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The Novice

(Black Magician Trilogy)

By Trudi Canavan

(61)

| Paperback | 9781905654116

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Book Description

"Even if a magician's powers surface of their own accord, he will soon be dead if he does not gain the knowledge of how to control them."

Alone among all the novices in the Magicians' Guild, only Sonea comes from lowly beginnings. Yet she has won powerful allies—including Continue

3 Reviews

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― bluetyson said on Mar 3, 2007 about the Mass Market Paperback edition | Add your feedback

I am moderately satisfied with the series, though not with the first book.
What I think about each of the three books:
1) "The Guild": almost half of the book is spent relating the tentatives of Sonea, supported by a friend and the Thieves, to conceal herself from the Guild magicians: I ... (continue)

I am moderately satisfied with the series, though not with the first book.
What I think about each of the three books:
1) "The Guild": almost half of the book is spent relating the tentatives of Sonea, supported by a friend and the Thieves, to conceal herself from the Guild magicians: I think it is a waste of time and energy, because every reader undestands since a few pages that she's going to be captured and instructed from the Guild (it is impossible not to undestand it: the story is related also from some "good" magicians point of view an it would be of no use describing and introducing us with these magicians if they weren't going to be important characters in the rest of the book). Some thirty pages or so would have been enough to introduce us with the slums and the Thieves and a couple of characters coming through the whole series. Instead, one is just tempted to skip useless pages in order to go to the key events.
2) "The Novice": quite interesting the developing of Sonea's magical capabilities, satisfying the plot about her acceptance into the Guild. Flaw: unfortunately it is not concluded in itself, and it is absolutely necessary to read the third book.
3) "The High Lord": since now, the most appealing of the three books, a nice, well-paced plot (even if the Guild acts as a pretty stupid organism, blind fearful and dull-minded).
As a conclusion: I would give 1 star to the first book, and three stars to the other two.
The average would be less than two stars and a half, but I'm willing to give it three stars as a global evaluation because the story has quite a grip on the reader and, despite the series is far from perfect and the characters are sometimes a bit commonplace, one finds himself pleasurably driven forward.

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― Alice Bridgwater said on Aug 5, 2009 | Add your feedback

Anche nel secondo volume della trilogia la trama si snoda lentamente, senza impennate, sdoppiandosi per seguire le vicende di Sonea da un lato e il viaggio dell'Ambasciatore Dannyl dall'altro. Il nucleo della storia rimane inesplorato, a parte pochi accenni che si perdono nelle troppe pagine dedicat ... (continue)

Anche nel secondo volume della trilogia la trama si snoda lentamente, senza impennate, sdoppiandosi per seguire le vicende di Sonea da un lato e il viaggio dell'Ambasciatore Dannyl dall'altro. Il nucleo della storia rimane inesplorato, a parte pochi accenni che si perdono nelle troppe pagine dedicate alla descrizione delle angherie che Sonea subisce e agli stratagemmi che escogita per sfuggire ai suoi persecutori.

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― Pat411 said on May 1, 2009 about the Mass Market Paperback edition | Add your feedback