The Magicians' Guild (The Black Magician Trilogy, Book 1) (Black Magician Trilogy, 1)

I absolutely loved the story. I love fantasy, and I love both Lord of the Rings and Wheel of Time, but this series has been a refreshing in terms of not as dense or difficult of a read. At the same time it doesn’t lack in quality character development and plot. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who likes fantasy stories.

This book is not getting the credit it deserves and many of the reviews are unfair. I picked this up and didn't stop reading but for food and sleep until I finished all three books. Pointing out that this book uses devices found in other books is not a valid criticism. All stories use devices found in other stories. What matters is not the materials used but the end result. Put another way: don't criticize a log cabin for being made of logs; criticize it for looking like the log cabin down the street. Now the first book does have a certain amount of predictability not found in the sequels due to the point of view shift; however, there is still plenty of room for the author to surprise an experienced reader without the spoilers in another review. The books are pretty scarce with foul language, but the plot begins with violence and death then retains an ongoing threat of violence that made Sonea seem like a mouse eating cheese off a mousetrap always waiting for the trap to snap. However things might appear, nearly every good thing that happens to her ends up being bad. The only thing that bothered me with this series was the POV shift. It all works out in the end and story does require them, I just prefer fewer perspectives in a book. This book read fast, but I was biting my nails the whole way though, I was always expecting the hammer to fall. This book makes a good platform for the sequels.

I was hooked on the story almost from the first sentence and I thouroughly enjoyed this book. Trudi kept the action moving and kept adding surprise twists to the plot throughout! All of the varied major characters were well introduced and their individual stories wove well into a complex and complicated plot. I found myself quickly involved emotionally with almost all of them, both the heroes and the villans. I loved it! It's a good thing I purchased the entire trilogy at the same time as waiting for the second and third books to arrive via second order would have felt like forever! An excellent author and I look forward to seeing more of her work soon.

I've read so many fantasy novels lately that I'm on the run for new authors...I'm so glad I found Trudi Canavan! This book just flew, and left me panting for the next.Sonea is a slum girl who, accidentaly during the yearly 'purge' of unwanted poor folk from her city, throws a rock at a magician and breaks through the barrier. This sends both the slums and the Magicians into chaos as Sonea seeks to control her new found powers and hide from the magicians and the magicians squabble amoung themselves about what to do about this. They never test people from the slums for magic. A good half of the book is this cat and mouse chase between Sonea and her allies and the magicians...and the rest...well I won't give the plot away.Canavan is excellant at creating characters. Sonea is vivid in her terror and her stuborness and the loyalty of her friend Cery is touching. The Thief she hides with for a while is an intriuginig character as is the head of the Magicians, Akkarin. There are good magicians and not so good ones, but they are all so colourfully created that I know them well in my mind. Her two most central magicians, Rothen and Dannyl, so remind me of excentric proffessors at a universit...they certainly made me smile. In anycase, this is a charming, wonderful book. I would highly recommend it to anyone.

We discovered Trudi Canavan's first trilogy while on a vacation in Australia and we LOVE her. Even had her books shipped from Australia before they were published here (before there were even plans to publish here, I think). Her model of magic and society is very interesting and her storytelling skills fantastic. The author also has an interesting personal website with sketches and paintings she did as background work. A truly compelling read-you will be unable to wait till the other two are published here in the U.S.!Canavan does an excellent job of developing very real characters-something not always found in fantasy novels. She also has an interesting way of painting a totally complete world while still allowing the reader to fill it in as they see fit. My husband and I had an interesting discussion about what 'time period' this book might be set in (or what it correllates to in real history)-she certainly doesn't beat you over the head with allusions to a Tolkien like world (not that Tolkien is bad, but a change of pace is nice in fantasy!).Truly a fabulous author (and a fabulous first effort!) and a great read!

I took a chance on an author I have never heard of and man oh man am I glad that I did! The first book in this trilogy has well drawn characters, rich story line and her imagry is superb. I have not run across a new author that I have liked so well in a long time. I highly recommend that you pick this book up and be prepared to not put it down until the last page. I do, however, suggest that you go to the back of the book first and read Lord Dannyl's slang terms so that you are not lost when certain terms are used and you are left piecing together what you think the characters really meant. Other than that?? Sit down and read this book and enjoy!