The Circle Opens is a quartet of novels written by Tamora Pierce and set in a pseudo-medieval/renaissance era. It mainly revolves around four teenage mages, each specializing in a different kind of magic, as they find that they are forced to deal with mages whose powers are similarly unusual to their own. The series consists of the books Magic Steps (2000), Street Magic (2001), Cold Fire (2002), and Shatterglass (2003). The Circle Opens Quartet is the sequel quartet to The Circle Of Magic Quartet, and is followed by "Battle Magic" and The Will of the Empress.[1]
The students are now 14[2] years old and fully qualified mages. Briar, Tris and Daja have gone travelling with their teachers, and Sandry has moved in with her great uncle, Duke Vedris, in the Duke's Citadel. They believe they're still too young to teach but the decision is not up to them. Each of the four finds someone, or some ones, with magic, and according to the rules they must become the teacher until a more suitable one can be found. Each of the four also encounters a series of crimes they feel obligated to stop, and they must balance their teaching responsibilities with aiding the law.
In Emelan, Sandry finds a rare dance mage who is unwilling to accept his power due to his family heritage and must convince him to train his magic, at the same time helping her great-uncle to solve the puzzling mystery of a series of clan murders.
In Chammur, Briar finds a street girl with stone magic. But in a land of gangs, no mage is safe. Evvy is tracked down by a dangerous gang called the Vipers, who are dominated by a takameri, Lady Zenadia, and Briar must balance his new respectable life with his old street life while stopping the gangs and Lady Zenadia.
In Namorn, Daja finds twin mages, each specialising in a different housework power. Daja does not have to teach them their powers, just how to sit straight long enough to concentrate on meditation. But when you put a hyperactive girl and a shy one together, nothing works. On top of all this, Daja must stop an insane arsonist from wiping out the city, whom she discovers she has helped to do so.
In Tharios, Tris meets a glass mage with a dangerous power: lightning. A twenty-year-old man just as stubborn as Tris, Kethlun won't accept Tris or any of her teachings. But when Kethlun's closest friends and a whole occupation is suddenly attacked, Keth and Tris must work together in a land where no tracking is possible due to religious beliefs.
The Circle Opens books began being published the year after the Circle of Magic quartet concluded in 1999, with the four books appearing one a year in 2000, 2001, 2002, and 2003.
The series' publisher, Scholastic Books, published a lesson plan for teachers to use the quartet in the classroom. The lesson plan suggests exploring the series' "refreshingly multiracial world," its representation of the student experience, and literary techniques of sensory writing, simile, and plot suspense.