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Melting Stones

(The Circle Reforged #2)

Tamora Pierce (Goodreads Author)

3.84 · Rating details · 11,435 ratings · 460 reviews

An audiobook first!" New York Times bestselling author Tamora Pierce has written the new novel in her popular Circle of Magic universe to go directly to audio--preceding the print version by at least a year. Residents on one of the islands south of Emelan have sent a call for help to Winding Circle temple: Their plants and trees and the animals that live around them are ...more

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Audio CD, 312 pages

Published October 1st 2007 by Full Cast Audio(NY)

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· 11,435 ratings · 460 reviews

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Start your review of Melting Stones (Circle Reforged, #2)

Jul 15, 2008 Genevieve rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction, ya-childrens, sff

I fell in love with Tamora Pierce's books at the age of about 10 or 11 and because of this I still have a great deal of affection for her writing. I like the the Circle of Magic books quite a lot; and of the Circle Opens books, Street Magic, the book which introduces Evvy (the main character in Melting Stones), is my favorite. However, in general, Tamora Pierce's more recent books have seen a decline in quality, and Melting Stones is definitely not among her best. I found it pretty flat and ...more

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Oct 03, 2012 Arielle Walker rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: children, disappointing, fantasy-traditional

I absolutely adore Tamora Pierce, and was pretty excited when I saw that Will of the Empress was not going to be a stand-alone book. I really really wish I wasn't going to say this but I found Melting Stones a real let-down. I'm too frustrated to write a proper review so I'll explain my feelings through a list:

The pros:
*Got to learn a little about what happened in Gyonxe

*The stone magic was kinda cool

*Rosethorn was as sharp as ever

*The idea for (view spoiler) ...more

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May 27, 2009 Korynn rated it did not like it

Shelves: sci-fifantasy

Wow, what is wrong with this book? I normally love all of Pierce's work but this one was a tremendous letdown. I know the Circle of Magic series is written for a younger audience and has never really rated highly in my reads, but I really enjoyed "the Will of the Empress" which is miles better than "Melting Stones." First off, in "the Will of the Empress" Briar and Tris hint to events that occurred in their lives between the Circle Opens volumes and "the Will of the Empress" and I thought, Wow, what is wrong with this book? I normally love all of Pierce's work but this one was a tremendous letdown. I know the Circle of Magic series is written for a younger audience and has never really rated highly in my reads, but I really enjoyed "the Will of the Empress" which is miles better than "Melting Stones." First off, in "the Will of the Empress" Briar and Tris hint to events that occurred in their lives between the Circle Opens volumes and "the Will of the Empress" and I thought, "well, Pierce might fill in that gap." This book makes it worse.
I condemn this as lazy storytelling. Instead of writing about Briar and Rosethorn and Evvy's travels in Yanjing and their encounters with the Emperor who apparently started massacring Temple dedicates and villagers for no clear reason... Pierce attempts to tell the story half-assed backwards through little snippets thrown out in conversation by Evvy. This apparently covers Luvo (the magical living heart of the mountain)'s sudden appearance in the narrative as though he's a long familiar character. Would she just write the story and stop hinting at it as though it's past history?! Or refrain from mentioning it twenty-thousand times until it is birthed entirely?! Personally, I think she's written herself into a bad place - does she really want to write a book so full of murder, hardship and misery? She's successfully mixed dark with light before. Maybe she'd rather play with safer stories...
As for the plot of the book itself:
Evvy, Briar's former student, arrives with Rosethorn and a water mage to an island riddled with strange events like water turning to acid and frequent earthquakes. It takes tremendously too long to figure out that it's because of an inevitable volcano eruption. Evvy is, by turns, petulant, bratty, thoughtless, and selfish. Her confidence in her power only makes it worse. Her character never blossoms or becomes slightly likable and the same goes for other characters that are in the volume, all of them are alphas who seem to bark commands and sneer at each other, and the tense situation of evacuating an entire small island doesn't help. We never get an impression of what the island was before the weird weather or a good idea of the characters that inhabit it. We meet Evvy so briefly in the beginning that she never transforms, the whole book is rushed and heavily packed with descriptions of science dumbed down to fiery magic magma beings that create plate shifts and cause islands to explode. Magic is relied on too heavily in this narrative and so the characters get shunted aside for plate teutonics and textbook descriptions. Really disappointed by this book.
...more

