Tamora Pierce is an author of
fantasyFantasy is a genre of fiction that commonly uses magic and other supernatural phenomena as a primary element of plot, theme, or setting. Many works within the genre take place in imaginary worlds where magic is common...
literature for young adults. She is an alumna of the
University of PennsylvaniaThe University of Pennsylvania is a private, Ivy League university located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Penn is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States,Penn is the fourth-oldest using the founding dates claimed by each institution...
. Best known for writing stories involving young heroines, she made a name for herself with her first quartet
The Song of the LionessThe Song of the Lioness is a series of young adult fantasy novels published in the 1980s by Tamora Pierce. The series consists of four books: Alanna: The First Adventure , In the Hand of the Goddess , The Woman Who Rides Like a Man and Lioness Rampant .-Plot Summary:Alanna of Trebond wants to be a...
, which followed the main character Alanna through the trials and triumphs of training as a knight. Many of her books contain feminist themes.
Biography
Pierce was born in
South Connellsville, PennsylvaniaSouth Connellsville is a borough in Fayette County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 2,281 at the 2000 census.-Geography:South Connellsville is located at ....
in
Fayette CountyFayette County is a county located in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. As of the2010 census, the population was 136,606. The county is part of the Pittsburgh Metropolitan Statistical Area....
, on December 13, 1954. Her mother wanted to name her "Tamara" but the nurse who filled out her birth certificate misspelled it as "Tamora". When she was five her sister Kimberly (whom she based Alanna on) was born and a year later her second sister, Melanie, was born. From the time she was five until she was eight, she lived in
DunbarDunbar is a borough in Fayette County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 1,219 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Dunbar is located at .According to the United States Census Bureau, the borough has a total area of , all of it land....
. In June 1963 she and her family moved to
CaliforniaCalifornia is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
. They first lived in
San MateoSan Mateo is a city in San Mateo County, California, United States, in the San Francisco Bay Area. With a population of approximately 100,000 , it is one of the larger suburbs on the San Francisco Peninsula, located between Burlingame to the north, Foster City to the east, Belmont to the south,...
on
El Camino RealEl Camino Real and sometimes associated with Calle Real usually refers to the 600-mile California Mission Trail, connecting the former Alta California's 21 missions , 4 presidios, and several pueblos, stretching from Mission San Diego de Alcalá in San Diego...
and then moved to the other side of the
San Francisco PeninsulaThe San Francisco Peninsula is a peninsula in the San Francisco Bay Area that separates the San Francisco Bay from the Pacific Ocean. On its northern tip is the City and County of San Francisco. Its southern base is in Santa Clara County, including the cities of Palo Alto, Los Altos, and Mountain...
, in Miramar. They lived there for half a year, in
El GranadaEl Granada is a census-designated place in the coastal area of northern San Mateo County, California, United States. The population was 5,467 at the 2010 census.-Geography:...
a full year, and then three years in
BurlingameBurlingame is a city in San Mateo County, California. It is located on the San Francisco Peninsula and has a significant shoreline on San Francisco Bay. The city is named after diplomat Anson Burlingame. It is renowned for its many surviving examples of Victorian architecture, its affluence, and...
.
She began reading when she was very young and started writing at about 6 years old. Her interest in fantasy and science fiction began when she was introduced to
J. R. R. TolkienJohn Ronald Reuel Tolkien, CBE was an English writer, poet, philologist, and university professor, best known as the author of the classic high fantasy works The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and The Silmarillion.Tolkien was Rawlinson and Bosworth Professor of Anglo-Saxon at Pembroke College,...
's
The Lord of the RingsThe Lord of the Rings is a high fantasy epic written by English philologist and University of Oxford professor J. R. R. Tolkien. The story began as a sequel to Tolkien's earlier, less complex children's fantasy novel The Hobbit , but eventually developed into a much larger work. It was written in...
, and so she started to write the kind of books that she was reading. After her parents divorced, her mother moved her and her sisters back to Fayette County in 1969, where she spent two years at Albert Gallatin Senior High. When her family moved again, she spent her senior year at Uniontown Area Senior High School, acting, singing, and writing for the school paper.
While at the University of Pennsylvania she wrote the books that became
The Song of the Lioness quartet. The first book of this quartet,
Alanna: The First AdventureAlanna: The First Adventure is a fantasy novel by Tamora Pierce, the first in a series of four books, The Song of the Lioness. It details the start and early days of Alanna of Trebond's training as a knight, hiding her real gender.-Plot introduction:...
was published by
Atheneum BooksAtheneum Books was a publishing house and adult publisher created by Alfred A. Knopf, Jr. in 1959. He recruited editor Jean E. Karl personally, to come and establish a Children's Book Department in 1961....
in 1983.
