Reviews with content warning for Fire/Fire injury - Emelan: Im Land der tausend Feuer. ...

This is my favorite of the Circle of Magic books. I love the expanded world building and deeper look into the lives of the kids outside of their training. The very real feeling of how craftsmen are trained, blacksmithing in Daja's case and how the people around them react to it. I really enjoy the further peak into Trader culture in this book and the sheer diversity in the cast in this series. The little snippets about the Teachers past, and the little interactions given between the adults gives this a little more depth than the first two. I also like that it's less of a OMG climax, and is instead just a really real threat. Though considering this storyline focuses on fire, maybe not the most sensitive of reading, regarding the current events in Hawaii. All in all, a very good read, and I always enjoy this book.

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quasinaut's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

So eye-opening to learn more about Trader customs -- and how Daja specifically is treated as trangshi. I appreciated how new characters (Polyam, Inoulia, Yarrun) were portrayed as both flawed -- harsh, disdainful, prideful -- while also acknowledging that they are trying hard to serve their people, whether it's Polyam's Trader caravan or Inoulia's and Yarrun's communities threatened by wildfires.

I struggled to visualize some of the scenes and objects described in the writing -- the creation of Daja's living metal tree, the weaving Sandry does to untangle their magics, the journey through hot springs to the glacier. Definitely something that would be fascinating to see translated to a visual medium, but alas, the written descriptions alone didn't quite work for me.

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charm0nix's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional lighthearted tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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frantic_vampire's review against another edition

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adventurous funny hopeful lighthearted fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

This was such a good book! And I’m gonna be a broken record here but, it still holds up. It’s one of the best middle grade books that I’ve read. I loved getting more of Daja and seeing how she interacted with her fellow Traders. I loved the growth that she and the rest of the kids had. Both in their magic and in their relationships with their teachers and each other. I just really loved this! It’s getting four and a half stars.

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