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Feb 10, 2009 Pamala rated it it was ok

Oh bummer! I love Tamora's Tortall series, but just can't get into the Circle one. This book in particular was blah. If someone asked me what I thought of it the shortest (and possibly best) answer I can come up with is, "meh". Especially for the last 1/4 of the book. It just lacked spunk or something. I can't explain it. I'll just re-read the Lioness so I can remember why I love Tamora.

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Nov 06, 2015 Nancy rated it liked it

Shelves: mark-reads, emelan, year-2016

I think it's between 3.5 and 4, but not really a 4, so....

It's not that the book is bad, not at all. In fact, I'd be interested in revisiting the book the way it was originally released, as an audio book (perhaps full cast?). As it stands, I love the universe so much, and the characters and everything, that it's a good time, but it doesn't quite hit me where I live.

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Mar 13, 2009 Cinda rated it it was amazing

I love these Circle of Magic books. The only thing that would have made it better would have been to bring Briar onstage.

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Nov 06, 2015 Kathy Davie rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, middle-grade

Second in The Circle Reforged subseries and tenth in the overall Emelan universe in the fantasy series for middle-grade readers and revolving around four very young mages in magic. The focus here is on the former student of one of those mages, Evvy. It's been four years since Evvy arrived in Winding Circle, and it's taking place at the same time as The Will of the Empress , 1 (9). If you're interested, there is a chronological listing of the Emelan books on my website.

My Take
What I loved about ...more

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Jan 04, 2009 Lauren rated it really liked it

Shelves: audiobook

I just finished listening to Melting Stones. I found it very interesting, and I especially liked the production. This book was written for and recorded by Full Cast Audio, rather than being a printed book and then adapted to the audio version.

Full Cast Audio, as always, did a wonderful job putting this book together. I love audiobooks almost without regard for the narrator; although there have been one or two so horribly narrated that I couldn't listen, in general it doesn't matter to me who's I just finished listening to Melting Stones. I found it very interesting, and I especially liked the production. This book was written for and recorded by Full Cast Audio, rather than being a printed book and then adapted to the audio version.

Full Cast Audio, as always, did a wonderful job putting this book together. I love audiobooks almost without regard for the narrator; although there have been one or two so horribly narrated that I couldn't listen, in general it doesn't matter to me who's reading it so long as somebody is. But I particularly enjoy Full Cast productions. Having a different voice for each character--especially artfully acted--adds tremendously to the whole experience.

Audible doesn't--for some weird reason--carry the first, third, or fourth of The Circle Opens trilogy, which is why I haven't listened to them... I think I would very much like to hear those on audio as well, so I guess I'll have to assault my local library for copies. I listened to the second, thank goodness, because without it I would have been lost listening to Melting Stones, which is about Evvy, a character who just happened to be introduced in Street Magic. I like Evvy, and Grace Kelly, who acts her role, got to narrate this production, because it's a first-person narration. Her style is lively and attractive, and her voice well-matched to the mischievous Evvy.

The story takes place as Evvy, having got in trouble at Winding Circle, gets taken by Rosethorn on a voyage to find out why the trees and water on a certain island are being poisoned. It turns out that Evvy is very necessary on this journey, as a stone mage; she and her friend Luvo, a bear-shaped stone that is really the heart of a mountain, are the only ones who could deal with the real cause of the poisonous air and water killing the trees: the volcano that formed the island is about to erupt.

I especially like the way Evvy develops in this book. She is, because of past trauma, selfish and self-serving, unable to care about most other people (except for Rosethorn and Briar). Through the course of the book--and some seriously courageous acts--Evvy matures, realizing that she can let herself care about others, and that she wants to learn to build rather than destroy. ...more

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Jan 06, 2009 Kiwi rated it really liked it

I've been a Tammy fan since I was 13. I've always loved her work. It's solid young adult and makes me feel good to read it.

