The Black Magician Trilogy by Trudi Canavan

[The Master™]

This trilogy comprises: The Magician's Guild, The Novice and The High Lord...

Synopsis: (with some small SPOILERS)

The books deal with a teenage girl called Sonea... Sonea is a dwell... From the slum area of a city called Imardin... She lives there with her aunt and uncle, after the death of her mother...

While meeting up with some old friends, Sonea becomes embroiled in The Purge... A practice to remove the city streets of vagrants, urchins and miscreants... During this Purge, Sonea is confronted by the "shielded" magicians to the front of her and the poor people behind her...

She becomes so angry that she throws a stone at the shield, only to find that all that anger causes her magical abilities to push the stone through the shield to hit on of the Magicians...

So begins the story of flight from the Magicians...
****************

I found these books to be very well written... The idea of rich versus poor is made very clear, though there tends to be more about the poor than the rich...

Some very interesting ideas, that make the books very enjoyable to read...

I would certainly recommend them...

The ending is a bit weak, but can see that there is an opportunity to continue into a further series of books... Due to the world created being quite large...

 

[Mark Robson]

I found these books to be very well written... The idea of rich versus poor is made very clear, though there tends to be more about the poor than the rich...

Some very interesting ideas, that make the books very enjoyable to read...

I would certainly recommend them...

The ending is a bit weak, but can see that there is an opportunity to continue into a further series of books... Due to the world created being quite large...

I would agree with the above comments - particularly about the weak ending. There were also a couple of very odd, unresolved threads that left me feeling disappointed in the writer's tidiness of plotline. In particular there is an incident with a strange underground chamber that nearly kills one of the magicians, but there appears to be no reason for this encounter whatsoever. It does not progress the plot in any way and is never really explained.

Trudi Canavan generally writes well and has developed some interesting characters. The fact that she broaches the idea of a gay magician and the social implications of this subject within her world broke some new ground within the traditional fantasy set. It was a good debut series, but lacked sparkle at the end.

I'll probably try her next book to see whether she continues to improve.

 

[the wild]

hey this is my first post and i was looking at her website and one thing came up about the blodd gems >> this question is probably age old but who did have the 3rd gem !!!

 

[Lenny]

I saw the first one in Amazon a few months ago, took a picture with my phone so I wouldn't forget them, and haven't thought about it until now.

It sounded good when I read the blurb, and now with this recommendation methinks I'll find them at the Library, or borrow them from a friend.

 

[disrepdog]

I really enjoyed this trilogy. Don't think we ever find out about the third gem!

I have been a little disappointed with her next two books, The White Priestess and Last of the Wilds. The latter book just got good at the end! Still I'll read the third in the trilogy just to see if my predictions are right.

Back to the Black Magician trilogy, I believe there is to be a sequel about Sonea's son and a prequel.

One thing I thought she did well was explaining how the magic worked.

 

[sassy1]

i read the Black Magician trilogy after it was really highly recommended to me by a friend, and i loved it! (want to reread it but feel guilty not reading TBR books)

i liked the idea of a magician guild, i found the culture interesting and liked how it was similar to some cities in this world (with slums, different classes of people, etc) and liked seeing viewpoints from the different classes, how they interact (or dont interact as the case may be), the misunderstandings that set them apart with each other, how they learn to put up with each other...

i also like the way magic is used. i think the magic seems almost believable, it not being limitless, and it wearying the user and all that

the books cover a lot of delicate issues, that occur in that world and ours, such as poverty, bullying, homosexuality, war... and it makes the books more enjoyable, i think, because it made me think about the world i live in


however, i lent the 2nd and third books of the trilogy to my boss and when he give me them back (with spines so creased i nealy cried cos my poor books were almost broken) he said that he wasn't that impressed, that the storyline was very flat and predictable, and that the ending was bad. he said trudi described things in too much detail, wasting words and taking ages to say anything, and that he wouldnt read them again... well, maybe the books just werent for him

anyways i would (and did) recommend the books to other people and more than likely will read them again. I do hope she releases another trilogy about the world, and i too would love to know who had the other blood gem

 

[Laerten]

The Black Magician Trilogy is good but it does lack a proper ending. Have read the synopsis for the follow up trilogy on her website and think it will answer a lot of the unresolved matters.

Quick note about the 'Age of the Five' trilogy - the last book in the trilogy, 'Voice of the Gods', is really predictable and very disappointing. I had worked out the 'big surprise' back in the first book!! I picked this last book up in America when I was there at the start of the year because it was a paperback edition and didn't want to spend a lot on the hardback when it comes out here later this year. Glad I didn't now!

 

[timelord4]

I think Trudi is going from strength to strength. It wouldn't surprise me if her next series (after Age of Five) will be an absolute beauty. With Jennifer Fallon, Karen Miller, Traci Harding and Glenda Larke having just published new books out this past month or so, and Kylie Chan's new book out in August that will be a great incentive for her to want to join her fellow authors. I can't wait for her new one!

TL

 

[Erin99]

I'll just bring this thread back up...


I read this trilogy recently, and I must say, I was pleasantly surprised. The characters were ones I cared about, and the plot held up with a couple of surprises. However, I agree about the ending of book three. What could've streched out to another half a book or a full book was squeezed into the latter half. But the author tied up 99% of the plots, and the series seemed pretty unique. I also love the way Canavan explained the magic system.

 

[Lysalis]

I'll just bring this thread back up...


I read this trilogy recently, and I must say, I was pleasantly surprised. The characters were ones I cared about, and the plot held up with a couple of surprises. However, I agree about the ending of book three. What could've streched out to another half a book or a full book was squeezed into the latter half. But the author tied up 99% of the plots, and the series seemed pretty unique. I also love the way Canavan explained the magic system.

I second that.

I loved the trilogy. Canavan created a deeply captivating world. The use of magic, she describes, gives an almost authentic impression (if that's possible).

However I also believe the story is one for female readers.