Briar's Book

Infobox Book |
name = Briar's Book


image_caption = Briar in the sewers of Summersea
author = Tamora Pierce
cover_artist =
country = United States
language = English
series = Circle of Magic
genre = Fantasy novel
publisher = Scholastic Press
release_date = 1999
media_type = Print (Hardcover & Paperback)
pages = 258 pp
isbn =
preceded_by = Daja's Book
followed_by =

"Briar's Book" by Tamora Pierce, is a fantasy novel set in the fictional duchy of Emelan. It is the fourth and final book in the Circle of Magic quartet, starring the four young mages Sandry, Tris, Daja and Briar as they learn to handle powerful magic, form intense bonds of friendship and stand up against destructive forces of nature.

Plot Introduction

The main protagonist of the book is Briar Moss, a young ex-thief and "green" or plant mage, having ambient magic with all forms of plant life. Through his eyes the book explores themes of poverty and social injustice, as a deadly plague named the Blue Pox strikes The Mire, the poorest quarter of Emelan's capital city, Summersea.

Plot Summary

To Briar, the Mire is familiar territory, having been first a street-rat and then a thief in Deadman's District, the poorest quarter of his native Hajra, before his magic was discovered by the great mage Niklaren Goldeye and he was taken to Winding Circle, a temple school for ambient mages. In the Mire, Briar follows his former thief friend into the sewers to meet another friend, who was sick. Rosethorn soon follows Briar, and brings the sick girl to a small charity hospital. Thousands of residents fall ill with this disease. Briar and Rosethorn along with other mages try to help those that are sick.

As the story continues, the hospital is put into quarantine, and many who were quartered there died. Rosethorn and Briar worked continuously, trying to bring down the patients' temperatures with willowbark tea, which doesn't work. Before they knew it, the plague has spread to the whole of Summersea. Briar and Rosethorn were allowed outside of the inn, as the inn's quarantee is now useless. They travel back to Winding Circle, a temple school for ambient mages. There, Rosethorn worked with Dedicate Crane to find a cure for the sickness. With a team of mages, they continues in a fruitless search to find the number of keys that will become the cure. With the help of his sharp-eyed friend, Tris, Briar realized that the disease created by magic. Realizing the fault, Rosethorn and Crane soon finds out that there were thirty-six keys and the team begins to find the keys.

But Rosethorn falls incredibily ill and it's up to Briar to save her. While Tris follows Niko to find the cause of the disease, Briar helped Rosethorn stay alive and fight her fever. Niko and Tris discovers that the disease was a result of a magical experiment gone wrong that wasn't disposed of correctly. Tris returns to Winding Circle, but Rosethorn was gravely ill and dies. Briar, not wanting to lose his teacher, plunges after her into death, securely attached to his "shakkan", Tris, Sandry, and Daja through magic so he can be pulled out from death. Briar finds Rosethorn in her a worn house and after an argument, begins cutting the cords that ties him back to the living world. Rosethorn, not wanting Briar to die, agrees before Briar cuts the final cord and follows him back to the living.

Meanwhile, the cure was found and all of Summersea was safe from the Blue Pox, for once and for all. The four mages live their life normally, with Lark and Rosethorn, who have a slight slur in her speech due to her partial death. The disease was defeated.

Characters

*Lady Sandrilene fa Toren (A.K.A Sandry) : A girl who was of noble birth, and a friend of Briar's. She is an ambient mage, with control over weaving. She is also the first of the four to get a student (in Magic Steps).
*Trisana Chandler (A.K.A Tris): Another friend of Briar's who can control the weather. Commonly called as a weather witch, she studies weather and the sea with Niko.
*Daja Kisubo: A Trader girl who is Briar's friend. Her ambient magic consists of metal and fire. She is able to put magic into the creations that she smiths in the forge.
*Briar Moss: The main character in this book. He has plant magic, which allows him to grow plants, nourish plants, and talk to them for information. His studies extends to the use of plants as medical herbs.
*Niko: A powerful mage that brought Sandrilene, Tris, Daja, and Briar to Winding Circle. Niko was also Tris's teacher, since there wasn't another mage with the same magic as Tris.
*Frostpine: Daja's teacher, and is the only other mentioned smith mage.
*Rosethorn: Briar's teacher, and also the other protagonist in "Briar's Book".
*Lark: Sandry's teacher because she also has thread magic.
*Little Bear: A fast growing dog that Sandry and her friends had rescued in "Sandry's Book".