I started reading Circle of Magic when I was 15 and going through difficulties with my hip (which had fractured and continually needed operations). I latched right on to the characters, most of all the two main guardian Dedicates (Rosethorn and Lark). Briar was a favourite of mine as well. The cast of characters supported me through a hard time medically and also guided me ...more

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Aug 18, 2013 Nadine rated it liked it

WHY IS BRIAR NOT IN THIS STORY.

Yes, yes, I understand. It might be interesting to read from Evvy's point of view. After all, I really liked Evvy as a character in Street Magic. But then again, this is not going to stop me from really wanting Briar to be in this book. Although I promise I didn't base my review on his absence.

The story was interesting enough, with a bit of character development for Evvy which I enjoyed. But that's it. So the lower-than-average rating just comes from comparing it ...more

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Dec 29, 2016 Kelsey Hanson rated it it was ok

Shelves: fantasy, fiction

I'm seriously beginning to question Tamora's pierce's writing process for these last books. I'm mostly confused by the structure of the last three books. Will of the Empress seems to be the last hurrah for the original four mages, but then Melting Stones and Battle Magic are thrown out as spinoffs even though you know how the series is going to end. I was convinced that I had read these out of order until I checked their publication dates. Luvo is introduced as a character that we should be ...more

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Apr 25, 2017 AnnMarie rated it liked it

I listened to the full-cast audio book while unpacking freight at work. I didn't love this one as much as I love the other Circle books, but it was still a breezy, fun read (err, listen).

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Sep 12, 2019 Lindsey Rojem rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: own, ya-fantasy, 2019-30-books-in-30-days

I enjoyed all of the Geology references in this, it was really good even though it felt a bit rushed and unfinished compared to the others.

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May 20, 2019 Loyal rated it really liked it · review of another edition

It had an altogether different feel from the other Circle of Magic books, but then I read that it was first published as an audiobook, so that does make sense of the changes. On the whole, though, even though it "felt" different, the core of the action and characters still felt familiar, like those of the previous Emelan books, and I really enjoyed reading it.

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Aug 16, 2018 Abi (The Knights Who Say Book) rated it liked it

Shelves: fantasy, diverse-reads, young-adult, audiobook, main-character-of-color

This is my lowest-rated Emelan book yet. It may even be more 2.5 stars than three stars.

Overall, it wasn't terrible. But I absolutely enjoyed it less than the others. It was slower, and felt very repetitive. It's a lot of Evvy exploring the makeup of the earth in her magical non-corporeal form interspersed with humans panicking and trying to leave, which ends up feeling kinda redundant anyway.

I miss the original kids from the previous series. And while Tamora Pierce has pulled off a bunch of This is my lowest-rated Emelan book yet. It may even be more 2.5 stars than three stars.

Overall, it wasn't terrible. But I absolutely enjoyed it less than the others. It was slower, and felt very repetitive. It's a lot of Evvy exploring the makeup of the earth in her magical non-corporeal form interspersed with humans panicking and trying to leave, which ends up feeling kinda redundant anyway.

I miss the original kids from the previous series. And while Tamora Pierce has pulled off a bunch of time jumps in between Emelan books, the time jump in this one didn't work as well. I think that was mostly because Evvy suddenly has this heart-of-a-mountain called Luvo that she evidently picked up during the jump between Cold Fire and Will of the Empress, and it's just a little harder to swallow all that happening off page. (This might be covered in the next book, Battle Magic? But frankly I don’t think I’m going to read that one, because if Tamora Pierce wanted me to care about those events she should have given them to me in order)

My other problem with Melting Stones is the clumsy use of Myrrhtide. He starts out as a dedicate who is unpleasant and rude, but evidently still a trustworthy adult. Then in the middle of the book he suddenly becomes a cruel villain-esque douchebag who flat out tells Evvy he thinks she's worthless. And then after Evvy makes a mistake he's all, "Oh, I like you now, because you're learning from your mistake" and he's almost entirely nice to her. If that seems weird and choppy, it's because it is.

