I’ve said many, many times that my favorite thing about tamorapierce’s “Circle of Magic” universe is the fact that these four isolated children have magic quite unsuited to their stations. Class is the barrier that seems most prevalent in their world (because sexism is incredibly limited, given how many women of power we see as judges, caravan leaders, dedicates, rulers, etc.) and here we’re shown a street rat, who has no property or gardens, being gifted with plant magic. The noble who would never weave her own cloth is a stitch witch. The Traders are known for trading, not creating – and the only magic they appreciate is weather-magic to promote successful travels, but the Trader-girl has the ability to magically metal-smith. Meanwhile the merchant girl, whose family seems to value everything on its marketability, has power with weather. Everything is out of place, and in losing their backgrounds (two are orphaned, one is abandoned, one is rescued from a short life of prison labor) they are able to find who they truly are. This is my favorite kind of self-discovery book – where the possibilities are endless, once the door is opened to them.
However, let’s take a look at what could’ve been. I love the idea of switching Sandry’s and Briar’s magic, and Tris’s and Daja’s. Just to see what could have happened.
What if Daja had been the weather mage? She would live with the Traders training as a mimander, possibly saving her family from the storm that sank Third Ship Kisubo. The Kisubo clan could have become one of the most powerful among Traders, if Daja had born Tris’s magic. I can see her being enchanted with Runog’s Fire, I could see the electricity running through her veins making her hot with impatience in dealing with kaqs, and her love of her family making her occasionally ruthless when dealing with war magic and the pirates who raid the seas.
Nobles shouldn’t sew, certainly, but what if Sandry had Briar’s plant magic? It wouldn’t have saved her parents, but maybe she would’ve shown an affinity for her gardener-cousin, the empress of Namorn. Would Sandry have lived her life preferring her ties to Namorn rather than Emelan? Would she have submitted to her cousin’s rules of court life, and been a pawn in the Narmornese court, or would Sandry’s stubbornness manifested in ways that were dangerous to her? Would anyone have been able to train her?
Tris is cast aside because she offers nothing to her merchant family. But what would they think of a girl who was drawn to metal smithing, who could manufacture trinkets or jewelry or metal toys that could be sold throughout the Pebbled Sea? Tris would still have her intellectual mind… I see her making clockwork toys that dazzle the world, bringing in plenty of money for House Chandler. Would Tris be a different person, were she not denied love? Would her temper be the same without lightning being born in her hair?
And Briar… he lost his family when he was young, and would still likely have a life of crime. But I imagine snatching purses and running away from the law enforcers would be easier if you can tangle people up in their own threads. And a belt-purse made of cloth could easily develop magical holes allowing a coin or two or more to gradually slip out. There are plenty of things a clever, street-smart thread mage could conjure. Perhaps he would’ve gotten away with more, with no pesky plants in nobles’ gardens holding onto him. Who would he have become without Rosethorn to smooth out his sharp edges? (and who might Rosethorn have become – or remained – without Briar under her wing?) And what about the fact that Sandry can weave pure magic? If Briar had that, would he have been able to deal with magical locks and spells in ways no other thief could?
I wonder if this mismatched magic and lifestyle was all deliberate decision-making on Tammy’s part, or if things just fell into place on their own when she was creating it. I love this series because it makes me think and wonder so very much. My heart belonged to Tortall first, like many Pierce fans, but the Circleverse is where I’d rather live.
HOLY SHIT I NEVER THOUGHT OF THAT
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