Is in the process of screaming at her dissertation...it is not going as fast as it should be and edi...
Is in the process of screaming at her dissertation...it is not going as fast as it should be and editing takes too much time.
Member since:23.04.2003
Reviews:94
Members who trust:79
I know I devour books at a rate of knots personally but it is fairly rare that I find a book that I read once, am utterly spellbound, and then want to read again and again...as well as immediately going out to buy the rest of the series...and this was one of them. I started reading it and I just couldn't put it down. I'd never heard of Trudi Canavan before to be honest...but now if I see one of her books I'd buy it immediately.
I was shocked to find that it's been in print for a good 2 years as I'd never heard of it before, it was flukey luck that I saw it on Waterstone's bookshelves...there appears to have been little or no advertising and very few people know of the books which again I thought was strange considering the quality...but that's life.
Boring Details
Title: The Magicians Guild Author: Trudi Canavan Illustration: Steve Stone Publisher: Orbit Paperback Price: £7.99 (although the price was exactly the same for hardback if anyone's interested -
it's just I find that they take up too much room in my already bulging bookshelves.) Pages: 480 ISBN: 1-84149-313-9 Category: Fantasy Series: A trilogy; other two books - 'The Novice' and 'The High Lord'
General book synopsis
The land it is set in is called Kyraelia in the city of Imardin. The book is based on a social hierarchy, you have the wizards, the high houses, the normal houses and the slums. The wizard guild only accepts novices from the high houses and the whole thing is a political nightmare. Anyway onto the story. Sonea is the main character whroughout the whole book, she lives in the slums with her aunt and uncle. Every year the magicians take part in the 'purge' which is when they go around clearing the streets of the slum people...needless to say the slum people aren't amazinly happy with this arrangement and fight back. On a useual occassion fighting would be useless as magicians can shield...but on this occassion something wierd happens...a stone goes straight through the magicians shield...and one guess who threw it - our main character Sonea. The magicians then go on a full scale head hunt to find this girl and to work out what to do with her. There's not a lot more dangerous than an untrained magician on the streets...big trouble....Trouble with a capital T.
I'm not about to go into any deatil of what hapens if/when they find her as that will ruin the whole book...but if she's not found she could destroy herself and her beloved city.
My opinion
Well, I've already given a certain amount of my own opinion but never mind. Personally I thought this was an amazing book, the story itself is enough to keep anyone hooked, with it's twists and turns...but her writing style is clever, witty, and full of suprises. Her skills at character building are above the norm, each of the characters appears real enough to jump out of the book. I felt as if I knew them personally and from me there's not much higher praise than that. I know I've hit a good book when I want to laugh and cry with the characters through their joys and sorrows and that is what this book made me do. She writes very senistively - a female hand I've heard one person put it - getting across emotions and feelings very well. I think that is probably one of the reasons that it is so easy to get hooked in this book - you become the characters, and you are living the book. I read it all in a day - although considering my rate of reading that may not be saying much...it got put over my homework and deadlines purely because I HAD to know what happened...I just couldn't concentrate until I found out.
Critics
I thought for a fair view of the book I should put in some critics views - before I get done for plagerism I will point out that these are NOT my views and I will do my best to give names etc. - 'It's incredibly over-hyped and boring. I had to struggle through it. The cliches are beyond count - a Magicians Guild, an evil and powerful villian, a "magic being controlled by emotion" theory (very old)' Personally this book does use a few of the cliches but don't all books? I heard it said once that there are actually only 8 different plots and all others are just variations. Cliches are fine as long as you use them wisely...if you write in a boring way with them then you are done. But her writing is fabulous. And the last thing I had to do was struggle through it...
- 'The book is weak, predictable, stereotypical' Again I couldn't disagree less...I couldn't see what was coming until near the end, and stereotypical is a ridiculous word for it...it was anything but. If anything it challenges typical stereotypes, the political references in particular are rather cutting on occassions and can easily be generalised to our own, non-magic world.
Recommend?
Yes, yes, yes, yes, and YES. The only thing to rival it in the genre is Harry Potter in my opinion. SO, go out and buy it...buy it now.
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
I've seen these books around and keep meaning to get one from the library, I think they're becoming quite popular due to good word of mouth since their release.
atticusuk 17.04.2006 10:18
Often wonder if books like this are not just jumping on the Rowling gravy train. Good review.
Each year the magicians of Imardin gather together to purge the city streets of vagrants ... more
urchins and miscreants. Masters of the disciplines of magic they know that no one can oppose them. But their protective shield is not as impenetrable as they bel...
Postage & Packaging: £0.00 Availability: 3-5 working days
Advantages: Very easy to read, good for both novices to the genre and those with a little more 'refined taste' Disadvantages: you will find it hard to tear yourself away.
Advantages: Very easy to read, good for both novices to the genre and those with a little more 'refined taste' Disadvantages: you will find it hard to tear yourself away.
Mar 28th, 2006
very helpful by (100%):