I know Tamora Pierce can write unpleasant characters who go from hatable to grudgingly likable. She did it with Dedicate Crane in the original series. But Myrrhtide feels like he was written by someone else entirely, someone who tried to mimic Crane's development and failed spectacularly. His changes aren't developed, they're just dumped on you without feeling natural or even really following a logical progression.

Other than that, like, the book was fine. I got into it at the ending. Evy has a character arc. It could be worse. ...more

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May 18, 2014 Tamhack rated it liked it

At first I was not sure about this book--but the author, Tamora Pierce, came recommended because she writes for young girls and her books give a positive image of girls and even though they are science fiction, the books make the characters realistic and show positive and good choices that the young girls can make. The book created a world where all things have a spirit--even the rocks, water, and islands.

Summary
Evvy has developed a more pessimistic view of humans since we last saw her, and At first I was not sure about this book--but the author, Tamora Pierce, came recommended because she writes for young girls and her books give a positive image of girls and even though they are science fiction, the books make the characters realistic and show positive and good choices that the young girls can make. The book created a world where all things have a spirit--even the rocks, water, and islands.

Summary
Evvy has developed a more pessimistic view of humans since we last saw her, and after beating some bully boys to an unnecessary extent she is sent with Rosethorn and fussy Dedicate Myrrhtide to Starns, an island in need. The problems there are actually caused by magma spirits trying to break to the surface, and after negotiation and trickery are unsuccessful, the island has to be evacuated. Evvy stays behind because she got mad at a little girl named Meryem, who then ran away, and she wants to stop the volcano. She is unsuccessful, but her friend Luvo manages to convince the hearts of the mountains/islands to stand against the magma spirits. The magma spirits are sent farther off shore to erupt, and after spending three days in recovery and a further two and a half navigating ruined roads, Evvy gets to the town inn and finds that Meryem, Nori, and Jayat (who had gone after Meryem) are all safe. Evvy realises how bad it was to think of herself as superior to other people because they weren't rocks, and furthermore she loved feeling good because she had helped others. She decides to become a dedicate, like Rosethorn.

Evvy comes to the realisation that people don't always get what they want in life, showing that she has matured since the beginning of the book. Furthermore, she regrets the impersonal and obnoxious way that she referred to humans as 'meat-creatures', because though they are temporary, she is temporary too. When Evvy is almost certain that she will die, Luvo interrupts with the voices of the other islands, who together force the magma to go farther out where they will not kill the other islands. This the volcano spirits do, and they will eventually become an island themselves.

The best quote in the book was about mules.

I am looking forward to reading some of her other books such as Alanna and Wild Magic. ...more

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Oct 27, 2017 Kimi Loughlin rated it it was ok

Shelves: fantasy, young-adult

As a HUGE fan of Tamora Pierce growing up, I was so excited to find there were books I had missed since my last time reading (2005, aged 12). I recently (2015) re-read all of her other books/series (staples from my childhood: the Song of the Lioness, the Protector of the Small, Daughter of the Lioness, the Circle of Magic and the Circle Opens) as well as read the Beka Cooper and Immortal series for the first time. All were amazing and were still SO GOOD 11 years later, reading as an (semi)adult. ...more

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May 04, 2014 Emma rated it did not like it · review of another edition

Shelves: ya-fantasy

At the beginning this book didn't seem this bad. What did seem strange was that this book was much more childish than Battle Magic (which had mature themes) even though it comes afterwards chronologically. Somehow Evvy has become less mature! Also, there was a lot of inconsistencies between this book and Battle Magic , I guess because Tamora Pierce wrote Battle Magic afterwards.

Then I got to all the rock magic/travelling inside mountains stuff. It was really, REALLY weird. I have no idea ...more

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May 05, 2014 Jessa Franco rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: kid-tastic, ya-mazing-reads, excellent-audio

I have been addicted to Tamora Pierce novels since middle school. That being said, I've always been a little afraid to continue reading the newer novels in fear of the loosing the magic I once experienced. I have never been more wrong. Listening to Melting Stones brought back the magic from my childhood. It is classic Pierce style with strong female leads, vibrant characters, and engaging plot lines. Specifically, Melting Stones brings back a character from a few novels ago, Evvy the stone mage. ...more

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Dec 06, 2008 Glitterfairy rated it liked it

Recommends it for: Those who are currently trawling libraries rather than bookstores

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Oct 22, 2013 Crystal Bandel rated it liked it

Shelves: novel, z571, grade-6, grade-7, grade-8, grade-9, grade-10, non-print

Melting Stones by Tamora Pierce, published 2007.

