"Pierce, Tamora - Circle Of Magic 04 - Briar's Book" - читать интересную книгу автора (Pierce Tamora)

Circle of Magic
Briar's Book

By Tamora Pierce

Scholastic Press


Other Books in the Circle of Magic Quartet

Sandry's Book
Tris's Book
Daja's Book


Copyright (c) 1999 by Tamora Pierce
All rights reserved. Published by Scholastic Press, a division of Scholastic
Inc., Publishers since 1920. SCHOLASTIC and SCHOLASTIC PRESS and
associated logos are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of
Scholastic Inc.
No part of this publication may be reproduced, or stored in a retrieval
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Pierce, Tamora.
Briar's book / by Tamora Pierce, p. cm. - (Circle of magic ; 4)
Sequel to: Daja's book.
Summary: Briar, a young mage-in-training, and his teacher Rosethorn must use their magic to fight a deadly plague that is ravaging Summersea.
ISBN 0-590-55359-3
[ 1. Magic-Fiction. 2. Fantasy] I. Title. II. Series : Pierce, Tamora. Circle of Magic ; #4.
PZ7.P61464Br 1999
[ Fie ]-dc21 98-26148
10987654321 9/9 0/0 01 02 03 04
Printed in the U.S.A. 37
First edition, April 1999 Map art (c) 1999 Ian Schoenherr Book design by Cathy Bobak

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Thanks are due to my sister Kim, paramedic and nurse-to-be, for crash medical talks-any errors here in the descriptions of disease and treatment are strictly my own. Thanks also to my husband, Tim, for the encouragement and advice that saw me through a most worrisome first draft; and to Rick Robinson once again for all his help. Emelan and Summersea would not have their present shape, defenses, and currency without him.
I also owe a debt of research to books like William H. McNeill's Plagues and Peoples, Frederick F. Cartwright and Michael D. Biddiss's Disease as History, and Laurie Garrett's The Coming Plague, about the role that disease plays in human history and culture.
As I close this quartet, I would like to thank again the publishers who helped to see me through this bold new creative venture of mine, the editors and assistants at Scholastic Press here in the U.S. and at Scholastic Children's Books in the U.K. Between all of us, we have created books we can be quite proud of. Thanks also to my literary agents at Harold Ober Associates, always a safe port in any storm. My parents, Wayne and Mary Lou Pierce, supplied me with research as well as emotional support. To them and to Thomas Gansevoort, this series's creative godfather, I give my heartfelt gratitude.

To James and Claire,
who went on ahead far too soon,
and to Peter and Bob,
who had to stay behind


Briar Moss knew he was only dreaming, but he didn't care. He sat in a giant oak tree, the heart of a great forest. A leather bag brimming with emeralds filled his lap, and the oak whispered the secrets of trees into his ears. He was running the gems through his fingers, admiring their color and size, when they evaporated. The tree vanished. Now two large, unkind-looking men in black leather hustled him down a wet, dark corridor. They shoved him into an open cell and slammed the thick door behind him. It boomed so loudly that it set up a string of echoes, each as loud as the first.