Sandry's Book, by Tamora Pierce is a fantasy novel set mainly in Emelan. It is the first in a quartet of books: The Circle of Magic, starring four young mages as they discover their magic.
Four young misfits from four different classes are brought together at the Winding Circle Temple in Emelan. They find themselves housed together as they did not "fit in" when they slept in the dormitories with everyone. They are sent to Discipline Cottage to learn and use their new-found magical abilities. All four have ambient magic, as opposed to academic magic, and the power they use comes from ordinary things all around them. Sandry has magic with threads, Tris with weather, Daja with smithing, and Briar with plants.
Lady Sandrilene fa Toren is locked away in a dark room with a fading oil lamp. She was magically hidden in this storeroom days ago by her nurse, who was murdered moments later just outside the door by a mob bent on destroying everything infected by the fierce plague that killed Sandry's parents. Sandry is concerned about the flickering oil lamp, even though she knows there is no chance of anybody finding her as the room she is locked in is protected by magic so that it cannot be found either magically or non-magically, and the only person who knows her whereabouts is her nurse, who is dead. Sandry is afraid of going crazy in the darkness. Unknowingly doing her first piece of magic, Sandry traps the remaining light in a simple braid. A powerful seer, Niklaren Goldeye, finds her and takes her to Winding Circle in Emelan.
Trader Daja Kisubo is the lone survivor when her family's ship is destroyed in a storm. She floats on the water for days, surviving only because she finds a suraku—a survival box full of food and water from the ship. When Niko finds her, they go to the Trader Council so they can decide Daja's fate. Because Daja is the only survivor of her family, they declare her trangshi, or outcast—the worst sort of bad luck. As trangshi, she is forbidden to speak, touch, or write to other Traders. Niko is outraged at the council's decision and conducts her to Winding Circle.
Roach (later named Briar Moss) is a "street rat" in Hajra, Sotat. His mother died when he was four; he was then taken in by the Thief Lord, the leader of the gang Lightning. Each time Roach is caught committing a crime, an "X" is tattooed onto the web of skin between his thumb and forefinger. After his third capture, Roach is sentenced to the docks but is saved by Niko, who stopped the judge and convinced her to allow him to take Roach to Winding Circle. Roach also has the opportunity to choose a new name for himself; he chooses Briar Moss because of his curiosity and experience with plants.
Trisana Chandler is from a merchant's family. She has been passed from relative to relative because of the strange things that occur when she is around. Never staying long in one house, she never had a real family. Eventually, she is brought to Stone Circle Temple by her parents and left there, where she wreaks more havoc still. The temple's dedicate superior pleads with Niko to take her to Winding Circle, and he agrees after Tris starts a hail storm out of anger.
The four children are brought to Winding Circle Temple in Emelan, where they do not fit in. Daja is secluded and ignored because she is a Trader, Tris wreaks havoc through weather when girls upset her by making fun of her, Briar threatens other boys with knives, and Sandry is caught looking at the looms too much. They are all taken to Discipline Cottage, an isolated cottage for children who do not fit in, where they are overseen there by Dedicate Lark, a kind and gentle thread mage, and Dedicate Rosethorn, a sharp plant mage.
The four learn they have magic, which none of them knew about. While they all practice meditation, each of the four is matched with a main teacher to guide them through their magical learning. Sandry begins studying with Lark, learning to weave and spin; Tris studies with Niko about weather; Daja is taken under the wing of Dedicate Frostpine, the greatest smith mage; Briar works with Rosethorn in her garden and workshop. They each grow closer together and stronger in their magic.
During the course of the book, there have been tremors all summer. Near the end of the book, a big earthquake comes, having gained power by bouncing off the walls of a crystal used in an attempt to trap it. Just before, the four were out walking Little Bear, their dog, when he runs down a path and into the back of a large cave. The four and their dog are stuck underground when the earthquake begins. Daja holds the roof of their small space up by making a magical "suraku" around the space to help save them. Tris and Briar begin their own protections and Tris starts to open up air vents. However, the three of them cannot finish, because each person does not have the skill to finish. Sandry remembers her time trapped in the storage room and is paralyzed with fear when she remembers her weaving bag. She infuses it with the essences of the four and weaves their magic together, so each can complete his or her jobs.
The four and their dog are rescued by their teachers after the quake. It is discovered that they are under the kitchens of the temple.
