The High Lord by Trudi Canavan
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Review by Joshua S Hill
In reading an increasing amount of fantasy books over the past few years, I have found myself continually looking for “that” book that makes me feel something. The first time it happened was with Lord of the Rings, followed a year or so later by Robin Hobb’s trilogy of trilogies. Looking for books in which “that” has happened beyond those two series is a challenge. Not saying it hasn’t happened, but they don’t jump out at me.
We’ll see what time will tell, but I might have just found the next one that is always with me.
Trudi Canavan’s Black Magician Trilogy lived up to all the hype my girlfriend lent it. From the first book I was spellbound, and only for the span of about 20 pages in this last book did I ever find that spell waning. Suffice it to say, Trudi Canavan can write.
In a way that hasn’t really happened since Lord of the Rings, Canavan managed to build for the reader an increasingly potent outcome. Each time you think the climax has arrived, she would hold it off, bringing the book to a new peak and increasing the stakes at the same time. Rarely does an author manage this, and even rare when they manage it effectively.
Throughout the series one status quo is perpetuated, until a third of the way into the third and final book everything is thrown on its head. Maybe it was my own inability to let myself be completely taken along for the ride, but it seemed that Canavan could have spent a little more time on that change, to make it seem a bit more believable. But soon after I was hooked back into the book and rattling along at a great speed, as climax is built upon climax until at last Canavan brings to fruition what her entire series was leading up too.
Throughout the last third of the book Canavan spares no expense, or character, in ensuring that the reader is both spellbound and emotionally entwined in the book. Gut wrenching blow after gut wrenching blow is dealt as the series finds itself concluding cataclysmically for some, and gracefully for others. It is one of the few books of the recent few years that have actually physically affected me, leaving an empty feeling in my mind as I see who has been offered up to the writing gods for the sake of realism in storytelling.
The stories heroine is left bereft and unfinished as the story ends, which made for a wonderful change. It is not a result of poor storytelling, but rather the exact opposite. Canavan has made me care so deeply for Sonea that not seeing her placed back into the perfectly sculpted world that I deem she deserves after all she has gone through.
Without a doubt, Trudi Canavan, with her Black Magician’s Trilogy and its prequel, The Magician’s Apprentice, has managed to craft a book that is both easy to read and magnificently crafted. I would recommend this to anyone who likes reading, of any age.
The High Lord: The Black Magician Trilogy Book Three (Amazon.co.uk)
Author: Trudi Canavan
Binding: Paperback
Number of pages: 656
Publication date: 2004-11-04
Publisher: Orbit
RRP: £7.99
Lowest new price: £3.74
Lowest used price: £0.01
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