The Will of the Empress

reading/watching the relationship between the four is like watching a train wreck! they were in complete discord, even when they seem to be having FUN in the arguments with each other there was like an underlying sense of, i don't know, anger? disaster? if anyone thinks in musical terms, it's like badly clashing notes with nothing to smooth it over. They were each in their on little pool of self pity and 'my experience was worse than yours' i just wanted to smack them all in the face. Not to mention sandry kept bringing up the fact that they left her and so on and so forth my eyes just blacked out. i prefered the circle of magic and the circle opens more than this one...but that is probably because i liked tammy's tortallian universe much better, so i approach the circle with slight disinterest.

The latest installment in the Circle of Magic series highlights some changes in the characters, but Ms. Pierce has difficulty in bringing her characters into adulthood. Briar is haunted by dreams of a war (which confused me, since this book is not out yet). He makes up for it by sleeping with anything that moves, except his "sisters". Daja, we learn, is a lesbian, like Rosethorn and Lark. The helpless Sandry is kidnapped, not once, but twice, with a third feeble attempt thrown in for good measure. Tris is more powerful than all the others, but can't find a job she likes that pays well.

Much of this novel feels like filler. The subject matter has grown up, but the characters remain shallow and juvenile. They still bicker like children. The lesbian relationship is handled tastefully, but the friends don't react realistically to it. No supporting character, including the Empress, is more than a plot mover. The innocence and sense of wonder that sustained the Circle books is lost here. The series is now flawed, by these adult themes and the discontinuity of Briar's adventures. Unnecessary subplots abound. This story could easily have been told in 300 pages, not over 500. Very little magic of interest is done, and the final battle lacks intensity. Disappointing.

I admit, I was worried when I saw another Circle book coming out. I've loved the Tortall books, partly because they were written for an older audience. The Circle books have been ok, but in my opinion, Tammy's writing wasn't as good.

Will of the Empress really impressed me. This is the most well written book yet. The dialogue is realistic, the characters more developed and more believable, and the plot richer.

My only objection came with the ending. I found it highly unsatisfying. Tammy could have done a much better job of solving her character's core problem.

I've read alot of books, Harry Potter Series, THe Hobbit, LOTR, Series of unfortunate events, Flyte & Magik, His Golden Materials...the list goes on. I LOVE the Circle series, and The Will of the Empress is it's best addition yet. I can't wait for more additions to the Circle reforged. This book shows more of the characters personalities and how they are growing up. How they thought they lost one another at childhood only to find a stonger bond. I would recommend this book to anyone that likes magic, Comedy, friendship and adventure.

If you love Tamora Pierce's books you will not be disappointed. The Will Of The Empress is a wonderful continuation to the Circle of Magic series. Of course it would be a help to have read the previous 8 books so that you understand the characters.

I have loved all of the Tamora Pierce Books(except for the joint author books)that I have read. This one was terrific also but be warned it is far different than the rest of them. This being the first circle of magic book with boy/girlfriend relationships it has a resonable transition. With romance and action as the main thread with an internal political plot against the characters I look forward to reading this book again.

I too read this one in one sitting.

Great great stuff. Definitely writing to a sliglty older audience. Great plot, great characterisation. You get completely involved in what everyone is up to, and you want to find out more about what happens next.

My only problem with Pierce's work is that she only produces one book a year. Her books have always been great, but the last few have been infused with extra depth and maturity.

I haven't read the other books in the series, but if this one is any example, it's back to the store.com for me!

Great story line with lots of adventure and frightening twists and turns.

From reading other reviews I learned that the young characters have grown--not only in age, but in character development--which is always a good thing in keeping a series realistic.

My favorite character, of course, is Sandry, the noble one.

I look forward to reading the first books in this series and the next one. Ms. Pierce is a very good writer.

(This is the review for the book on Tammy's website- [...])

Slowly Daja, Tris, and Briar return to Summersea and Sandry, but they are not the carefree youngsters they were when they left to travel with their teachers. They have things they don't really want to share with the others in their old mental link. Sandry, trying to regain their old closeness, feels rejected and angry: she feels punished. With their refusal to renew their old ties bitter in her mind, she can't believe it when they agree to Duke Vedris's request that they accompany Sandry on a long-overdue visits to the lands and family that Sandry has in Namorn.