High fantasy.

Novel. Audio book.

Grades 6-10.

Found via Booklist, reviewed by Pam Spencer Holley.

This book continues the Circle of Magic series by following Briar's apprentice Evvy as she visits an island where a volcano is forming. Readers are expected to be familiar with the previous books in the Circle of Magic series (where there are mages of many elements--Evvy controls stones), though the text does reintroduce old characters to help jog readers' ...more

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Apr 29, 2017 Marisa rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: reviewed

Although I know that Evvy is supposed to be a victim of post-traumatic stress, I found her a fairly unlikeable character. Considering she was one of my favorites in the Circle Opens quartet, that was surprising. Rosethorn was even fairly subdued and didn’t seem like her old self. I am planning to read “Battle Magic” where we learn what happened to them (and perhaps will make me more understanding), but after this one I feel meh about continuing the series right away.

This book had a decent ...more

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Jan 29, 2008 Ryann Uden rated it liked it

Shelves: listened

Melting Stones is a spin-off story from Tamora Pierce's Circle of Magic series. Evvy, a youngster discovered by Briar in a previous story, is a stone mage who is traveling to an island that is suffering from poisoned water and dying plants. Evvy and her talking-heart-of-the-mountain, Luvo, and the two great mages sent to solve the problem, quickly discover that the problem is that the island is really a volcano about ready to blow its top. Evvy uses her stone magic to traveling underground and ...more

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Nov 08, 2010 Jennifer Wardrip rated it it was amazing

Shelves: trt-posted-reviews

Reviewed by Joan Stradling for TeensReadToo.com

Evvy left the streets of Chammur four years ago and began training as a stone mage. Now, she's fourteen and on her way to the Battle Islands to help her mentor, Rosethorn, figure out why the plants and animals are dying.

Evvy is supposed to listen and learn, but ends up playing a much bigger role when she discovers the real reason for the Island's troubles. With the help of her friend, Luvo (the living stone heart of a mountain), Evvy must find a way ...more

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Sep 01, 2011 Lowed rated it liked it

Shelves: books-read-2011

This is my first take on Ms Pierce. And She did not disappoint me. Well, the problem was I never thought this was a part of a series.. Nyahaha! Sorry, if I can't make a good review right now. But I still could not believe I started reading book 2. For what it's worth though, I was really impressed at how she pulled it through. Although, I would have wanted Luvo to die.. That would have given it a more satisfying and a more twisted ending.

If you like this kind of story, where the author really ...more

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Apr 29, 2011 Kirstine rated it liked it

I love Tamora Pierce's books, but this one took me some time to get used to. She write's from Evvy's perspective, giving it the accurate yet childlike perspective the protagonist sees from. For the most part this works, and has a tendancy to be entertaining, but on occasion I found myself wanting more information on certain things.

The story line itself is interesting, if not following in the paths of unlikely people doing amazing things at such a young age, but hey, it's a fantasy novel so I ...more

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Nov 03, 2016 Dorothy rated it it was amazing

Shelves: d-stamp-of-approval, books-for-non-readers, kids-kicking-butt, audio, full-cast-audio

I hate audiobooks, okay? I HATE them. I can't understand what's going on, I forget details, I fall asleep. But when I read that Tammy re-wrote this from third person to first just so the voice actress who read Evvy in Street Magic could be the narrator, I KNEW I had to listen to this in its intended format, and I'm so glad I did. The casting is perfection (at first, I didn't care for Rosethorn, but she /grew on me/ sorry please don't hang me in the well,) Luvo is powerful, the sea is so ...more

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Aug 31, 2014 Rachel rated it liked it · review of another edition

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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May 19, 2008 Izlinda rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, young-adult

I do love the series about Tortall, and the first Circle series by Pierce. And The Will of the Empress. But the ones where the four mages become teachers, not so much. Unfortunately this one also rubbed me wrong.

