Found families!! Challenging traditions in favor of progression!! KIDS BEING KIDS BEING FAMILY

Daja, Tris, Briar, and Sandry are traveling Emelan with the Duke to see what they can do about the drought and subsequent famine that is plaguing the area. During this tour, Daja runs into a group of traders - people of the culture that shunned her after her entire family died at sea. But when disaster strikes, will the Traders allow Daja to help or will their pride get in the way?I am crazy about this entire series, it is one of my constant rereads. Daja is an amazingly courageous individual and I have nothing but the utmost respect for her. Her family dies and she gets exiled from the only life she's ever known but she is still so forgiving of her people. I honestly don't know that I could say that. Daja is more gracious than she has any right to be. Highly recommended!

While Tris's Book was a little weak and closely followed the pattern of Sandry's Book, Daja's Book mixes things up and it definitely benefits from this. The group is journeying with Sandry's uncle, trying to help areas that have been hit hard by drought and failing crops. The change of scenery is extremely refreshing for this series-- we get a lot of new characters, and our main cast is bumped out of their routines from Winding Circle. The focus, obviously, is on Daja, and it delves deep into her Trader identity, but Briar gets a lot of attention as well [setting up nicely for the next book]. I won't lie, I find Daja's magic extremely fascinating, but even that pales in comparison to what's really going on with the four's powers. Woven together by Sandry a few months ago, we saw some bleed-through of their magics in the previous book but here, they have serious consequences. Daja loses control of her magic and creates living metal, and Briar accidentally fries some plants when lightning jumps from his fingers. It's natural that the weaving of their powers resulted in this, but these new powers can be both a benefit and a disaster. I loved to see them deal with these results and it really showed how far these children have come in just a few months.

Pretty standard fare for this series. I continue to have difficulty imagining the magical workings.

I originally reviewed this book on my blog - The Cosy Dragon. For more recent reviews by me, please hop over there.Tris, Daja, Briar and Sandry are still great friends, and their magics are twining together just as well as before. Unfortunately, that means that plant mage Briar is getting sparks of lightning that kill plants, and Daja gets out of control just like Tris. Things are even more complicated by the fires threatening to spark over the region they are travelling in. Will everyone survive?Daja is trangshi, which means that she is unable to communicate with her Trader kinfolk. Her smith magery gets out of hand, and she is able to create a beautiful growing tree, which is seen by the Traders in the area. They want to buy it - but noone is willing to communicate with Daja.Just like the other books in this series, there is a focus on the plot pushing forwards.The majority of this book is from Daja's perspective, although the other three children also have parts. There is some character development, particularly for the children learning responsibility for their magics.In this book, it is possible to see how magic can kill someone, because they are trying to stop the forces of nature. Certainly this is a theme brought back by Pierce multiple times, that the forces of nature will sometimes have their way, no matter what people try to do to stop them. I don't think it's a bad thing - those of us in the real world have to deal with things like earthquakes and fires without the aid of magic.I think out of all of the Circle of Magic books, this one is my favourite. Ever since I started rereading these for the purpose of reviewing them, I have been dying to get to this one! Daja's character really speaks to me, even though I'm decidedly not black or built like a smith. Her insecurities and frustrations, as well as her motivations are really touching.Suitable for children and teenagers alike, I'd recommend this book to anyone who enjoys fantasy and magic. You could read this book without having read the first two in the series, but you will then spoil some of the plot of those for yourself. This book takes place almost immediately after Tris's book, while everyone is still recovering from the pirates and earthquake.