Emelan Read-a-long: January - The Magic in the Weaving

[Kypriotha]

This year we are doing a big Emelan read-a-long! This is a great chance for new readers to discover the magic of these books and for existing fans to catch up with their favourite characters.

The Emelan read-a-long book for January (and the first book for the year) is The Magic in the Weaving AKA Sandry's book!

Four children, from four very different backgrounds, are thrust together after tragedy strikes. Discover where it all began as they overcome their differences and their prejudices and find out about the surprising power they never knew they had.

[Kypriotha]

The Circle of Magic series was the first Tammy series I read, so I've always had a soft spot for it (also, it's awesome).

I like meeting the four in this book and finding out their back stories and slowly learning about their magic with them. I also really love the idea of ambient magic and everything about it that we are introduced to in this book.

[Rachy]

Cheating a little because I haven’t reread this in a long time but I won’t have time before February.

This was also my first Tammy book, and I can still picture the cover vividly - it was the blue one with the hands weaving.

I am curious as to how I would read the beginnings now - are they too introductory? I don’t remember them being the three page memory refresher that sequels generally have, I feel like their intros were quite solid introductions, even though they don’t group straight away.

I think the little group moments make the book for me, as you can see that they are forming bonds, even though they aren’t a full Circle, and it does make you wonder - would they still have formed friendships without their bond? It’s such a crucial part when we think of them that it’s easy to forget that until the last couple of chapters that they aren’t.

[mistrali]

The Magic in the Weaving is my favourite of the first quartet, which itself is my favourite of the Emelan-verse. It was the first Tammy book I ever read, at age 12.

It’s hard to figure out what attracts me to it, beyond nostalgia. It’s partly familiarity - the clarity with which I can picture several scenes (and “hear” characters’ voices inside my head). Every time I reread, it’s as clear in my mind as it was the last time, and I enjoy it because the voices are so vivid. It’s why I hated the audiobook.

The Ragtag Bunch of Misfits is a big drawcard as well.

But the main strength of this series (as compared to the Alanna books, for me) is a sense of place. The kids’ magic is intertwined into the environment, there are several quiet moments where the story requires them to absorb the atmosphere by doing something like meditating or otherwise revelling in their magic (as Tris does on the ship).
They’re simple landscapes - gardens with bees, trellises, wells, the sea - but they are the more effective for that. The most complex place is probably the forge.

Tammy uses this book to build up Discipline and cement their little family, and then the antagonists in PitS (and HitV) almost tear it back down again.

The opening is also quite powerful and fairy-tale-like. The image of spinning threads filled with light works, obviously, on a literal and figurative level. It’s also quite a beautiful one - three threads, shining with coloured light. Rumpelstiltskin comes to mind.
Of course, there’s also the squalor of Sandry’s living space and her very real fear. One of my favourite lines is “Good for naught but to be waited on and to marry.” I’m sure that most people have felt useless, albeit not when they’re trapped and about to suffocate/starve/dehydrate to death.

I also enjoyed the way that all the kids were forbidden from using their magic/practising their craft by their families or their society. Even Briar comes close to it, since gangs can’t afford the luxury of plants.

Of course, it’s convenient that both Sandry and Daja happen to have the exact magic necessary to get themselves out of a near-death predicament. Imagine if Sandry had had… I don’t know, carpentry or cooking magic. Or no magic at all. Stone magic, or perhaps smith/metal magic, would have been useful in Sandry’s situation, but I wonder if Daja might have extricated herself if she’d had - say - plant magic.

Rachy I think they would have, but maybe not as strongly— not as a Circle but maybe in pairs or threes. After all, they’re inching towards it in the first book anyway, after living together for two months. I can see Daja and Sandry being close anyway, and probably Tris and Briar. I imagine that Briar and Sandry might also have been friendly acquaintances rather than having the bond they form in canon.

[seirinn]

Sorry I'm a little behind! I'm so happy we're doing this. It's been a while since I visited the board and I began a complete re-read of both Tortall and Emelan on my own. I'm almost done with Tortall, so I can join in with Emelan.

I began reading Tamora Pierce in high school, sometime after the two-books-in-one version of Circle of Magic was released, so Emelan will always be more dear to me, I think. Honestly, I find it a little frustrating that Ms. Pierce keeps going back to Tortall, even though I do enjoy the Tortall series, because I really want more Emelan. Re-reading the Emelan series reminds me why I love it. The idea of ambient magic is so interesting to me! I love the idea that a craft or hobby you love could actually be magic. It kind of gives the Emelan books a sense of "this could be real", more than Tortall does to me. It's kind of like reading the Harry Potter series, in that it almost feels like you could be magic yourself and just never received your Hogwarts letter. Academic or Tortall-style magic is so flashy and obvious, but ambient magic is quiet enough that you could almost believe you're doing it yourself.

[devilinthedetails]

This was one of my recent Emelan purchases and re-reads after a long time so I hope it is okay that I revive this thread to share my thoughts.

The plot of the book is overall pretty slow-moving (except for the big action with the earthquake at the end) although the beginning does feel a bit rushed to me. I think I would've liked to see a bit more of the kids travels with Niko. Sandry's magic was fascinating especially when she uses it almost instinctively when trapped in the dark to create light and at the end to weave together the magics of her and her friends. The emotional heart of the story is definitely that developing bond between the children who have to learn to overcome their mistrust and prejudices against one another as well as between their mentors. As to their mentors, Rosethorn and Lark provide a nice balance of support and sarcasm.