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Sandry's Book Review: A wonderful introduction to the four main Emelan characters. Though most of the action does not start until the following books, this book is great for those of us who love to learn about how the characters meet and how their talents are discovered. Sandry is a noble girl whose magical gift connects her to threads. Tris is from a merchant family who thought she was crazy because of her connection to the weather. Daja is shipwrecked and discovers she has magic to work with metal. Briar is a former thief who discovers why plants always cling to him so much. This is the book in which each of them are rescued by Niklaren Goldeye and brought to Winding Circle Temple. Here they have to learn how to control their powers and how to start anew, for they and their teachers are the only family they have. Tris's Book Review: This book starts the action of the series, and though from here on the stories seem pretty fast-paced, book 1 gave enough introduction to the characters and world that readers can picture everything very well. In this book, the home of Sandry, Tris, Briar, and Daja is attacked by pirates, one of them being Tris's cousin. Everyone puts in the effort to stop the attack, but really it's the power of these four characters and their teachers that makes a great difference. Since, in Book 1, Sandry found a way to weave their magic together, it seems that their power is growing to extreme levels and very quickly. (But this is just my interpretation of how they get so powerful.) This story continues with the same sense of humor and emotion. There are sad places in the series, yes. Daja's Book Review: There seem to be two main themes to this story. First off, the characters travel away from the school to see what can be done about a huge drought. Secondly, Daja makes a metal vine that lives and grows. Other traders want to buy this from her, and she faces with being treated awkwardly because of her outcast status. The woman who comes to meet with her is very scarred and missing a leg from a horrible accident. Because of her lower status she is the one they send to trade with the "cursed" Daja. This is the book where Daja has to face how she is seen by the trader communities and decide how she feels about herself. A great story about an important learning experience. Briar's Book Review: The final book in this series is about a terrible sickness that is being spread through the city. Briar discovers this when he visits his friend Flick (a girl who lives, among other homeless children, in the sewer). Niklaren and Tris investigate the problem to find out that it came from a women who had concocted a magic formula and (when it didn't work) dumped it in the sewer. Samples of the disease are brought back to Winding Circle so the scholars there can test it to try and find a cure. This book is almost guaranteed to make sensitive readers cry (for reasons of both happiness and sadness). Each of the characters readers will have come to know and love are set to tasks to try to help. Briar, his teacher Rosethorn, and Tris work with Dedicate Crane (another plant mage) and his assistants at trying to figure out how to stop this disease to keep more people from dying. Magic Steps Review: In this book, Sandry meets a boy named Pasco who can dance magic. Interesting talent, yes? But the story doesn't spend much time following Pasco's learning and Sandry's teaching like I expected it to. I kind of thought it would read like the other Emelan books where the heros play the most important part in the story. I don't particularly like books in which the antagonists are detailed just as much as the good guys. But if you like to read books that give you insight into the mind of the bad guy, this book would work for you. I don't mind having insight into the mind of the killer in this story. I think it's a new and creative touch from the author. But I do think that it takes too much space when I wish the book would have been telling me more about Pasco. But it all depends on what you look for in a book, I guess. This book also contained a lot of pointless violence, committed of course by the bad guys. I really could have done without hearing about the murder of babies, but since so much time is focused on the protagonists, important lessons can be learned about the horrible ways people can act and the ways the give themselves reason for it. It was a good book. I enjoyed it. I just wish there would have been more time spent on Pasco. Street Magic Review: In Book 2, Briar is the one who finds himself a student. Young Evvy is an adorable girl who lives alone (aside from a roomfull of cats) and has the talent of stone magic. Since she has been taking care of herself for so long, she's not willing to take the chances of trusting the wrong people. It takes a while for Briar and Rosethorn, who are visiting the city, to get her to trust them enough so that they can supply her with good food to eat and Briar can teach her meditation to control her magic. The antagonist of this story is a rich woman who seems to think money isn't enough. All she wants is more and more power. She uses the local street gangs to get her what she wants (more people to control seemingly), and she decides she wants Evvy to be her very own stone mage. The murders in this story, ordered by the woman and committed before her by her servant, of the young gang members who have failed her in some small way are described well enough to make readers develop a full-fledged hatred of the bad guys and the situation in general. The questions to keep the readers on their feet are: Can Briar keep Evvy from the fate of being a servant to such cruelty? and Will someone see an end to this madness? I found this to be a rather enjoyable book. I read it in a day, for a bit in each of those breaks between classes and then stayed a bit after school since I knew I couldn't read it while driving. It's one of those books that's much more than good at keeping a reader's attention. Cold Fire Review: Daja and her teacher, Frostpine, are staying in the home of one of his friends, when Daja realizes that the twin daughters have magical gifts. She takes on the responsibility to find teachers for the girls and help them learn to meditate. In the meantime, the twins are teaching Daja to ice-skate. The eerie part of this book comes along with the firefighter named Ben, his spooky mother, and the strange fires that are occurring around the town. Daja must solve the mystery of what's going on with these fires before more innocent people are killed. I thought this book was rather exciting for the first half, but then it seemed to kind of drag on for a while. It became all action and no suspense. It was a nice addition to the series, but I wouldn't recommend reading it without the others because there is very little character development in the individual book. Shatterglass Review: Tris's discovers Keth and his magic when he accidently creates a living glass dragon. Though he is older (in his early 20's) he becomes Tris's student in magic. Strange things have been happening to the glass he tries to make every since he was stuck by lightening. Tris has to help Keth overcome his fear of lightening so that he can gain control of his magic. He's also needed as a key player in solving the on-going crime of the city. A person labeled the "Ghost" because no-one's ever see him is responsible for killing the city's performers, at least one every other night. When an image of the murder is seen in a glass ball Keth creates accidently, Tris and her student and pulled into this case. I think this book is the best of the four, though tied pretty closely with Street Magic . The characters are extremely well developed, the amount of description is perfect, and I was kept in suspense throughout the entire novel. The Will of the Empress Review: Sandry, Tris, Briar, and Daja have been apart for about four years, and finally they are back together. But through their individual trials and travels, they have grown and changed, and Sandry worries that maybe they have changed to much to reconstruct their old bond, to share their minds with each other. When Sandry realizes she must travel to Namorn and begin taking responsibility for the title and lands she inherits there, Duke Vedris asks her foster siblings to go with her, knowing that the four can protect each other. Soon enough they realize that Sandry's cousin the Empress has plans for all of them, wishing to keep them (their wealth and skills) in Namorn. And what Empress Berenene wants, she gets. This is a wonderful book to savor over a period of time (though i have to admit that if i'd had a full day off this week, i probably wouldn't have set it down). When Rosethorn and the water mage Myrrhtide are asked to come find out why the plants and water are spontaneously dying on one of the Battle Islands, Evvy (after getting herself into a bit of trouble at Winding Circle) is brought along with them. Her gift with stones turns out to be quite useful in determining what the problem is, and she might also be the only one who can really help. I recommend this book if you like witty heroines, creative uses of magic, talking-stone companions, curious spirit-type beings, suspence, coming-of-age stories, new and interesting places, and adventure. |
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