Pierce lived with her husband Tim Liebe (Spouse-Creature) in
New York CityNew York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, with their four cats and multiple other pets, until they moved to
Syracuse, New YorkSyracuse is a city in and the county seat of Onondaga County, New York, United States, the largest U.S. city with the name "Syracuse", and the fifth most populous city in the state. At the 2010 census, the city population was 145,170, and its metropolitan area had a population of 742,603...
.
In 2008, she donated her archive to the department of Rare Books and Special Collections at
Northern Illinois UniversityNorthern Illinois University is a state university and research institution located in DeKalb, Illinois, with satellite centers in Hoffman Estates, Naperville, Rockford, and Oregon. It was originally founded as Northern Illinois State Normal School on May 22, 1895 by Illinois Governor John P...
.
Writing process
On her homepage, Pierce states she gets most ideas from things she stumbles upon. Her concept of magic as a tapestry of threads comes from her experiences in crocheting, and in her world, all mages are somehow based on British naturalist Sir David Attenborough after watching his nature documentaries. Fantasy novels and Arthurian legend were the base of the worlds she thought up as a girl, and later she added contemporary issues like youth crime,
choleraCholera is an infection of the small intestine that is caused by the bacterium Vibrio cholerae. The main symptoms are profuse watery diarrhea and vomiting. Transmission occurs primarily by drinking or eating water or food that has been contaminated by the diarrhea of an infected person or the feces...
outbreaks in Africa. In general, Pierce states: "The best way to prepare to have ideas when you need them is to listen to and encourage your obsessions."
Pierce draws on elements of people and animals around her for inspiration. The character of Alanna is loosely based on Pierce's sister. Thayet's appearance is based on a friend of Pierce's. Beka's pigeon friends in
Provost's Dog are all based on actual pigeons of Pierce's acquaintance.
Tamora Pierce first started writing to escape from the drama of her parents' divorce. She wrote fan fiction based on her favorite stories, imitating them closely. Pierce says she decided to write her stories strong female characters because she noticed a lack of them in the books she read when she was young.
The Tortall Universe
Tortall is a major country in the universe in which the books
Song of the Lioness,
Immortals,
Protector of the Small,
Daughter of the Lioness (sometimes known as the Trickster books) and the
Beka Cooper Trilogy take place. Its capital is Corus, located near the western coast on the Emerald Ocean. To the north is Scanra, a wild and somewhat barbaric country with whom Tortall went to war in the last two books of the Protector of the Small quartet and the first Trickster book, "Trickster's Choice."
To the east are Galla, Tusaine, and Tyra, and past them are Maren and Sarain. Carthak is south of Tortall across the Inland Sea, while to the west lie the Yamani Islands and the Copper Isles. The Trickster books mostly take place in the Copper Isles, further south than the Yamani islands. In addition,
Emperor Mage from the Immortals Quartet takes place in Carthak. Also, as the Beka books take place hundreds of years before the other books, Barzun, a nation between Tortall and the Inland Sea later conquered by Tortall, is occasionally mentioned.
Tortall is a place somewhat reminiscent of the European Middle Ages, with its monarchy, court, nobility, and knights, but is otherwise a completely different world. Magic is very real and practical to Tortallans, from the common herbwitch to the King's court mages. Religious deities are revered and often play a part in human lives, sometimes choosing humans as champions, sometimes using them to further their own purposes. Though these deities are shown as powerful beyond belief, they rely on their human instruments to shape the world.
The Song of the Lioness
Alanna of Trebond (later Alanna of Pirate's Swoop and Olau) is a ground-breaking female knight. Although noble-born girls traditionally go to the convent to learn how to be proper noblewomen and wives, Alanna desires to become a knight, a position only given to noble-born boys (although, as seen in the Beka Cooper books, there had historically been other lady knights). In order to achieve her dream, Alanna disguises herself as a boy under the name of Alan and goes to the palace in place of her twin brother Thom. As Thom has no interest in becoming a knight, and is far more interested in his magic, Thom forges a letter so that he can go to a temple to become a sorcerer. The twins' father is concerned only with his studies, and pays them little attention, which helps their masquerade. He is also very strongly against magic, as he believed that it should have saved his wife when she died in childbirth, so he is opposed to the idea of Thom becoming a sorcerer.
