage situation.
Can't wait to read the other 3


Tags : Magic Steps (The Circle Opens, Book 1) [Tamora Pierce] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. <DIV>Part of the 8-book Tamora Pierce reissue for Fall 2006, this title in the Circle Opens quartet features spellbinding new cover art. Concides with the release of WILL OF THE EMPRESS in trade pb.<BR><BR>Lady Sandrilene fa Toren knows all about unusual magic--she herself spins and weaves it like thread. But when she witnesses a boy dancing a spell,Tamora Pierce,Magic Steps (The Circle Opens, Book 1),Scholastic Paperbacks,0590396056,Fantasy - General,Fantasy,Fantasy fiction,Fantasy fiction.,Magic,Magic;Fiction.,Children's Teenage fiction & true stories,Children: Young Adult (Gr. 7-9),Fantasy & Magic,Fantasy & magical realism (Children's Teenage),Fiction-Fantasy,JUVENILE FICTION Fantasy & Magic,Juvenile Fiction,Juvenile Grades 7-9 Ages 12-14,MASS MARKET,Science fiction (Children's Teenage),TEEN'S FICTION FANTASY,YOUNG ADULT FICTION Fantasy General,Young Adult Fiction

Magic Steps The Circle Opens Book 1 Tamora Pierce 9780590396059 Books Reviews

By itself this is a good book. I love Pierce's writing style to death. However I don't feel MAGIC STEPS is as good as the rest of the The Circle Opens books. I must admit that Sandry isn't my favorite of the quartet because she's the one I connect to the least. The book had a good plot, but there was little build-up. Like the rest of the Circle Opens books we get sections that stem from the villains's POV, but in MAGIC STEPS there's not a lot of interest in these sections. Beyond the initial rivalry between families I know very little about the two antagonists. Vengeance by itself is such a shallow motive, and it made them very two dimensional. The same thing goes for the kid they use throughout. We know very little about him, so it's hard to sympathize with his situation. Unmagic is such an awesome concept, but we end up knowing very little about it.

One of the things I loved about The Circle Opens series is the relationships Briar, Tris, and Daja form with their students, but in MAGIC STEPS I saw very little of that in Sandry and Pasco. Pasco seems to learn very little from Sandry, and it seems she's more interested in her uncle's love life than her student. Even at the end they have little to look back at in terms of a relationship. The idea of dancing ambient magic is the coolest ambient magic I've read so far, but I was disappointed to see so little of it. Pasco's magic, beyond his beginning mishaps and the ending spell, is never shown. His training consists of stretches, dance steps, and precision.

Pasco's character never evolved throughout the book. In the beginning he is stubborn when it came to following orders, and at the end it's his stuborness that gets him caught. There was no character development. Sandry, herself, never became the teacher I thought she could be. As a noble I thought she would be more comfortable with teaching someone, but out of all the quartet she's the one who struggles the most. The fact that she and Lark are separated makes it harder.

Like I said, by itself, MAGIC STEPS is a good book. In comparison with the rest of the books in the series, however, it's lackluster. There were many awesome concepts in this book, such as harrying, ambient dance magic, unmagic, that could be expanded on. The characters need to be developed and interact more with one another on a deeper level.
This quartet continues telling the lives of the four young mages who were introduced in the previous quartet. In that series, all of the students were together in each book, although one took a primary role. This series begins four years later, and the mages are no longer together Tris, Daja, and Briar are off on journeys with their mentors, while Sandry has remained in Sumersea to care for her uncle, the Prince. In this novel, we see Sandry growing into adult roles assisting her uncle with running the city, becoming a training mage for a young man who possesses a rare wild magic but has had no training, and taking a dangerous part in discovering and attempting to trap a pair of assassins who are slaughtering a merchant family (men, women, and children).
Pierce is a wonderful writer, and this novel continues that pattern. Her characters feel "real"; they grow and change as the books develop; her descriptions of life in Sumersea are detailed and interesting; the plot is tense and engaging. This is a tough book to put down less than 24 hours for me. Now I can't wait to see how the other three are faring in the rest of the quartet.
I loved the Circle Magic series when I first discovered them about 5 yrs ago, but like a lot of people life and other interests took me to other authors. I am happy to reconnect and discover the rest of the series. T.Pierce has a wonderful way of easing you into her artfully descriptive worlds without losing you in too many details. The characters of the first set of books are there, and she gives you just enough to say, even after years, oh I remember that or to perhaps a new reader to the series just enough to engrossed them so they might want to read the previous books. However you don't have to go back, bc this is a joy ride of a story by itself with new characters and a plot that makes you want to finish the book in one day... Start reading it, you will not want to put it down.
Forgive me if I rambled on too much in this review, I'm a visual artist not a writer.
I liked Pasco's family, the harrier aspects in general, and the fact that Pasco is kind of torn between following his own dreams with dancing and pursuing a career his family deems acceptable. The theme of family obligation versus individual freedom is always a poignant one for me.

Duke Vedris and Sandry have a great relationship. I love the family bond between them and the mutual respect there.

Seeing Sandry in the role of a mentor was cool though I wish that she was older than fourteen since fourteen is rather young to take on the responsibilities of a teacher. When I read the Emelan books the first time, I think I mentally aged Sandry and didn't appreciate that she was only fourteen. I think Tamora could have let more time elapse between the Circle of Magic books and the Circle Opens one so that the ages of the original four protagonists might be a bit more believable when they take on their own students. If Sandry were eighteen or so, this plot point might require less suspension of disbelief.
I loved this book! I always identified the strongest with Sandry, and seeing her frustration with Pasco and her Uncle was so relatable.
It's been a while since I picked up a Tamora Pierce novel, and I forgot how violent they get. It's tasteful, but unlike a lot of other YA or children's novelists, Pierce doesn't always pull punches. People get straight-up murdered in this book. Even an infant. Which is horrifically brutal for a book, but totally realistic for the story.
In all honesty, I thought the book was going to go in a different direction than it did - I was worried for Lord Vedris! - but I really loved where it went. It tied together really nicely, and the action scenes are always good. The ending with what Sandry did was BALLSY and I LOVE IT. Finally, we get a protagonist who is ready to make the hard choices and get her hands dirty instead of roll over like an obedient puppy when faced with a hostage situation.
Can't wait to read the other 3