The duke is right to worry about Sandry's trip to the north. Empress Berenene of Namorn does not like it that any of the income from the vast Landreg estates has been leaving Namorn to fill Sandry's pockets. She wants that money--and her marriageable young cousin--to stay in Namorn, where Berenene can manipulate both for the enrichment of her throne. Moreover, when she sees how powerful Sandry's three young mage friends are, Berenene decides that she wants them to stay as well. To convince the four young people to stay, the wily, beautiful and powerful empress has an empire full of tricks: great mages who can trap less powerful ones, handsome young men and women devoted to her who will court whoever she orders them to, tax laws to beggar people who look to Sandry for help, family ties like Sandry's cousin Ambros and his family, greenhouses and gardens beautiful enough to enchant even the most hard-hearted of garden mages. She is willing to offer Briar, Tris, and Daja money and power to serve her. She is intelligent, and she has a will of steel.

What can four eighteen-year-olds do against her? It is not as if they are even strong at this point: Tris is besieged by visions, Sandry by lovers, Daja by love, Briar by horrific dreams from the last two years. They have people to look after, a madman, and Sandry's new maid and her children. How can they possibly defy imperial Berenene and her powerful servants?

I have really high hopes for this book (after all, evrey single one of her books are great!)Can't Wait!

This book is much better than Pierce's other books, and has a realistic touch to it, instead of being and ideal tale. With a better plot line and more subconflicts, it has a refreshing suspense and don't-want-to-put-it-down kind of effect. A drastic change from her earlier books, this one is by far her best written book. Unfortunately, since it is the continuation of a series, you might want to read the other books preceding it (8 books, 2 quartets).

While some of Ms. Pierce's work as of late has been rather monotonous and predictable, but this book breaks the mold. A much better read than some of her other stuff, this takes the characters we know and love from the Circle books and reunites them again. There is some backstory mentioned she didn't write in the Circle Opens series, leading to a disconnected feeling, but that could have been intentional. Some of the problems and scenes feel forced, and I'm very upset with Ms. Pierce for stereotyping Daja the way she did (read to find out), but overall it was good.

Very good book, will be enjoyed by anyone who liked the earlier series (Circle of Magic, The Circle Opens).

But DON'T look at the map in the front of the book. It contains

a fairly major spoiler for the action :(

I got an advance copy, and the book is really good...if not slightly disturbing. Daja discovers something new about herself as Tris becomes nicer (!) Sandry is more cautious, and Briar is completely grown up. It is really sad to see them fight in the beginning, but At the end, they're still a circle.
Oh, and this is a little annoying because its really political. Everybody in the book is like 'what will the queen think?' or 'oh no, you con't do that, the queen doesn't like it'
COME ON, get a life and ignore the queen.

Am I the only one who thinks that maybe Tamora Pierce has gotten too popular? I don't begrudge her success, but I don't like it when my favorite authors loose sight of their story lines to make their books soapboxes espousing views on sex and political agendas-- even when I agree with them. (and I most certainly do NOT agree with Mrs. Pierce's. I love [most of] her books to pieces, so I hated having to return this one.)

Would that I could give this book no stars at all.

I hated the fighting, hated the cheap romance, hated how she practically assassinated each and every character's morals and strong points. Apparently, growing up into teenage hood means being weak and stupid and tearing apart old friendships with idiocy-- Daja and Briar were particularly frightening, and Sandry was almost as bad. Only Tris managed to stay above all of this, and that was only because she didn't get any romantic interludes throughout the entire book even though the rest of them did. Intelligent girl.

To make the ending work, all the summer romance flings had to be discarded, which meant attacking the partners that each mage had chosen, making them either into villains or frightened rabbits ("Oh, I can't leave home. It's my home." or "hah. I fooled you this entire time. Now I'm going to make you STAY here.")

The only characters I really liked were Sandry's family. They were a nice bright spot in a sea of morass. I know I will be hated for this, but if I were Tamora Pierce's editor I think I would have refused to publish this book.

This book is not for young teenagers. I'd say fifteen or sixteen would be the minimum age I'd recommend, if any age at all . . . be sure to read this before buying to be sure that you agree with everything that Tamora says here before giving it as a Christmas/birthday present to someone.