Alanna has a few romantic relationships throughout the series, including Prince Jonathan, George Cooper and Liam Ironarm, the Shang (an intensely powerful martial arts society) Dragon. The series follows Alanna's training and the early years of her knighthood, a timespan of ten years.
The Song of The Lioness was originally written as a single book for adults, but was rejected by the publisher. Pierce literally cut up the manuscript and used the pieces to form four new books for teenagers.
- Alanna: The First Adventure
Alanna: The First Adventure is a fantasy novel by Tamora Pierce, the first in a series of four books, The Song of the Lioness. It details the start and early days of Alanna of Trebond's training as a knight, hiding her real gender.-Plot introduction:...
(1983) – Alanna, a young nobleNobility is a social class which possesses more acknowledged privileges or eminence than members of most other classes in a society, membership therein typically being hereditary. The privileges associated with nobility may constitute substantial advantages over or relative to non-nobles, or may be...
girl, disguises herself as a boy with the help of her twinA twin is one of two offspring produced in the same pregnancy. Twins can either be monozygotic , meaning that they develop from one zygote that splits and forms two embryos, or dizygotic because they develop from two separate eggs that are fertilized by two separate sperm.In contrast, a fetus...
brother, Thom, in order to realize her dream of becoming a knightA knight was a member of a class of lower nobility in the High Middle Ages.By the Late Middle Ages, the rank had become associated with the ideals of chivalry, a code of conduct for the perfect courtly Christian warrior....
as Thom goes to a temple to become a mage. She makes powerful friends, including the crown prince and the King of the Rogue, and also powerful enemies, (Duke Roger, the prince's cousin whom she does not trust.)
- In the Hand of the Goddess
In the Hand of the Goddess is a fantasy novel by Tamora Pierce, the second in a series of four books, The Song of the Lioness. It details the squire- and knighthood of Alanna of Trebond, who has hidden her real sex in order to become a knight....
(1984) – Finding life as a knight-in-training more difficult than she imagined but still in her disguise, (though several people, including Prince Jonathan and George Cooper, the Rogue, know her secret,) Alanna serves as a squireThe English word squire is a shortened version of the word Esquire, from the Old French , itself derived from the Late Latin , in medieval or Old English a scutifer. The Classical Latin equivalent was , "arms bearer"...
to Prince Jonathan of Conté, fights in a warWar is a state of organized, armed, and often prolonged conflict carried on between states, nations, or other parties typified by extreme aggression, social disruption, and usually high mortality. War should be understood as an actual, intentional and widespread armed conflict between political...
alongside her knight master and struggles with the attention of the evil DukeA duke or duchess is a member of the nobility, historically of highest rank below the monarch, and historically controlling a duchy...
Roger of Conté. She also struggles to find her identity as a woman along with her dreams of becoming a knight, made even more complicated as both Jonathan and George begin to court her.
- The Woman Who Rides Like a Man
The Woman Who Rides Like a Man is a fantasy novel by Tamora Pierce, the third in a series of four books, The Song of the Lioness. It details the knighthood of Alanna of Trebond as she lives in the Bazhir desert after her becoming a knight....
(1986) – After gaining her shield 'Sir Alanna' travels south, meeting up with a Bazhir tribe. She learns to reconcile with her magic, a part of her she formerly despised, and becomes a shamaan. Jonathan also becomes "The Voice," an honored Bazhir figure who is able to speak to every one who has performed the traditional Bazhir rituals. By doing this he reconciles the Bazhir, who have long resented the Conte rule, to the capital city of Corus. Jonathan and Alanna also fight, and break up. Alanna soon finds another relationship with George, the King of the Rogue, but continues to struggle with her feelings for Jonathan, who has gone on to court a "proper woman," a princess of the Copper Isles.
- Lioness Rampant
Lioness Rampant is a fantasy novel by Tamora Pierce, the fourth and last in a series of books, The Song of the Lioness. It details the return of Sir Alanna of Trebond with the Dominion Jewel and the final battle between her and her archenemy....
(1988) – Alanna travels to the "Roof of the World" in search of the Dominion Jewel in order to prove her worth. The Dominion Jewel is a legendary artifact rumored to unite any ruler who holds it with the land that he or she rules. During this journey she meets Princess Thayet, her bodyguard Buri, and the Shang Dragon, whom she develops a romantic relationship with, despite his open fear of magic, even her magic. She also duels with Duke Roger after he is resurrected by her brother Thom, and tries once again to take over Tortall, this time not as king, but by destroying it and everyone in it.
