Circle at Center (Seven Circles Trilogy, Book 1) [Paperback]

Douglas Niles (Author)

Book Description

Series: Seven Circles | Publication Date: June 25, 2002

With his acclaimed Watershed Trilogy from Ace--and his phenomenally successful "Dragonlance" series from TSR--Douglas Niles became one of the most promising stars of epic fantasy adventure. Starlog magazine raved that Niles "writes so well that his characters come to life after only a few sentences." Now this gifted storyteller has created a rich and complex new trilogy filled with centaurs, goblins and trolls, druids, elves, and other fantastic beings who live in a world of peace--until now...

In the realm of the Seven Circles, harmony has reigned since time immemorial. That is about to change....Disaffected members of all the races are gathering into a force that may spell the doom of the Seven Circles. Strangers to brutality and warfare, the inhabitants need a champion who can teach them to defend themselves. For this, they recruit warriors from a world where only the strong survive. A primitive world where life lasts only as long as you can fight for it...

A world called Earth.

"Absolutely nobody builds a more convincing fantasy realm than Doug Niles." --R.A. Salvatore, New York Times bestselling author.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

With this book, popular epic fantasy writer Niles begins a new series, the Seven Circles trilogy. Each of the seven circles of this new world is home to a different race (the usual dwarves, trolls, goblins, centaurs, etc.), and all are ruled by the wise elven Senate at Nayve, the great city in the Circle at Center, seat of the elven College and the mystical Grove where druids and enchantresses serve the One True Goddess.

The story gets going in the first circle, when evil Delver dwarves destroy the city of Axial, ancient home of the good Seer dwarves. Fearful of rising darkness, well-meaning druidess Mirandel summons human warriors from many different times in earth's history to teach her peaceful people how to fight, but gets more than she bargained for when one of them turns out to be an insane Crusader named Sir Christopher, who is bent on razing the Circles of "infidel" Goddess-worshippers. Sir Christopher murders the Keeper of the magical Stone of Command and uses the Stone to build an enormous army of Delvers, centaurs, and others who long to overthrow the elven hierarchy.

Although Niles's characters seldom rise beyond stereotype and the climactic outcome arises thanks to a convenient (and predictable) deus ex machina, Niles's many fans are sure to forgive these flaws in favor of the detailed setting and the excitement of a brisk plot filled with derring-do. --Charlene Brusso --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Publishers Weekly

Niles follows up his popular Watershed fantasy trilogy with this first book in a new trilogy. The standard fantasy-world denizensAdwarfs, goblins, trolls, etc.Adwell peaceably, each to its own Circle niche in the Seven Circles, and are benevolently ruled by the elves of Nayve, the city in the Circle at Center, seat of the great College and the Senate, home of the mystical Grove and of the druids and enchantresses who serve the one true Goddess. This peace is shattered, however, when the keeper of the Stone of Command is murdered and the Stone stolen. Then Zystyl, an evil Delver Dwarf, leads a rebellion against the good Seer Dwarves of the sunless Underworld city of Axial, in the First Circle. In Nayve, Belynda, elven sage-ambassador to the Fourth Circle, learns that a druidess named Mirandel is one of several enchantresses who have been teleporting human warriors from Earth, hoping that the barbaric humans can teach the enchantresses' people how to defend themselves against the evil invaders. Unfortunately one of those warriors is an insane knight from Earth's Crusades, Sir ChristopherAand he now holds the Stone of Command and is using it to build an army of Delvers, centaurs and others, leading his own Crusade against the Goddess-worshipers of the Circles. Niles has again conceived a fantasy setting of great richness and scope. Although his characters rely on standard fantasy stereotypes ("noble" elves, "gruff" dwarfs, etc.), and the day is ultimately saved by a deux ex machina, his fans are sure to enjoy this spritely tale. (June)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 400 pages
• Publisher: Ace (June 25, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0441009603
• ISBN-13: 978-0441009602
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.2 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,150,938 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Circle at Center: great story, but slow down., July 18, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Circle at Center (Seven Circles Trilogy, Book 1) (Paperback)

The fantasy world that Niles has created is incredible. I like the whole concept of the seven circles, especially since he has found a way to tie earth into the story.He has some interesting new charecters, such as the Delvers and wyslets that lurk in the First Circle. However, there are a few things that I would have liked him to describe in more detail. First, he concept of the Goddess Worldweaver. I have read the Wheel of Time series by Rober Jordan, and the Goddes Worldweaver seems very similar to Jordan's concept of the Wheel and the Pattern.I would have liked Niles to elaborate on this in more detail, as well as some of his characters. He did a splendid job in portraying the Delver Dwarves, Natac,and Sir Christopher, but i would have liked to have known more about some of the other characters such as Tam, the druids, Nistel, Rawknuckle Barefist (great name), and all the other creatures of Nayve in general.Overall, the storyline was great, but it moved too fast. I think the book could have probably been spread out over three. Niles has some great ideas though, and I would definately recomend the book to all lovers of high fantasy.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good Read, November 14, 2005

By 

M. DiBiase "Me None" (Tucson, Az) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Circle at Center (Seven Circles Trilogy, Book 1) (Paperback)

I have been an avid fan of fantasy since I was young, so of course I love watching movies and reading books about this fantastic subject. I was bored of watching television in my spare time, so I decided to take a chance on Circle at Center. I'm glad I did. This book did take some time getting used to with all the moving around, and fast paced plots, but once over that hurdle, it gets quite good. I have finished the whole series, and I believe that by far it is the best series that I have read- so far... I think it was a good blend of romance, action, lust, disgust, and a little bit of comedy. Sufficed to say, it will remain on my bookshelf for all to see and inquire about.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent fantasy, August 26, 2008

By 

R. Definis "filthyD" (South Florida) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Circle at Center (Seven Circles Trilogy, Book 1) (Paperback)

I bought this title because an old friend, Jean Targete, illustrated the cover--and WHAT a cover! It took a few chapters to get me caught up in the story and to care about the characters, but once I did, I couldn't put it down. It's good high fantasy, minus the youngster who discovers he/she is of great magical importance, so on and so on. It involves seven levels of the world, one being under the crust where dwarves and "delvers" live, one inhabited by elves and other creatures, such as talking dogs and "druids" from this level/world who are brought over after death to live in eternity. The first character we meet is Natac, an ancient Mexican warrior who finds himself in Naeve (the Center of Everything) after his heart is cut out of his body as a sacrifice. Surprise! He's brought there to help the peaceful race of elves how to defend themselves from what turns out to be a Knight Templar, also brought over (by whom, I wonder?) and madly burning sorceress elves at the stake. OK, so it's complicated, but Douglas Niles will make you understand. I'm looking forward to finishng the trilogy.--written by Jill DeFinis, Filthy's wife :)