The Magician's Guild by Trudi Canavan (The Black Magician Trilogy: Book 1)

8/10

The Magician’s Guild is a fantastic first book to begin The Black Magician Trilogy. I found it to be simply written, yet original, unpredictable, fast-paced and throbbing with intensity.

It was easy to be transported into the world described, and quite often I felt present on the journey with the likeable lead character. I did, however, feel a slightly stronger connection to the characters, and particularly their emotions, than the environment.

There was a tendency to flit between storylines mid-chapter and this may disrupt the flow for some readers, while others may find it adds to the intensity. I found it initially a bit disruptive, but grew to enjoy it as I progressed.

A rewarding feature of this book is that certain information is deduced by the reader, not masses, but enough to be satisfying.

I would strongly recommend this book as a light introduction to fantasy writing, and the sub-genre of magicians. It may also appeal to more experienced readers who are looking for a light read.
Mark Perfect, 8.4/10

When I reviewed Trudi Canavan’s ‘The Magician’s Apprentice’ a few weeks back, I mentioned that in reading it, I had acquired a deep longing to read the series to which it prequels. I had never encountered this before, as most of the prequel books I had ever read were for series I had already been well entrenched in. This was a first for me, to have a prequel book do just what it was intended; inspire the reader to read more.

And so I dove headfirst into the original trilogy, published in 2001, starting with The Magicians’ Guild.

And it was everything I had hoped it would be.

Trudi Canavan writes with a beatific simplicity that lulls the reader into a state of susceptible enjoyment. She does not write with the fervour that Janny Wurts does, or with the mind-numbing complexity of Steven Erikson. In her own way though, she is just as captivating and compelling a writer.

The story is set several hundred years after the events of the Magician’s Apprentice, and as such is almost an entirely different world. Events have become glorified or demonized; nations have grown and fallen; and the Magician’s of the world are all centred around the capital city of Kyralia, Imardin.

Canavan paints a beautiful and, subsequently, devastatingly realistic picture of the differences between the have’s and the have not’s. The poorer people of the city are deprived of all but the basic allowances, and even then have them revoked once a year in the great purge which sees them driven from the city-proper before winter. As a result, characters are split into three categories; the desperately poor, the comfortably rich, and those would do something on either side but are unable too.

The characters introduced to us will see us through to the very last book, and as a result, are introduced slowly and meticulously. The story does not rush, and in fact surprises the reader in its length to reach a conclusion all but impossible to avoid thanks to the covers blurb. This in and of itself makes for a lovely bonus, as the book does not conform to what the reader thinks upon turning to the first page.

Naturally there are those within the “establishment” that are less ingrained in the upper class hatred of the poor, and thus allow our lead, Sonea, to find attachments despite her best attempts to the contrary.

I was immensely pleased throughout, with my inability to predict everything that would happen. Canavan doesn’t attempt to hide the story, but simply reveals what is necessary as is necessary, and anything else the reader is able to deduce is to their benefit.

If you’re looking for a fun quick book to read, or even looking to introduce young teenagers into the world of fantasy with good writing, then Trudi Canavan is definitely the way to go. A definite winner.
Joshua S Hill, 7.6/10