The Immortals
This story is about Veralidaine (Daine) Sarrasri who was orphaned when raiders attacked her village. Daine has an unusual (and extremely strong) gift of wild magic which is mistaken as insanity because she is unable to control it . Though convinced she has no magical Gift, it is discovered that she has 'wild magic' - a magic that is not uncommon, but for some reason is a disregarded branch of magic. What is rare is the amount of it that Daine possesses, and what she is able to do with it. This magic gives her a unique connection with animals. Her abilities manifest gradually throughout the series, allowing her first to speak with animals, to heal their injuries and eventually to shape-shift into animal forms. The series covers a timespan of four years, following Daine as she learns to communicate with humans, animals and
ImmortalsA legendary creature is a mythological or folkloric creature.-Origin:Some mythical creatures have their origin in traditional mythology and have been believed to be real creatures, for example the dragon, the unicorn, and griffin...
.
- Wild Magic
Wild Magic is a fantasy novel by Tamora Pierce, the first in a series of four books, The Immortals. It details the emergence of the powers of Veralidaine Sarrasri as a wild mage and her coming to Tortall.-Plot introduction:...
(1992) – Daine, a 13-year-old girl, finds out her knack with wild animals is in fact a rare and powerful form of magicMagic is the claimed art of manipulating aspects of reality either by supernatural means or through knowledge of occult laws unknown to science. It is in contrast to science, in that science does not accept anything not subject to either direct or indirect observation, and subject to logical...
. Under the guidance of the mage Numair Salmalín(the most powerful mage in Tortall) she learns to control her magic, which proves very important for herself and her companions. This first novel in the quartet also reunites us briefly with the protagonist of the Song of the Lioness quartet, Alanna of Pirate's Swoop and Olau, formerly Alanna of Trebond.
- Wolf-Speaker
Wolf-Speaker is a fantasy novel by Tamora Pierce, the second in a series of four books, The Immortals.This book details the journey of Veralidaine Sarrasri as she learns more about her wild magic and her journey to Dunlath to help the wolves, only to find there is a bigger and more dangerous plot...
(1994) – when travelling with Numaire, Daine meets a pack of wolves, who show her the devastation that the destruction of the valley and the pack's home is connected with a treasonous conspiracy against her adopted king and country.
- Emperor Mage
Emperor Mage is a fantasy novel by Tamora Pierce, the third in a series of four books, The Immortals. It details the peace delegation sent by Tortall to Carthak which Daine joins, to save the emperor's birds.-Plot introduction:...
(1995) – Daine joins a delegation of Tortallan diplomatsDiplomacy is the art and practice of conducting negotiations between representatives of groups or states...
sent to Carthak, where she finally meets the EmperorAn emperor is a monarch, usually the sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife or a woman who rules in her own right...
Ozorne, of whom she has heard so much. Daine is caught up in a strange battle involving displeased gods and strange magics.
- The Realms of the Gods
The Realms of the Gods is a fantasy novel by Tamora Pierce, the fourth and last in a series of books, The Immortals.-Plot introduction:--From the back of the book cover--...
(1996) – Caught in a mysterious attack, Daine and Numair are snatched into the Divine Realms, where they meet Daine's parents (her father is a minor god of the hunt and when her mother died he brought her into the Divine Realm) and struggle to make their way back to Tortall, where war is raging again. This book takes place in both the Divine (immortal) and mortal realms.
Tamora Pierce will also be writing two books on Numair's life in Carthak, and right after he arrives. The working titles are
Numair: The Early Years 1 and
Numair: The Early Years 2, but these are likely to change. They are to be published in 2012 and 2013, respectively.
Protector of the Small
This story is of Keladry of Mindelan, the first girl to follow in Alanna's footsteps—legally and without disguise, after a law is passed allowing girls to try for knighthood. As she begins her training, Kel is constantly harassed, injured, plagued by doubters and put on probation by her training master, who thinks a girl will never succeed. Kel discovers the
hazingHazing is a term used to describe various ritual and other activities involving harassment, abuse or humiliation used as a way of initiating a person into a group....
of young
pagesA page or page boy is a traditionally young male servant, a messenger at the service of a nobleman or royal.-The medieval page:In medieval times, a page was an attendant to a knight; an apprentice squire...
and fights the bullies to put a stop to it. Kel makes memorable friends throughout the series, including the wry Nealan of Queenscove and Lord Raoul of Goldenlake, an old friend of Alanna's. She also meets some key enemies, including Joren of Stone Mountain, her fellow page. The series follows Kel's training and the first year of her knighthood, a timespan of nine years.
