Trudi Canavan

6/10
Canavan chose to tell the story of the war between Kyralia and Sachaka by alternating narratives between Tessia, a young Kyralian apprentice who discovers she has magic and is drawn into the war and Stara, a young Sachakan woman, who also is a "natural" magician and who recently traveled from her mother's home in Elyne to the Sachakan capital to stay with her father and be married. Yet the war never really touches Stara and her world until the end of the book when she is forced to flee.

Canavan also follows Takado, the Sachakan magician who instigates the war, and his slave Hanara, Jayan, an apprentice magician who falls in love with Tessia, and several other characters.

But Canavan never ties these narratives together, at least not in a way that was satisfactory to me.

I liked seeing the foundations of the Magicians Guild being built, and the use of magic in healing. But I felt like more could have been done to make the story more cohesive.… (more)

6/10

I finished this book, #1 in the Black Magician trilogy, last night. I was underwhelmed.

First off, I either read this before (although I keep track and didn't have it marked as being read) or the story is so predictable that it just felt like I read it before. The pace was slow and the search for Sonea by the Guild just went on and on and on.

Sonea, Cery, and the thieves are interesting enough characters, but I found the magicians to be more interesting--Rothen, Dannyl, Lorlen, Vinara, even Fergun & Akkarin. It is their interactions, politics, and secrets that drive the story, IMO.

I did like the way the author showed what the magic was like and the way Sonea learned Control, mind communication, and some simple magic.

I will continue the series in hopes that it improves and to see what others like about this book and the others.… (more)