“Swords and Sourcery” is definitely my type of thing. Give
me a good magic system, a bit of political intrigue and a world similar to
Middle Earth and I’ll indulge myself for weeks (if not years) at a time.
Brandon Sanderson is my favourite author for generating these worlds but J.R.R
Tolkein, George R.R. Martin, Robert Jordan, Robin Hobb and, now, Trudi Canavan
are certainly up there on my list of “must-reads”.
**SPOILER ALERT**
I discovered Canavan’s “Black Magician” trilogy quite
recently and hammered through the opening book in a very short space of time. The
second one, The Novice, picks up
from the end of The Magician’s Guild and takes the story of Sonea forward as
she begins school and tries to become a magician herself.
The Novice is a classic example of the second book in a
series; the initial introductions to most of the key people and the world they
inhabit is complete and the focus is now more firmly on the narrative and the
direction in which it is heading.
The world Canavan has created is not really different from
the majority of the worlds on which this genre typically finds itself. There
are power struggles at play, warring nations to worry about and a general sense
of unease which indicates things are unlikely to remain as they are for a
while. But this is not unusually nor unwelcome, and at least Canavan manages to
keep things relatively simple and not try to do too much all at once. We learn
snippets as we go along, enough to tantalise without giving the whole thing
away.
Story wise, Canavan weaves several plotlines together very
well here. While the bulk of the tale focuses on Sonea, the bullying she
encounters from the other students and her ongoing attempts to control her
abilities, I actually really enjoyed the sections involving Dannyl’s adventures
trying to track down what the High Lord learnt on his travels.
This is going to play a much more significant part in the
final book and Canavan always manages to pick the right moment to change tack
with the narrative. She manages to build the story very well using these
seemingly disparate elements. Dannyl’s burgeoning homosexual relationship with
his assistant is another interesting facet of this thread of the narrative and
not something which is regularly dealt with in this genre. Canavan deals with
it sensitively and credibly and rather than being some kind of “gimmick” I feel
it really does contribute to the storyline.
We start to learn a bit more about characters such as the
High Lord Akkarin, Sonea’s teachers at the Guild and also Sonea’s guardian
Rothen. The interactions between these people and others such as Rothen’s son,
Sonea’s classmates and Akkarin’s old friend (who happens to be the old friend
of the High Lord) help to further the web of intrigue that we feel as we get
further through the tale. Sonea’s probable role in the denouement (her
“destiny” if you will) is pretty well defined at this point but the nuances of
how it will come about are still up in the air.
You get the sense that all the chess pieces are being subtly
moved around the board ready for the final endgame which is coming. High Lord
Akkarin particularly is a complex and very interesting character and one which
you sense will play a fundamental (and perhaps unexpected) role in what is to
come.
Overall this is a very enjoyable book, it builds really
nicely on the first book and positions everything in place ready for the
finale. There is nothing particularly special here, nothing which makes it
stand out head and shoulders above other series in this genre but everything is
still very good. The characters are engaging and intriguing, the storyline is
interesting enough to hold your attention and the promises of what is to come
and definitely sufficient to have book #3 very high up my “to-read” list at the
moment.
Verdict: 4.5 stars
out of 5 – An intriguing and entertaining read with a great magic system,
interesting characters and plenty of plot to keep you guessing.
Till next time,
DT
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