I think it's the fact that Evvy's the narrator and sometimes her cynicism and mean-spiritedness seems over-dramatized. Also, I found the magic harder to follow than in the other Circle series. Evvy didn't make so much an impact on me that I would have chosen her a character to focus on. ...more

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Jul 16, 2012 Wealhtheow rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, ya, pocmaincharacters, disabled-character

Briar's student Evvy has an adventure of her own. She follows Rosethorn to investigate mysterious happenings on an island, only to find that (view spoiler).

Aimed at a much younger audience than the last few Circle/Emelan books, despite being next in the series. Although Pierce gives Evvy plenty of characterization, I didn't feel like I really knew her or cared about her. This book gave me an enjoyable afternoon, but it ...more

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About Tamora Pierce

Tamora Pierce

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Hey, folks! I just discovered that apparently I have given some very popular books single-star ratings--except I haven't. How do I know I haven't? Because I haven't read those books at all. So before you go getting all hacked off at me for trashing your favorites, know that I've written GoodReads to find out what's going on.

I return to my regularly scheduled profile:
Though I would love to join Hey, folks! I just discovered that apparently I have given some very popular books single-star ratings--except I haven't. How do I know I haven't? Because I haven't read those books at all. So before you go getting all hacked off at me for trashing your favorites, know that I've written GoodReads to find out what's going on.

I return to my regularly scheduled profile:
Though I would love to join groups, I'm going to turn them all down. I just don't have the time to take part, so please don't be offended if I don't join your group or accept an invitation. I'm not snooty--I'm just up to my eyeballs in work and appearances!

Also, don't be alarmed by the number of books I've read. When I get bored, I go through the different lists and rediscover books I've read in the past. It's a very evil way to use up time when I should be doing other things. Obviously, I've read a lot of books in 54 years!

I was born in South Connellsville, PA. My mother wanted to name me "Tamara" but the nurse who filled out my birth certificate misspelled it as "Tamora". When I was 8 my family moved to California, where we lived for 6 years on both sides of the San Francisco peninsula.

I started writing stories in 6th grade. My interest in fantasy and science fiction began when I was introduced to ‘The Lord of the Rings’ by J. R. R. Tolkien and so I started to write the kind of books that I was reading. After my parents divorced, my mother took my sisters and me back to Pennsylvania in 1969. There I went to Albert Gallatin Senior High for 2 years and Uniontown Area Senior High School for my senior year.

After graduating from the University of Pennsylvania, I wrote the book that became The Song of the Lioness fantasy quartet. I sold some articles and 2 short stories and wrote reviews for a martial arts movie magazine. At last the first book of the quartet, Alanna: The First Adventure was published by Atheneum Books in 1983.

Tim Liebe, who became my Spouse-Creature, and I lived in New York City with assorted cats and two parakeets from 1982 - 2006. In 2006 we moved to Syracuse, New York, where we live now with assorted cats, a number of squirrels, birds, raccoons, skunks, opossums, and woodchucks visiting our very small yard. As of 2011, I have 27 novels in print, one short story collection, one comic book arc ("White Tiger: A Hero's Compulsion") co-written with Tim, and a short story anthology co-editing credit. There's more to come, including a companion book to the Tortall `verse. So stay tuned! ...more

Other books in the series

The Circle Reforged (3 books)

Books by Tamora Pierce

Alanna: The First Adventure (Song of the Lioness, #1)

In the Hand of the Goddess (Song of the Lioness, #2)

Lioness Rampant (Song of the Lioness, #4)

The Woman Who Rides Like a Man (Song of the Lioness, #3)

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Trivia About Melting Stones (C...

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Quotes from Melting Stones

“Every now and then I like to do as I'm told, just to confuse people.” — 3518 likes

“Yes Headwoman Azaze. But I never lie to Rosethorn. She, um, discourages it."
"Evvy and I have an understanding." She grabbed the teakettle and poured hot water into the mug. "She tells me the truth, and I don't hang her in the first well we come to. It's a solution that works tolerably well for both of us.” — 143 likes

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