Customer Reviews

Circle of Three

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I have just finished reading the first book in the trilogy, The Tales of the Nine Charms. It is called, Circle of Three, and is writen by Erica Farber. The main characters are Walker, Niko, and Aurora. Walker is a boy from our world and is a class clown. One day, he reaches into a fountain and gets sucked into a different world of swords and magic and he becomes, "The Bearer." Niko is from the world that Walker gets sucked into and is studying to be a philosipher. But one day, he sneaks away from his study hall and goes into a sacred room that houses the castle swords. His master comes in and tells him to choose one of the swords. He chooses a special sword that contains the nine magic charms and he becomes, "The Chooser." Aurora is a girl from a gypsy camp and only has little powers. But all that changes one day when a lady comes and asks to have her cards read and Aurora finds the true depths of her power and she becomes, "The Protector." When Niko, Walker, and Aurora all meet, they form The Circle of Three. They have to activate all of the nine charms and place them in the sacred throne before the Dragons give them to, "The Dark One." The Dragons are a group of evil warriors who try to steal the nine charms and give them to The Dark One. At a young age, Aurora had an encounter with the Dragons. They took Aurora's big brother. Later, he becomes the best Dragon warrior ever. This book takes place in a different world that has magic, swords, basically like Medival times, but in a differnt world. This is my favorite book ever! I read the first two books back in 5th grade and i re-read the first one again this year.

These are great books each with a great selectin of characters that are very well in detail. Its incredilby that indepth plot to the book. I cannot wait for the third book to come out and complete the trilogy.

I wanted to like this book more than I did. There's lots going for it, appealing outlines of characters, a decent plot, an intriguing world, but it somehow just doesn't come together. As one other reviewer points out Walker's sense of humor disappears has soon as he gets pulled into another world. All too often the characters remember bits of prophecy only after they've done the right thing without realizing it. What's the point of being given a poem if you don't even try to use it or recognize it? I'd like to have seen the eastern philosophy better integrated and the quantum physics that the authors speak of, certainly wasn't in evidence! The writing is a bit pedestrian. I didn't mind the stuck in the middle of things ending, pretty typical of trilogy fantasies. I enjoyed the book and will probably read the next one - but I'll be looking for it at the library, rather than paying money for it. I'd say this fantasy was for the under 12 crowd, older fantasy fans should check out Phillip Pullman or Tolkein.

Okay, so here goes. After reading the other reviews on this book I felt compelled to write one. First off I do not agree with Kirkus in the least. I thought the book was a good CHILDREN's fantasy. I stress the word children because that was the age group it was meant for. People must keep that in mind when they read it. Now that that's off my chest on to the review.

The story follows Nikko, Aurora, and Walker. Three pre-teens who find themselves forced with saving their world from the dark, or rather with saving Nikko and Aurora's world. For you see this story revolves around the idea of multiple worlds exsisting, which personally I think is way cool. Walker, a clown from our world is hurrled into a parrell world (and not the past)and is forced with finding it why and how he is there. Nikko who longs to be a warrior is forced to find a way to fufill his destiny. And Aurora, a simple gypsie girl, must find the power in her heart to protect her world. I mean come on, kids protecting a world, how cool is that!

I have read in several reviews that the characters are undeveloped. I happen to disagree with this, I think that the minimal development is done on purpose. You are told what you need to know to relate to the characters in the beggining. The rest of their lives are slowly told to you as the story progresses. This makes for a gripping story which you can't put down. For example (for those of you that have read the book) how [bad] would it be if the authers told you right off the bat about Aurora and Jah, or what about Nikko and Lord Amber, or Aurora and what the mark of the Dragon's sign on her palm meant. I mean come on.

And as for ending in the middle, well Lord of the Rings does it, so why can't this book? All it does is make you want to read the second one even more, which by the way starts off exactly where the first one ends.

Bottom line: This book is a great read for all ages. Kids will enjoy it for the characters, the action, and suspense. And adults will like it for the same reason, but with maybe just a little more depth than kids. Overall a great turn-paging book you will never want to end.

This is a very interesting book.It's full of fantasy and magic. If you like Harry Potter,you would enjoy this book.
Niko, the Chooser
Aurora, the Protector
Walker, the Bearer
This book is about their adventures in another distant world.
I really enjoyed it. I've read the second book.
I would recommend this book to those who enjoy reading books of fantasy and magic. Please read it!!

The story of three young people:

Walker, the class clown, never imagined that one day he would fall into a fountain into a training camp worlds away.

Niko dreams of being a warrior, but his master teaches him all about philosophy. When Niko disobeys his master to learn the ways of a warrior, he begins his destiny-but being a hero is a little different than he imagined.

Aurora is a gypsy who knows how to do only the littlest things within her magic, but she must reach deeper inside herself to bring out her true power.

The Chooser, Bearer and Protector must join together to fight the Dark, or evil will befall the world.

This is a truly stunning book. I recommend it to all fantasy lovers.

I have read this book and the second in the trilogy (The Secret in the Stones). I enjoyed both books. It is refreshing to find some children's fictional writers who use their imagination. Many authors are trying to write about everyday things. I miss those who venture into the fantasy and science fiction realms. If you liked Harry Potter then you will probably mostly enjoy this one too.
I will note, however, that sometimes the overlapping story lines of the individual characters can be a bit much for younger readers.

An amazing mix of reality and fantasy...the idea that other worlds exist and that children are the ones to save the worlds is a great idea that should be used again...The three main charectures, Walker, Niko, Aurora, work well together. I can't wait for the last book of the trillogy to come out of the deep abyss of time...

Alright, first things first; I love fantasy, love to write, and love a good, well-thought-out character.

Well, this story most certainly has fantasy...but I have to say I was a bit disappointed. The story itself was actually quite good -- more less like something I myself might write -- but many of the finer details of the book were let to go astray. The style, although it improves as the book moves on, is at first very messy and a bit unorganized. And it was the characters themselves that had me the most frustrated. Walker is a class clown from present times who, by both fate and magic, winds up in the past. His present day jokes are very forced and unimaginative, and he seems to lose all sense of humor almost immediately after he travels to the past. And I mean this in a way where he doesn't seem the character. Niko (nice name) is a boy who wants desperately to be a warrior, but is being trained as a sort of philosopher. Unfortunately, unless you read the back of the book, it's a bit unclear about the philosphy part till near the end. Sometimes his character seems wise and brave, but other times the authors make hime out to be stupid and cowardly. Araura is a gypsy girl whoes character is so weak, that it consists of nothing but facts and the occasional "visionary" dream. Finally, I must say that it is very...annoying...when these characters suddenly remember some long-forgotten mystery or helpful bit of information just in time to save their necks.

So, do I discourage reading this book? Well...if you really enjoy fantasy then you just might really love it. But like I said, it strongly reminds me of some of the stories I write, only not so well-written ~ and I'm only 13! Will I read future books in this series? Maybe, but I'm certainly not going to go out of my way to.

heyheyhey, this book is great for fantasy fans, it has all the elements that make up a good story, but i need to read it again befor i get the next one and the children's section of the library is closed! argh!