Nancy Wu does a commendable job narrating this story, set in Pierce’s magical world of The Winding Circle. Wu fluidly pronounces the difficult words, names, and places, such as “Gyongxe,” where the Living Circle religion’s home temple is located. Wu’s clearly enunciated, distinctly American accent helps the listener grasp the complicated plot and alternate world, which has an Asian ambiance. This story features plant mages Briar and Rosethorn and stone mage Evvy, who are traveling to view Eastern gardens. During their travels, they meet the cruel emperor of Yanjing; rescue his slave, Parahan; and discover a plot for war against Gyongxe. Character voices and accents are a bit inconsistent, sometimes creating confusion as to who is speaking. Even so, Wu keeps the listener’s attention with her engaging narration. M.M.G. © AudioFile 2014, Portland, Maine

09/09/2013
In this exciting standalone novel that follows the events of Street Magic (2001), the plant mage Rosethorn and her students Briar and Evvy travel to Gyongxe, a Tibetlike mountain kingdom rife with gods and magic. They are then summoned to the larger neighboring Yanjing empire where the Emperor wants Rosethorn to visit his glorious flower gardens. The three mages soon realize that the Emperor is a monster who will torture or kill anyone who crosses him and who, having conquered the lands to the north, has decided to take Gyongxe. Rosethorn and her students flee Yanjing and join the smaller kingdom’s fight for survival. Pierce continues to use magic creatively (“He glanced at the wall paintings. The people and the creatures in them leaned forward.... the nagas, the winged lions, the giant spiders... were wriggling, as if they meant to peel themselves free”) and her protagonists, although not without thorns, are easy to love. The author’s many fans, the first generation of which have now grown to adulthood, should help make this tale as successful as earlier books set in the Circle universe. Ages 12–up. (Oct.)

Praise for BATTLE MAGIC:

"Pierce combines wonderful characterization with unique magic, realms, and creatures to create a splendid tale." —SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL

"Another winning companion to Pierce's highly successful Circle Quartet and Circle Opens fantasy franchises." —HORN BOOK

"A satisfying, thought-provoking read." —BULLETIN OF THE CENTER FOR CHILDREN'S BOOKS

Nancy Wu does a commendable job narrating this story, set in Pierce’s magical world of The Winding Circle. Wu fluidly pronounces the difficult words, names, and places, such as “Gyongxe,” where the Living Circle religion’s home temple is located. Wu’s clearly enunciated, distinctly American accent helps the listener grasp the complicated plot and alternate world, which has an Asian ambiance. This story features plant mages Briar and Rosethorn and stone mage Evvy, who are traveling to view Eastern gardens. During their travels, they meet the cruel emperor of Yanjing; rescue his slave, Parahan; and discover a plot for war against Gyongxe. Character voices and accents are a bit inconsistent, sometimes creating confusion as to who is speaking. Even so, Wu keeps the listener’s attention with her engaging narration. M.M.G. © AudioFile 2014, Portland, Maine

2013-09-01
Pierce continues to fill gaps in her Circle of Magic sequence—here sending three of her mages eastward to defend the (Tibet-ish) land of Gyongxe against an invasion from (China-esque) Yanjing. Falling chronologically between the events in Street Magic (2001) and Melting Stones (2008), the tale focuses on plant mages Rosethorn and Briar and stone mage Evumeimei. They travel from small but mountainous Gyongxe to the rich palace of Emperor Weishu in Evvy's adjacent homeland and then back in a series of battles and tests of both magic and character. Though the popular author's prose and pacing are as fluent as ever, her efforts to elaborate on or at least disguise her cultural models are, at best, cursory, and her plotting is likewise paint-by-numbers. Having trotted from pillar to post, the central trio splits up at the story's exact center so that Evvy can go off to a first meeting with the animate mountain's heart that will be her traveling companion in later adventures, while Rosethorn and Briar essentially march in place, from a narrative standpoint anyway. The three reunite in time to see Weishu and his teeming armies engage Gyongxe's many major and minor gods in a climactic battle. Pierce herself has teeming armies of fans, guaranteeing that this routine, cozily predictable outing will be a huge seller. (map, glossary) (Fantasy. 10-14)