Pierce, Tamora - Circle of Magic books

(includes Sandry's Book, Tris's Book, Daja's Book, and Briar's Book -- hee, imaginative names)

The Circle of Magic series is about four kids who form (wait for it) a circle of magic. Sandry is the mage whose skills lie in weaving and all sort of clothy things (technically a water mage, but I'm not quite sure how that works out); she's a noble and the nice one of the bunch to boot. Tris is a weather mage (element of air, I think); her short temper has been a danger to those around her. Daja is a Trader but now an outcast from her tribe; she's the fire mage who works with metal. Briar is a former thief who is the earth mage and works with plants.

All in all, the premise isn't one that would normally hook me, but rachelmanija highly recced them. Despite the fairly standard setup of four outcasts who are grouped together and end up bonding and the somewhat pedestrian prose, I ended up really enjoying these books. The thing I liked best was that even though the four children are supposedly associated with the elements, the actuality is that they are associated with particular crafts.

Well, except for Tris.

But still. Apparently this type of magic is fairly uncommon in their world; ergo having the four together under one roof and learning from mentors, as opposed to going to elemental temple schools. And while, of course, each of their teachers are great mages, I really enjoyed seeing the lessons.

My favorite books of the four were Sandry's and Briar's, largely because I felt they had the most crafty things. Also, Sandry does fabric sorts of things, which I obviously highly enjoy, and Briar does plant things, which I would like to enjoy but tend to wreak havoc instead.

Pierce writes in her afterword that she was inspired to write about crafty magic by watching her mother and sister quilt and knit, and then later by watching a friend who did all sorts of things, from metalwork to glassblowing. Of course, I'm biased, given that I knit and crochet, but I completely get the everyday magic of making things, and I'm really glad that Pierce focuses on that in these books. While the four do great feats of magic, they also weed and weave and make nails and do chores.

I also like that magic, while rare, is also used for fairly mundane things. My favorite book in the series, Briar's Book, is about a plague and how the four and their teachers help combat it. Pierce doesn't skimp on detailing exactly how a magic-run lab of sorts would work; she goes into methodology and shows the people using the scientific method, which fascinates me.

The plots and characters tend to follow YA fantasy tropes; I wasn't particularly surprised by the end of the last book, for instance. But the characters manage to not wander into the land of stereotypes, and there's enough detail in all the magic to make it not feel like wish-fulfillment.

Anyhow, looking forward to the next series, which apparently is even better.