- First Test
First Test, is a fantasy novel by Tamora Pierce, the first book in the series Protector of the Small. It details the first year of Keladry of Mindelan's training as a page of Tortall.-Plot introduction:...
(1999) – Keladry of Mindelan, the first official female page, faces giant spidrens (Immortals, see the Immortals series), hazing, bullying and the mistrust of her superiors in her first probationary year as a page.
- Page
Page is the second book in the quartet Protector of the Small, by acclaimed fantasy author Tamora Pierce. It details the continuing training of Keladry of Mindelan, the first ever official female page.-Plot summary:...
(2000) – Kel, to the surprise of many, is allowed to complete her page's training. In this second book of the series Kel faces dangers that will change the way pages are taught.
- Squire (2001) – In the second half of her training, Kel has a new master, Raoul of Goldenlake
Raoul of Goldenlake is a fictional character in many of author Tamora Pierce's writings. He first appears in her Song of the Lioness quartet and is also a major character in the Protector of the Small series.-Role in Song of the Lioness:...
, who gives her new duties, and teaches her new skills. Alongside her own study, Kel becomes increasingly involved with the war that brews on Tortall's northern border.
- Lady Knight
Lady Knight is the fourth book in the Protector of the Small quartet by Tamora Pierce. This book is Kel's first appearance as a Knight of the Realm.-Plot summary:...
(2002) – Though she is a knight, Kel is still inexperienced. She struggles with her sense of duty when her commanders assign her not to the front lines of the war, but to manage a refugee campA refugee camp is a temporary settlement built to receive refugees. Hundreds of thousands of people may live in any one single camp. Usually they are built and run by a government, the United Nations, or international organizations, or NGOs.Refugee camps are generally set up in an impromptu...
.
Tricksters
This duology (also known as Daughter of the Lioness) is actually as long as the earlier quartets, because these books are about twice the length of the earlier works. Pierce explained that the success of the
Harry PotterHarry Potter is a series of seven fantasy novels written by the British author J. K. Rowling. The books chronicle the adventures of the adolescent wizard Harry Potter and his best friends Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, all of whom are students at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry...
books finally showed publishers that young readers will read big books.
The duology is the story of Alianne (Aly) of Pirate's Swoop, the 16-year-old daughter of the legendary Alanna the Lioness. Disallowed work as a Tortallan
spySPY is a three-letter acronym that may refer to:* SPY , ticker symbol for Standard & Poor's Depositary Receipts* SPY , a satirical monthly, trademarked all-caps* SPY , airport code for San Pédro, Côte d'Ivoire...
by her parents, Aly leaves home only to be captured by pirates and sold into
slaverySlavery is a system under which people are treated as property to be bought and sold, and are forced to work. Slaves can be held against their will from the time of their capture, purchase or birth, and deprived of the right to leave, to refuse to work, or to demand compensation...
in the Copper Isles. Under the guidance of Kyprioth, the god of tricksters, Aly involves herself with a conspiracy of the native
raka people against their
luarin conquerors, in accordance with a
prophecyProphecy is a process in which one or more messages that have been communicated to a prophet are then communicated to others. Such messages typically involve divine inspiration, interpretation, or revelation of conditioned events to come as well as testimonies or repeated revelations that the...
made by Kyprioth himself through one of his priestesses, centuries earlier. The duology covers a timespan of two years. Aly is a much different person from her mother, saying of herself, “Why, I’m just as true and honest as dirt. And I’m even more charming than dirt.”
- Trickster's Choice (2003) – When Aly is taken by pirates, she is sold as a slave in the Copper Isles and makes a bet with the god Kyprioth, to protect the children of the Balitang family from unknown dangers. She soon learns that the two daughters, Saraiyu Balitang (Sarai) and Dovasary Balitang (Dove), are linked to the prophecy that predicts one of them will become queen. She learns to speak crow, and makes a wonderful friend, Nawat Crow, a crow turned man.
- Trickster's Queen (2004) – Returning to Rajmuat after their short exile, the Balitang household prepares to overthrow the Rittevon throne that has ruled the Copper Isles for centuries and replace the vicious monarchs with a raka queen. Alianne, Alanna's daughter, is the conspiracy's spymaster.
