Emelan Read-a-long: April - The Healing in the Vine

[Kypriotha]

This month's Emelan read-a-long is: The Healing in the Vine, the last book in the original Circle of Magic series.

In the year or so since the Four first came together at Winding Circle, many things, both good and bad, have happened. Their magic and their bond with each other is stronger than ever, strength that they will need as plague strikes Summersea and the very heart of Winding Circle and Discipline itself.

[Rosie]

I think this was always my favourite of the quartet? I can't really put my finger on it, I love the Briar and Rosethorn relationship. Also the way he draws on the others and his shakkan - I'm a huge fan of big magic, and I think this played out really well.

[Kypriotha]

I am also a big fan of this book. It and Power in the Storm have always been my favourites. I like some of the parallels to the first book and seeing how far the characters come.

I also find the medical and immunology side interesting and I love the fact that the big bad in this book is literally the disease.

[mistrali]

I think this is the best book in the first quartet, by a whisker.
It’s cohesive, believable and, frankly, a fantastic example of Nightmare Fuel. Green magic (=life) and... well, death are juxtaposed well in this book.

I don’t have too much else to say about this book.

[westernsunset]

OK SO there's a quote from Rosethorn in this book about why she hates plagues that really resonated with me when I first read it.

"“You know why I hate plagues?”

The girl hesitated, confused about the abrupt change of subject. That was the fever, she realized. It made Rosethorn’s mind skip about. “Why?” Daja asked.

“Most disasters are fast, and big. You can see everyone’s life got overturned when yours did. Houses are smashed, livestock’s dead. But plagues isolate people. They shut themselves inside while disease takes a life at a time, day after day. It adds up. Whole cities break under the load of what was lost. People stop trusting each other because you don’t know who’s sick.”"

I do a lot of research on the AIDS epidemic and this quote reminded me of the fear and distrust that was abundant in the early days of the AIDS epidemic, and I wondered if that informed Tamora Pierce's thinking when she wrote the book. TURNS OUT, Briar's Book was published in 1999, only a couple years out from the worst days of the AIDS epidemic (1998 was the first year since 1981 that a major San Francisco paper didn't have an obituary for someone who died of AIDS, so 1999 was probably the first year that the fear was starting to lift). The compassion Rosethorn and Briar and everyone had in this book makes me think Tammy was looking at the world around her and thinking that things would be a little better if people had a little more compassion for the sick.

[devilinthedetails]

This was another of my recent purchases and re-reads so again I figured I would share my thoughts even if they are late.

I thought the plague plot was well-developed. The sickness and dying aspects were dealt with movingly and believably but I also appreciated the focus on research, which itself was a nice blending of the scientific and the fantastic that worked well in the Emelan universe. I love the bond between Rosethorn and Briar in this book, but I also enjoy the depth of Rosethorn and Crane's relationship where they are rivals willing to work together and who actually have respect for each other despite their disagreements.