Circle Of Magic - Tumblr Posts
Briar Moss taking care of his shakkan tree. Being a nerdy plant dad.
Brair moss is such a t boy name if you think about it
episode 21 of Backlog Books (link in pinned post)
Circle of Magic series by Tamora Pierce
This series is about four magical kids: Sandry, Tris, Daja, and Briar learning to accept who they are, their strange new magic and their new home and community.
Part of why I like returning to these books is that there’s always more to discover. Reading it as a kid, I was focused on the magic and the adventure. Reading this time around, I was really struck by the Living Circle religion and the respect for nature as a powerful force to be respected. And, honestly, who hasn’t wished for the power to save those we love from horrible situations, like earthquakes or plagues.
I love this series. These kids are so loved and supported by their community and their teachers and each other.
when i started rereading the circle of magic books i did not consider how briars book would hit given the current state of things 😂
Yo where my Circle of Magic nerds at? I’m rereading the books for the first time in like 10 years and I wanna find my people to nerd out with
I’m still working my way through re-listening to the Circle of Magic series and I’m obsessed with the way that we get four extremely different mentor/mentee relationships that speak to each Circle kid’s character development.
Like Sandry and Lark are the ultimate Mom Friend vs. Mom Friend duo whose gentleness and optimism is cut with extreme Fuck Around and Find Out energy, they’re all words of affirmation while Lark helps Sandry not nuclear escalate every situation where she has the moral high ground.
Briar and Rosethorn are the combination of prickly introvert meets the most ride-or-die mentee who has ever existed, two cynics with hearts of gold who admit that they love each other like once on pain of death but are constantly performing extreme acts for each other.
Daja “I’ll keep all of my emotions inside and then one day I’ll die” Kisubo gets Frostpine, who is also the most even-tempered of the mentors but helps her be like the pragmatic center of her group while not getting stepped on and Having an Emotion every now and then. I feel like Frostpine is the best of the four at navigating his mentee’s extreme trauma with a lot of delicate intentionality while making it look like an effortless combination of fondness and dad jokes.
And then on the opposite side there’s Tris and Niko, who are both a lot more emotionally volatile and obsessive about their research, but who Get each other to the extent that they can be super blunt and prickly at each other without lasting consequences. They also both walk away from every social situation being like “hmmm that was not my best work.” I feel like a lot of Tris’ emotional development comes from the other kids/mentees, especially when it comes to her abandonment issues, etc. but Tris and Niko just like vibe through both being That Bitch. Niko expresses his affection by shouting when Tris tries a cool experiment that might kill her and being like ‘this is MY student, go get your own’ every time someone else notices that Tris is like, ridiculously powerful and smart, but that actually works for them both.
Lady Sandrilene Fa Toren is filled with rage and I love her so much
Bless Tamora Pierce for making 'mast buildup' a childhood terror for so many of us. The Bermuda Triangle and quicksand may not have held up, but by god the mast buildup retains its relevance.
I thinks it’s been something like 15ish years since the last time I read this book, and let me tell you, it still holds up. Everything about this book is still just as fun and interesting as it was when I was a kid. It’s just been really nice to dive back into a series that brings back so many memories and nostalgia.
I really liked that we got to see a different side to Briar than we did in The Circle of Magic. He was so reluctant to teach Evvy, but he was also incredibly supportive of her doing things and learning in her own way. I loved that Briar found a student that was just as stubborn as he (and the rest of his friends/family) was. I also really liked that we got to see somewhere new within this world. Street Magic is getting four stars and I’m excited to jump into the next one!
When I was young and I first read Briar's Book, it wasn't my favorite. It had slow parts, and it wasn't too exciting, not like wildfires and pirates.
But now, reading it again as an adult, after living through the covid pandemic, it's amazing.
I am amazed at the research Tamora Pierce must have put in for the book! The events of the books are nearly identical to the covid pandemic.
It's amazing she even chose plague as a topic for her fantasy children's story. It's not exactly a normal plot line for such books. And she didn't go the easy way out of *hurr durr medieval society uses leeches and doesn't understand how germs work* option that so many fantasy writers use. Instead, she came up with a believable system that supplemented magic with technology.
The healers using magic to check the body to see what the pox did, the magic sample boxes, the magic diagnosis tools, the use of herbs and magic gems to find the "keys" to the cure... even the use of magic to distill the essence of the disease in order to study it. All combined with the good leadership of Duke Vedris, who followed the epidemic procedures written by the Living Temple to try to halt the pox. He enforced quarantine on the guards that handled the sick, cleared out warehouses to make hospitals, forced everyone to wear gloves and masks, paid people to collect the dead and burn them, ect.
The way Tamora Pierce perfectly captured to fear of the pandemic. The fear of getting sick, the dread of the knowledge of new cases and deaths, the exhaustion of the medical workers and support staff, the way the healers drained themselves dry and got sick.
It all combined into a realistic magic plauge that made an incredible book far before it's time.
Not only does Circle of Magic have poc and queer characters, it also has neurodivergeng characters too, so casually.
I noticed and mentioned Nico's OCD, but re-reading Briar's Book has let me pick up on Dedicate Crane, who I am positive is autistic. He disregards social norms in favor of his own goals, is exacting about during things his way, keeps a very strict schedule, and, something I noticed, tends to fidget a lot. When he talks to Lark about making clothes, he tears his bread apart has he talks to her. When he talks to Rosethorn to ask her to join him researching the pox, he take sout his hankerchief and folds it over and over into squares. These are such stim behaviors.
Winding Circle squad aesthetics
Master and student
That is an amazing sketch of Rosethorn.
My girl Rosethorn from Circle of Magic by T. Pierce These books are forever my fav. Found family u guys FOUND FAM TROPES ;-; Also kids with positive adult role models that help & dont hinder them or the story???? Be still my heart~~~
Briar Moss, from THE CIRCLE OF MAGIC series by Tamora Pierce
This was a custom illustratrion for a patron. If you’d like some original art for yourself, subscribe to my Patreon at patreon.com/ethanaldridge
Daja Kisubo from the Circle of Magic.
Plant mage Briar Moss from the Emelan series. He’s always so fun to draw.
So it’s Tamora Pierce’s birthday today, so I drew a little something for her (even though I’m not even a third of the way into this book yet, haha). From Battle Magic.