Beka Cooper
This
trilogyA trilogy is a set of three works of art that are connected, and that can be seen either as a single work or as three individual works. They are commonly found in literature, film, or video games...
is set in the realm of Tortall, 200 years before
Alanna: The First Adventure. The first book in the series,
TerrierTerrier is a young adult fantasy novel by Tamora Pierce, the first book in the Provost's Dog trilogy and the fifteenth book set in the Tortall Universe. It tells the story of Rebakah "Beka" Cooper, the ancestor of George Cooper from Song of the Lioness and Alianne from Trickster's Choice and...
, was released on October 24, 2006.
George Cooper is a young boy, six years of age, who is caught stealing. His ashamed mother then tells him about his famous ancestress, named Rebakah Cooper. "Beka" Cooper is a trainee for the Provost's Guard, which is Tortall's equivalent of a police force. In those days, they were called "Dogs" and trainees were known as "Puppies," both of whom were stationed at "Kennels" (this was where the term "Provost's Dog" came from).
The first book in the new trilogy, Terrier, concerns Beka's first months as a Puppy. All of Pierce's previous books were written in the third person, but this series is told from a diary-style first person perspective. Beka's entries detail how hard she works to try to make her home, the Lower City of Corus, safer.
Beka's roots in the Lower City give her both a keen insight and a sense of empathy for the people she is there to protect. Beka is referred to as a "Terrier" for her youth and dogged determination despite her size.
The second book in this trilogy,
BloodhoundBloodhound, by Tamora Pierce, is the second novel in a fictional trilogy, Provost's Dog, about a young Provost guard-woman in a fantasy kingdom called Tortall...
, was released on April 14, 2009.
The third and final book of the trilogy is
Mastiff, formerly titled
Elkhound. It was slated for release October 25, 2011. An excerpt from Mastiff is included in
Tortall and Other Lands: A Collection of Tales.
The Circle Universe
The "Circle of Magic" books are set in the land of
EmelanEmelan 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...
, while the 'Circle Opens' series is set in various neighbouring countries.
The series tell the story of four children,
Sandrilene fa TorenLady Sandrilene fa Toren, or Sandry, is a fictional character from Tamora Pierce's quartets The Circle of Magic and The Circle Opens as well as the stand-alone The Will of the Empress. She is described as having light brown hair prone to sun-streaks, bright corn-flower blue eyes and an unusually...
,
Trisana ChandlerTrisana Chandler, Tris for short, is a character in Tamora Pierce's Circle of Magic and Circle Opens quartets and the book The Will of the Empress. She has curly red hair , gray eyes, and wears spectacles. She believes herself to be fat and is called "Fatty" a few times by some of the series'...
,
Daja KisuboDaja Kisubo is a character in the Circle of Magic and The Circle Opens quartets and the standalone novel The Will of the Empress by Tamora Pierce. She has ambient magic with metal and fire....
and
Briar MossBriar Moss, once known as 'Roach', is a fictional character from Tamora Pierce's quartets Circle of Magic and The Circle Opens as well as the stand-alone The Will of the Empress.Briar is of unknown, multiracial parentage...
(formerly Roach), known as Sandry, Tris, Daja, and Briar, respectively, whom are discovered and brought together by a powerful mage Niklaren Goldeye (called Niko) and told that they are "ambient mages," which means that they use magic from outside themselves. The four youths do not fit in with the other children of the monastic community to which Niko brings them, and are put together in a separate cottage, called Discipline. Here they each learn of their hidden talents; Sandry with thread, Tris with weather, Daja with fire and metal, and Briar with plants. They live with two mages: Lark, a gentle woman especially attentive to Sandry since she also has thread magic, and Rosethorn, a sharp woman who shares Briar's ability with plants. Also teaching and guiding them is Niko, technically Tris's teacher, but available to all four. Daja is mentored and guided by Dedicate Initiate Frostpine, a smith mage. Their teachers, with the exception of Niko, are also ambient mages. At first it seems that a merchant, a street rat, a noblewoman, and a Trader (a trading race that is often hated by others) will never get along, but an extraordinary circumstance brings them together. They are all powerful individually, but they discover that together they are even stronger. Through an earthquake, they realize their full potential and are bound closely together forever. As children skilled in an uncommon magic, they struggle to earn the respect of the adults they encounter.
Circle of Magic
- Sandry's Book
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.-Plot introduction:...
, UKThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
title The Magic in the Weaving (1997) – The four young mages are brought together to learn about their newfound magic. When they are trapped in the midst of an earthquake, they must spin their powers together to survive.
