The Circle of Magic Series by Tamora Pierce

I can't begin to tell you how much I love these books. When I get sick, I curl up with these for comfort. They're easily my favorite young adult series (can we count Harry Potter? I don't know. Maybe I have 2 favorites).

The first 4 books introduces the characters, 4 kids who are accepted into Winding Circle, a temple which educates and houses mages in Emelan, a medieval-esque realm. Sandry is a young noble whose parents died in the plague; she has weaving magic. Tris is a weather witch whose family decided they didn't want her. Daja is a Trader, from a group of sea merchants, until her family died in a shipwreck and only her metal magic saves her. Finally, Briar is an orphaned child thief who is lucky enough to show his plant magic before he was sent to prison for life. These kids' disastrous lives are suddenly intertwined when they become roommates at Discipline Cottage maintained by Dedicates Lark and Rosethorn, sorta like the special kids' room in a boarding school. The kids have to endure 4 years of special disasters, including plague, war, and piracy.

In the second quartet the kids grow up and get their own disciples, each with unique talents that the new mentors have to creatively finagle, in similarly disastrous events, like mass arson and terrorist attacks from drug-addcted fanatics Finally, there's two stand-alone books, The Will of the Empress and Melting Stones, in which the full adult mages have to visit the royal palace, and a story of Briar's student and Dedicate Rosethorn.

I really judge books by three criteria: interesting characters, well-thought out environment/universe, and  a well-paced plot. You have to fall in love with (or profoundly hate, in some villians' cases) the main characters, and the kids in the Circle of  Magic are not only lovable but also relatable. Despite having these awesome powers, they each have their issues which humanize them. Their interactions with their teachers, who are also awesome, make me invested in their stories. The kids also have personality flaws which make them more adorable than frustrating; Tris can really be a bitch.

Hopefully when she's old enough she can be cool and free like Storm, here.

The universe Pierce sets up has enough magic to rival Hogwarts. It also has that comfortable homey feel. The magic in Emelan is based on New Age pagan religion, sort of. Pierce heavily researched Cunningham's work, and her details adds believability.

I think she mostly used this.

Finally, each book in the series has situations, political, religious, and social, which have enough adventure and conflict to keep a reader's attention. Pierce's books have the added bonus of issues which relate to modern society, including drug abuse, underprivileged children, and tragedy handling- when there's a plague outbreak, the child mages have to learn to work together with rivals to find a cure before one of their own dies. The Circle Opens adds responsibilities to those kids and young readers can appreciate growing up from Daja's, Sandry's, Tris's, and Briar's perspectives.

I kind of wanna get the audio books so I can hear Pierce read the books; I'm almost at the point where I need to rebuy the books because their spines are coming apart. I don't think I'm going to recommend another young adult series as hard as I'm recommending this one.

Goodreads link to the series

*So, I just onticed on Goodreads that another book came out, and there's one more due next year! Even though the newest got low ratings, I'm excited to go get it!!!