I have read all of TP's other books, but I think that after this one I won't be reading any more. In this book, she gives the appearance of having shaped her characters so that they show more of her politics. This, regardless of what the characters were like in other books.

If you liked the feeling of the other Circle books, like I did, then I would avoid this book. Most of that feeling was destroyed.

I have been an adult fan of Ms. Pierce for years and this is the first book that has disappointed me. I have several problems with it. First it seems to have been written in a hurry, I found it very disjointed. For instance there are references to Briar and Rosethorn being involved in a traumatic event prior to this book. To the extent that I tried to find a book about this thinking it had already been printed and I had missed it; only to find out that it has not been printed yet. Second, amd even more important, why does a young woman who is tall, muscular and working in a field that has traditionally been men only, have to be a lesbian?

Poor sound quality, No way to racharge and if there is a way they don't tell you how on here or on there website. This item in my opinion is a piece of crap and not worth the $[...] I spent to get it.

"Instead, Rizu leaned over and kissed her softly, gently, on the mouth....Strictly to make Rizu feel better, certainly not because she wanted more of that sunlight spilling into her heart and mind, Daja leaned over and kissed Rizu's mouth all on her own..."

Fairly good writing (although in a different style from the original Circle books), until Ms. Pierce intrudes the "real world" we Californians are forced to live in. Ms. Pierce has forgotten what made these characters attractive to young teenagers, and has added a level of homosexual sensuality which makes the book suitable only to adults, not the original audience (although I suspect that she targeted the books for that young audience as a political statement). Sadly, just a few paragraphs threaded through the book make it not a book for a Christian household.

One word: Ugh! I'm usually a GIGANTIC Tammy Pierce fan, this book was just sooooooo horrible! The plot disappeared under a mound of completely irrelevant romance. She made one of my favorite characters lesbian! And Sandry, Briar, Tris, and Daja seemed to be fighting ALL THE TIME!!!! It was so completely unlike how they reacted to each other through the other eight books that it made me want to scream! I definately don't recommend this book, especially for anyone under thirteen.

This is a well written book. On the other hand, this book is not suitable for my young adult(13-16) age group. The biggest reason is that the author turned one of the characters into a lesbian. The sexuality content is far too prolific for a young audience. As are some of the issues dealt with throughout the story. I do not recommend this book for someone under the age of 17.

I was excited to read more about Tris, Daja, Briar and Sandry, but was disappointed. The plot moves along enough, but I'm entirely too familiar with Pierce's Tortall quartets, making this book very different.

It was nice for Daja to have a romance, but I was thoroughly disappointed and shocked at it being directed towards another girl! This was gross from my point of view, being against my faith. I would rather Pierce had kept to the theme of her other books...at least there attentions were directed towards the opposite gender.

there is lesbian content in this book. As reader who feels that is controversial and not a "young adult" appropriate reading material I am not impressed with this book and that there wasn't some sort of warning label attached. I am disappointed that the author went that direction and didn't keep her book young adult friendly. This should be in the Adult section. I have always loved Tamora's books. She has an amazing imagination and she is a gifted writer. So this was a disappointement to me.

This book was a big disappointment. The characters are shallow. The story lines in the book get mixed up, disappear and suddenly reappear in different priorities. The relationships/romances are shallow as well. No one comes across as a strong character or a compelling character. And why the author has to throw in a strong homosexual theme is mystifying especially considering the age group she usually writes for.

DOn't buy it there are other great fantasy books on the market.

I was very disappointed to discover that this book had a homosexual character. This is absolutely inappropriate for a young adult book, and unless a parent has read the reviews that mention it, said parent would have no clue as it sure isn't mentioned anywhere on the blurb in the book.

I usually am more aware of what my daughter is reading, but this time this particular book slipped under my radar. She told me that it had a reference to a gay character, which I took to mean just a passing reference, but when I read the book, it was treated more seriously than I thought, even going so far as to have the two girls kiss.

It is inexcusable, both on Ms Pierce's part and on Scholastic's. No matter what the author's personal beliefs, it is irresponsible to have this type of content without a warning to parents. I believe that as a parent, I'm the one responsible for what my children see and do, but it sure helps to have some type of information so I can make an informed decision.

Anise Hollingshead