- Tris's Book
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.-Plot introduction:...
, UK title The Power in the Storm (1998) – Winding circle is attacked by pirates with a strange new weapon and a spy amongst the mages. The Winding Circle temple faces complete destruction. What will the four do to stop the attack?
- Daja's Book
-Plot introduction:Daja's Book, the third installment in the Circle of Magic quartet by Tamora Pierce, is a young adult fantasy novel. Daja Kisubo, an outcast to her people after she was the lone survivor of her family ship's wreck, and a smith mage in training, travels with her three friends and...
, UK title The Fire in the Forging (1998) – Duke Vedris takes the four and their teachers to northern Emelan where wild grass fires had been ruining the harvest. Daja finds a Trader caravan and is torn between two fates, to be back with the people she was raised with but labelled her an outcast or to stay with her friends and teachers.
- Briar's Book
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...
, UK title The Healing in the Vine (1999) – When a deadly illness strikes Summersea, the four and their teachers work to stop it. Just as they begin to succeed, the illness strikes back at just what Briar loves most.
The Circle Opens
During this series the young mages are officially certified by Winding Circle and become teachers. In this quartet the original four protagonists decide to travel with their teachers, each taking on a new student and combating problems abroad.
- Magic Steps
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...
(2000) – Sandry finds a dance-mage boy in Summersea, the twelve-year-old Pasco Acalon, the son and grandson of two police families (known as "harriers" in Summersea). When a rich trading family falls prey to a serial killer, she and Pasco must work together to stop the killer mages who have a deadly weapon- unmagic, which is the absence of magic and life.
- Street Magic
Street Magic is the second book in the quartet The Circle Opens by acclaimed fantasy author Tamora Pierce. It describes the further adventures of child-mage Briar Moss in his travels with his teacher, the Dedicate Initiate Rosethorn.-Plot introduction:...
(2001) – In Chammur, Briar discovers a street girl named Evvy (Evumeimei Dingzai), and finds she has stone-magic. But the noblewoman-sponsor of the sinister Viper gang has her eye on Evvy, and Briar must protect his young student from the lady's greed.
- Cold Fire
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.-Plot summary:...
(2002) – Daja travels to Namorn in the far north, and discovers her host's twin daughters' magical talent: Niamara (Nia), whose magic is with carpentry and woodwork, and Jorality (Jory), whose magic is with cooking. All the while someone is setting fires throughout the city, despite the best efforts of Bennat Ladradun, head of the firefighters.
- Shatterglass
Shatterglass, a novel by Tamora Pierce, is the fourth book in the The Circle Opens series. It takes place four years after the Circle of Magic series.- Setting :...
(2003) – Tris encounters Kethlun WarderKethlun "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.-Fictional character...
(Keth), an undiscovered glass mage who "lost" his glass talent when he was hit by lightning, but gained the ability to mix lightning and glass. Keth can create glass balls that contain visions of the work of a murderer who incidentally orphaned Glakisa Irakory (Glaki), a 4 year old academic mage who lives in the same place as Keth. Keth also created a living glass dragon, named Chime by Tris. Together, Tris and Keth are the only ones who can expose the murderer.
These books take place as the children go from about age 10, in the first series, to 14 in the second.
The Will of the Empress
- The Will of the Empress (UK October 2005, ISBN 0-439-44171-4; US November 2005, ISBN 0-439-44171-4)
The initial working title for this book was
The Circle Reforged. It is the first book in "The Circle Reforged" series.
Sandry's cousin, the Empress of Namorn (Berenene dor Ocmor), has been begging her to come visit her for years. Finally the stitch witch agrees, but her uncle requests that her childhood friends accompany her. However, during the time they were separated the foursome has broken apart, and are now adults with secrets that they once would have shared. Sandry expects to visit her cousin for the summer then return home to her uncle in Emelan, but the Empress has other plans. As the four soon find out, the iron will of the Empress is considered law, and the four must set aside their doubts and trust each other as they once did if they are to escape.
It is hinted throughout this book that Briar and Rosethorn had significant adventures in Gyongxe, the first home of the Living Circle temples. These events have been announced to be the subject of a forthcoming book.
Melting Stones
This story was first released as a full-cast
audio bookAn audiobook or audio book is a recording of a text being read. It is not necessarily an exact audio version of a book or magazine.Spoken audio has been available in schools and public libraries and to a lesser extent in music shops since the 1930s. Many spoken word albums were made prior to the...
