Quick Take
- Narration: Tamora Pierce herself leads the narration in this Full Cast Audio production, which gives the listening experience a quality of direct authorial intention that few audiobooks can match.
- Themes: Responsibility thrust on the young, the politics of mentorship, magic as something that lives in unexpected places
- Mood: Warm but not soft, with genuine darkness running beneath a familiar fantasy setting
- Verdict: An excellent entry point into Pierce’s Emelan universe, and a rare case where the author narrating adds rather than detracts from the experience.
I have a complicated relationship with author-narrated audiobooks. The instinct to let the creator read their own work makes emotional sense, but the craft of narration is genuinely separate from the craft of writing, and the gap shows more often than publishers like to admit. Tamora Pierce is an exception. Whether it is long familiarity with her own characters or simply a natural vocal presence, her reading of Magic Steps carries the warmth that fans of the Emelan universe have been encountering since the original Circle of Magic quartet. And this is a Full Cast Audio production, which means Pierce is supported throughout rather than carrying every character alone for seven-plus hours. The result is something rare: an author narration that actually serves the material.
Our Take on Magic Steps
This is the first book in The Circle Opens, a sequel quartet to Pierce’s Circle of Magic series. The four young mages from those earlier books have scattered across different countries with their mentors. Sandrilene fa Toren, Sandry, has stayed behind in Summersea to care for her uncle Duke Vedris following his heart attack. She is fourteen, doing adult work, and intensely aware of how unsuited she feels for it. When she witnesses a boy named Pasco dance a spell without knowing it is magic, she becomes responsible for his education until a qualified teacher can be found. Pierce is interested in what it means to be mentored and then to become a mentor yourself, and Magic Steps examines that transition with psychological precision. Sandry is young enough to resent the imposition and self-aware enough to understand her own resentment. That honesty is what separates Pierce from the average YA fantasy author working with similar material.
Why Listen to Magic Steps
The parallel plot, involving a series of assassinations targeting a merchant clan through something Pierce calls Un-magic, gives the book a darker edge than the mentorship premise suggests. Pierce does not protect her young characters from ugly realities. One reviewer notes that an infant is killed in this book, a jarring detail for what might seem like gentle fantasy, but Pierce earns it. The violence serves the narrative and makes the threat feel substantive rather than decorative. The result is a book that functions as YA without condescending to its audience. Adults who have been reading Pierce since childhood, and the reviews suggest many have, find the same engagement they did at nine when they return to her work at thirty-one. The Full Cast Audio production supports this cross-generational appeal by giving the story a theatrical quality that suits Pierce’s world-building.
What to Watch For in Magic Steps
This is technically the first book of a sequel series, which creates a minor structural challenge for new listeners. Pierce gives returning readers enough familiar context and new readers enough grounding that neither group is completely stranded, but the emotional resonance with Sandry is meaningfully deeper if you know her from the Circle of Magic books. A reviewer who had taken years away from the series found the reconnection easy, which speaks to how well Pierce re-establishes her characters even after gaps. The one note of caution is that Pasco’s prolonged resistance to accepting his own magic drives much of the book’s early tension, and his stubbornness can test patience before it becomes endearing. Stick with it; the payoff is worth the friction.
Who Should Listen to Magic Steps
Existing Tamora Pierce readers will find this an easy and rewarding continuation of the Emelan universe. New listeners who want to start with The Circle Opens rather than Circle of Magic should know they are entering mid-story but will not be completely lost. The book works across a wide age range, and a parent-child read-together recommendation appears in multiple reviews, which accurately reflects how Pierce’s work has always functioned. Skip it only if fantasy where magic is craft-based and socially embedded holds no appeal for you whatsoever, because Pierce is not likely to change your mind about that in a single volume. Pierce’s authorial narration and the Full Cast production combine to give the book an intimacy that solo-read recordings rarely achieve.
Frequently Asked Questions
Should I listen to the Circle of Magic quartet before starting Magic Steps?
It is strongly recommended. Magic Steps is the first book of a sequel quartet, and while Pierce provides enough grounding for new readers to follow the plot, the emotional connection to Sandry and the other mages from the first four books adds substantial depth. The characters’ histories are assumed, not recapped in full.
Does Tamora Pierce narrating her own book work well in audio format?
Better than average for author-narrated productions, partly because this is a Full Cast Audio recording rather than a solo reading. Pierce provides the anchor voice, but the ensemble format means listeners get differentiated performances for different characters. Reviews do not flag the narration as a problem in any notable way.
Is this appropriate for young listeners given the darker content?
Pierce writes YA that does not pull punches. There is violence in this book, including the death of an infant, which Pierce does not handle gratuitously but does not soften either. The reviewer who flagged this called it tasteful but realistic. Parents of younger or more sensitive readers should be aware before putting this on for children.
How self-contained is Magic Steps, or does it end on a cliffhanger?
The main murder mystery plot reaches a resolution within this volume. Magic Steps functions as a complete story, though it sets up ongoing threads for the three books that follow in The Circle Opens. Most listeners will feel satisfied with the ending while wanting to continue the series immediately.
