Publishers Weekly
Devotees of Tamora Pierce's The Circle of Magic and The Circle Opens quartets will welcome back Sandry and her friends from Winding Circle-Daja, Tris and Briar-in The Will of the Empress. Here the Empress of Namorn, older cousin to Lady Sandrilene fa Toren, attempts to virtually imprison Sandry in Namorn and marry her off to a noble. Can Sandry count on her friends (and their special talents), in spite of how estranged they have become? Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.
School Library Journal
Gr 6 Up-This novel begins two years after the "Circle of Magic" and "The Circle Opens" series. Readers are reintroduced to the four characters who made the other series so popular: Sandry, who has worked at her uncle's these past two years; Tris, who has developed a new power that she is afraid to share; Daja, who immediately renews her link with Sandry; and Briar, who is afraid to open up because of his memories of the war. Sandry still holds the circle that binds these four individuals together, creating a strong whole out of four very diverse parts. When the book opens, they refuse to reopen the link that has made them stronger due to changes in their lives. Sandry discovers that the lands she holds for the Empress will be given away unless she returns home. Her uncle talks her friends into accompanying her. She hopes to visit her lands and leave by fall, but the Empress has other plans for her, including marriage. After the Empress meets her friends, she devises plans to keep them all. Readers will enjoy being reacquainted with these older but still very well-developed characters. This book stands alone, but readers unfamiliar with the earlier books will be asking for them after finishing this one.-June H. Keuhn, Corning East High School, NY Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.
Kirkus Reviews
Tris, Sandry, Briar and Daja return in the latest Circle book, but their formerly close friendship has weakened as they've grown apart on their separate adventures. Once closer than siblings, the four no longer understand one another. Nonetheless, when Sandry is summoned to her ancestral lands in Namorn at Empress Berenene's whim, only her friends-all supremely powerful mages-can protect her from political machinations. Berenene wants Sandry to stay, though Namorn's unpleasant and misogynistic legal system revolts the quartet. Sandry finds herself wooed by Berenene's courtiers, while practical Tris is tempted with education and Briar with the palace's extensive gardens. Daja, meanwhile, finds love with one of Berenene's ladies. The four come to terms with one another's passages to adulthood in this surprisingly rich adventure. Main characters all get satisfactory depth, although much development is left tantalizingly unresolved for future offerings. When Pierce first began writing longer books, her pacing was shaky; she's settled into the length quite well. Satisfying. (Fantasy. 12-14)