(produced by Full Cast Audio) to be followed by paper versions. This is the first full length novel written expressly for audio. The recording date had been postponed, and the audiobook was finally released in fall 2007. Pierce herself directs the recording. The print version was released in fall 2008. The story is based on Evvy, who, with Rosethorn, goes to investigate the weird happenings of an island. Plants and animals are dying and the two mages are there to find out why. Meanwhile Evvy meets two lava/magma spirits and is caught up in their quest to escape their mountain tomb.
Forthcoming publications
Tamora Pierce currently has two
Circle books in the works. The first, set sometime between the events of
Street Magic and
The Will of the Empress, will tell the story of Briar, Evvy and Rosethorn and their adventures in Yanjing and Gyongxe. This story is set for release in 2012. The other forthcoming
Circle book will be set after the events of
Empress, and will follow Tris as she enrolls "at the mages' university in Lightsbridge under an assumed name, in an attempt to become an ordinary mage practicing normal academic magic (spells, charms, potions) with no one knowing her real name or power." She does so after realizing that her prospective employers only want to use her weather craft as war magic.
Short stories
- "Plain Magic" - A fantasy short story. (1986, first published in Planetfall, re-published in 1999 in Flights of Fantasy, republished in 2010 in Tortall and Other Lands)
- "Testing" - A contemporary, short story based on events that happened to the author while she was the housemother in a group home for teenage girls. (2000, published in Lost and Found, republished in 2010 in Tortall and Other Lands)
- "Elder Brother" - A Tortallan short story. (2001, published in Half Human, an anthology edited by Bruce Coville
Bruce Coville is an American author of children's and young adult novels. He was born in Syracuse, New York and lives there currently; he has spent most of his life there, leaving to attend Duke University and then to live in New York City....
, also published in a two-in-one Circle of Magic book titled Books One and Two: Water and Fire and Tortall and Other Lands)
- "Student of Ostriches" - A Tortallan short story. (2005, published in Young Warriors: Stories of Strength, an anthology edited by Pierce and Josepha Sherman, republished in 2010 in Tortall and Other Lands)
- "Huntress" - A contemporary fantasy short story. (2006, published in Firebirds Rising, an anthology edited by Sharyn November
Sharyn November is an American editor of books for children and teenagers. She is Senior Editor for Viking Children's Books and Editorial Director of Firebird Books, which is a mainly paperback imprint publishing fantasy and science fiction for teenagers and adults...
, republished in 2010 in Tortall and Other Lands)
- "Hidden Girl" - A Tortallan short story, set in the same country as "Elder Brother". (2006, published in Dreams and Visions, an anthology edited by M. Jerry Weiss, republished in 2010 in Tortall and Other Lands)
- "Time of Proving" - A fantasy short story, about the coming of age of a young girl. (2006, published in Cricket
Cricket is an illustrated literary magazine for children published in the United States, founded in September 1973 by Marianne Carus, whose intent was to create "The New Yorker for children." Marianne Carus still serves as the magazine's editor-in-chief.Each issue of Cricket is 64 pages...
, republished in 2010 in Tortall and Other Lands)
- "Slippery in the Stairwell, 1965" - A contemporary, real-life short story. (2009, published in My Little Red Book)
- "The Dragon's Tale" - A Tortall short story about Kitten (Skysong), Daine's dragon (2009, published in The Dragon Book, republished 2010 in Tortall and Other Lands)
- "Lost" - A Tortall short story about a girl from Tusaine and a darking. (2010, published in Tortall and Other Lands)
- "Mimic" - A Tortall short story about a girl named Ri and the animals she saves. (Published in 2010 in Tortall and Other Lands)
- "Nawat" - A character-driven Tortall story which takes place after the Trickster series. (2010, published in Tortall and Other Lands)
Comics
- On February 24 at New York Comicon, Marvel Comics
Marvel Worldwide, Inc., commonly referred to as Marvel Comics and formerly Marvel Publishing, Inc. and Marvel Comics Group, is an American company that publishes comic books and related media...
announced that Pierce and her husband Tim Liebe would be writing a new series, starring former FBI agent Angela Del Toro as the new White TigerWhite Tiger is the identity used by several fictional characters in Marvel Comics. All of the people who called themselves White Tiger have been minorities with special abilities.-Hector Ayala:...
. White Tiger launched as a six-issue series drawn by French artist Phil Briones in November 2006 http://www.comicbookresources.com/news/newsitem.cgi?id=6821.
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External links