Helpful Score: 3
Very good writing for a youth book. Complex plot, a bit of violence but a worthwhile read by adults as well.
Helpful Score: 2
I missed Briar, Tris, and Daja in this book. I know the circle can't always be together, but it felt strange not to have them with Sandry. But Sandry did wonderfully on her own, and I can catch up with the others in the remaining books.
Helpful Score: 2
Lady Sandrilene fa Toren knows all about unusual magic - she herself spins and weaves it like threads. But when she witnesses a boy dancing a spell, even she is confounded.
Celia H. (DustBunniesAndBooks) reviewed Magic Steps (The Circle Opens, Book 1) on + 144 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 2
The Circle of Magic Quartet continues now with The Circle Opens Quartet! Magic Steps is the first in the new series and focuses on Sandry and her young student as they try to work their magic to stop a mysterious murderer.
Helpful Score: 2
This is the first book in the continuing story of Sandry, Tris, Daja, and Briar. The "Circle Opens" series follows the "Circle of Magic", with the four mages growing up to be teens, dealing with apprentices and even more magic.
Barbara S. (barbsis) -
Helpful Score: 1
Sandry from Sandry's Book returns to become the teacher in the first book of a new series featuring the four mages from the Circle of Magic series.
Sandry and her new student, Pasco, get involved in a murder where unmagic was used. This magic is new to everyone. The trials and tribulations of Pasco, a dance-magic user, also something that no one has seen before, are interesting and suspenseful. A wonderful start to the new series.
Sandry and her new student, Pasco, get involved in a murder where unmagic was used. This magic is new to everyone. The trials and tribulations of Pasco, a dance-magic user, also something that no one has seen before, are interesting and suspenseful. A wonderful start to the new series.
Great young adult fantasy!!
This is the first book in the Circle Opens series. It's about Sandry. Tamora Pierce is my favorite fantasy author. This is a great book!
The circle opens series takes you deeper into the lives of the first four and adds new charactors to the picture. A T. Pierce must read........
I have been reading the series of these Tamora Pierce books and really enjoyed them. The characters are fully fleshed out and each has there unique personalities. And of course the stories are really interesting. I would recommend these for anyone to read and enjoy.
I read the Circle of Magic quartet and found them mostly interesting. The quality of the books went up as they went along, so I decided to continue on into the Circle Opens quartet. Just like the first series, each book focuses on one of the four friends. Unlike the first series, in this book the four are far enough apart that none of the others in the circle make an appearance in more than thought.
This book follows Sandry. She's 14 now and has been living in the palace with her uncle, helping him recover from a heart attack. During one of his first outings they discover a boy displaying unusual magic and a strange murder. Sandy is tasked with teaching the boy, since she was the one to find him.
The book was relatively simply and the plot didn't hold any major surprises. However, the book itself was still highly entertaining - I read it all in one day, mostly because by suppertime I couldn't bring myself to stop reading. I would certainly recommend it to any young adult out there.
This book follows Sandry. She's 14 now and has been living in the palace with her uncle, helping him recover from a heart attack. During one of his first outings they discover a boy displaying unusual magic and a strange murder. Sandy is tasked with teaching the boy, since she was the one to find him.
The book was relatively simply and the plot didn't hold any major surprises. However, the book itself was still highly entertaining - I read it all in one day, mostly because by suppertime I couldn't bring myself to stop reading. I would certainly recommend it to any young adult out there.
Tamara Pierce has created an exciting new view of the world of witches and wizards with this series of 4 books, with young teens as her main characters and their teacher/mentors as secondary charachters. Sandry in this book has magic that comes through in her weaving and she can catch light within her weave as well as other interesting things that develop as you meet in detail each child. Daja, Brian, Tris and Sandry weave very unique magic that amazes their adult mentors and baffles the wizarding community they now live in. Very good read for young teens with great imagination and curiosity in the possibility other worlds and what they might be like.
This book is fantastic! The way Tamora Pierce paints her world with her words is purely phenomenal. If you are going to read this book, though, be sure to read the Circle of Magic series first. Bother series are great reads. The kind of thing you never want to put down.
This whole series lured me into the "Tamora Pierce Fan Fold" - vibrant characters and plots that walk the line between saccharin and depressing. These characters breathe, live, and Pierce weaves the stories so that they stand alone but are a bit richer when you've read the others. I'm not a big fan of fantasy, but Pierce (and Terry Pratchett) are changing that...
Good book.