At the very end of the book, Tris, Briar, and Daja present Sandry with a light-filled crystal to help her conquer her fear of the dark.
Shatterglass, a novel by Tamora Pierce, is the fourth book in The Circle Opens series. It takes place four years after the Circle of Magic series.
The Song of the Lioness is a young adult series of fantasy novels published in the 1980s by Tamora Pierce. The series consists of four books: Alanna: The First Adventure (1983), In the Hand of the Goddess (1984), The Woman Who Rides Like a Man (1986) and Lioness Rampant (1988).
The Immortals quartet, by Tamora Pierce, is the story of Veralidaine Sarrasri, an orphan with an unusual talent: she can speak with animals.
Circle of Magic is a quartet of fantasy novels by Tamora Pierce, set in Emelan, a fictional realm in a pseudo-medieval and renaissance era. It revolves around four young mages, each specializing in a different kind of magic, as they learn to control their extraordinary and strong powers and put them to use. It is followed by another quartet, The Circle Opens, which takes place four years later, and the standalone book The Will of the Empress, which takes place several years after that. Melting Stones and Battle Magic are also set in the same universe, but they feature only Briar.
Tris's Book, a fantasy novel by Tamora Pierce, tells the story of four young mages as they battle pirates and become closer than ever.
The Circle Opens is a quartet of novels written by Tamora Pierce and set in a pseudo-medieval/renaissance era. It mainly revolves around four teenage mages, each specializing in a different kind of magic, as they find that they are forced to deal with mages whose powers are similarly unusual to their own. The series consists of the books Magic Steps (2000), Street Magic (2001), Cold Fire (2002), and Shatterglass (2003). The Circle Opens Quartet is the sequel quartet to The Circle Of Magic Quartet, and is followed by "Battle Magic" and The Will of the Empress.
Emelan is a fictional realm that provides the main setting of the Circle of Magic quartet by Tamora Pierce, primarily in the capital city of Summersea and the nearby temple of Winding Circle. Of the follow-up books, only Magic Steps of the quartet The Circle Opens and the opening sequence of the standalone book The Will of the Empress take place in Emelan.
The Will of the Empress, previously titled The Circle Reforged, is a standalone fantasy novel by Tamora Pierce, a continuation of the story of the quartets Circle of Magic and The Circle Opens.
Briar's Book by Tamora Pierce, is a fantasy novel set in the fictional duchy of Emelan. It is the fourth and final book in the Circle of Magic quartet, starring the four young mages Sandry, Tris, Daja and Briar as they learn to handle powerful magic, form intense bonds of friendship and stand up against destructive forces of nature.
Street Magic is the second book in the quartet The Circle Opens by fantasy author Tamora Pierce. It describes the further adventures of child-mage Briar Moss in his travels with his teacher, the Dedicate Initiate Rosethorn.
Cold Fire is the third book in the series The Circle Opens by author Tamora Pierce. It deals with the continuing adventures of child mage Daja Kisubo and her teacher, the dedicate initiate Frostpine.
Magic Steps is the opening book of The Circle Opens quartet of young adult fantasy novels by Tamora Pierce. It is preceded by the Circle of Magic quartet, taking place four years after the conclusion of Briar's Book. It portrays the adventures of Sandrilene fa Toren, the noble thread mage and her first experience as a teacher of magic.
Kethlun "Keth" Warder is a co-protagonist of the fantasy novel Shatterglass, by Tamora Pierce. He is a glass artisan native to Namorn, and throughout the novel becomes a student of weather-mage Trisana Chandler, despite the fact that at fourteen, she is six years his junior.
Berenene dor Ocmore, Empress of Namorn, is the title character in the young adult fantasy novel The Will of the Empress by Tamora Pierce. Based upon the Russian Empress Catherine the Great and Elizabeth I, Berenene serves as an antagonist to the book's four protagonists, and especially Sandrilene fa Toren.
Melting Stones, a fantasy novel by young adult author Tamora Pierce, was released by Full Cast Audio as an audiobook original in October 2007, and was released in print form by Scholastic in the summer of 2008.
Evumeimei Dingzai (Evvy) is a character in the book Street Magic, part of the Circle Opens quartet. She also appears in Battle Magic and is the protagonist in Melting Stones.
Battle Magic, a fantasy novel by young adult author Tamora Pierce, was released by Scholastic on September 24, 2013.
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