The basic plot of this quartet is the Circle of Magic gang, a few years older and wiser and trained in their powers. In each book these young mages find themselves a reluctant teacher to an apprentice who like them has an unusual magical Gift.

This book catches up with Briar a loveable ex street rat and now a fully trained Green Mage, whose power is in plants. Briar is a few years older than when we saw him last which gives the series a welcome maturity, the one thing that always bothered me about COM was that it seemed to be marketed at much younger readers.

Briar with his teacher Dedicate Rosethorn are travelling through Chammur and are seperated from his foster siblings Sandry, Tris and Daja. Briar whilst sight seeing in the market meets Evvy who he realises has a magical connection with the stones she polishes. Briar also comes to the attention of some street gangs, and the gang's wealthy beneficiary a Lady wants Evvy to help her pet gang become the fiercest in Chammul. Briar's new incarnation as teacher doesn't get off to a smooth start.

Evvy is a nice fully rounded character, her actions are believable if at times she seems too sweet and cloying to have survived on the streets. Her interactions with Briar are interesting and ring true. The plot for this part of the series is definitely the most exciting so far as it focuses on gangwar fare and Briar's reflections on his old life as a street thief. The scenes where he must use his magic to rescue the kidnapped Evvy are thrilling. Who knew what seemed like such a hippy power like gardening magic could cause so much damage?

I only give this title 3 stars, because the characterisation, while much better than the predecessors, is rather weak. We are never given adequate reason why the Lady should want to have a pet gang at her disposal or why she wants a young untrained stone mage. Especially as she proves later in the book that she can bully the only trained stone mage in town to do her bidding.

This also gets a star knocked off for the intrusion of modern slang in the book, which the author draws attention to in a very annoying way, e.g 'kid wasn't just a young goat it was street talk where Briar came from for an older child.' Yes all those bits while it may seem trivial really really annoyed me.

This is a good book, but not her best. It will appeal to the die hard fan and those who enjoyed the Circle Of Magic series but for more discerning readers this will fail to excite and delight across the age groups as the Tortall series' did.