Daja and Frostpine expect to spend some peaceful weeks with old friends in Namorn. But things begin to go awry as soon as they arrive. First Daja discovers that their hosts' twin daughters are mages. Then mysterious fires begin to blaze across the frigid city. Daja works with Bennat Ladradun, to locate what seems to be a serial arsonist. Daja's magic saves the city from going up in flames, but nothing and nobody can save her the disappointment of learning that the arsonist is someone close to her own heart.

Daja is one of four teenagers with magical powers whose adventures, as they learn to control their gifts, are chronicled in Pierce's earlier fantasy quartet, Circle of Magic. Each volume of this subsequent quartet, The Circle Opens, set in a period like our Middle Ages, tells how each of these teen moves out into the world and takes on a student. In Cold Fire, 14-year-old smith-mage Daja is studying her craft of metalworking in a cold northern city. She finds herself responsible for two students, a pair of challenging 12-year-old twins named Jory and Nia, and helps them learn to control their powers and find appropriate teachers. She also befriends a sad man named Ben, who lost his family in a fire and now devotes himself to putting out fires—or is he the one setting them? Stocky, strong, dark-skinned Daja is an admirable heroine, forceful, brave, and bold. There's lots of fire-fighting action in this tale, and some grisly fire-related deaths, along with Daja's fascinating ability to control fire and metal. Along with the engaging premises and the realistic relationships and dialogue, I like the down-to-earth emphasis in these well-written stories on the need to constantly work on and practice skills, magical and otherwise (a subtle but important message for teens). Daja, for example, struggles to learn how to skate, and her growing confidence and speed pay off when she races along a frozen canal to save people in a hospital fire. Includes some notes from the author at the end, listing the calendar of her imaginary land and defending the use of fur in the story. (Bk. 3 of The Circle Opens quartet) Category: Hardcover Fiction. KLIATT Codes: J—Recommended for juniorhigh school students. 2002, Scholastic, 368p., $16.95. Ages 13 to 15. Reviewer: Paula Rohrlick; KLIATT SOURCE: KLIATT, March 2002 (Vol. 36, No. 2)

Categories:

• Teen & Young Adult
  
  
  • Science Fiction & Fantasy
    • Fantasy