The Novice: The Black Magician Trilogy

Before I read this book I went through several of the comments so my expectations were not very high. But seriously, I could not put this book down. Following Sonea's progress through the University was an amazing bit of writing. The imagery and character creation was phenomenal. It was a little annoying reading the travels of Dannyl interspersed with the other story lines, not because the writing was bad or the story was boring - just because the parts about Sonea were so interesting. Canavan is in my opinion an amazing writer and deserves to be among the top writers of the genre. Usually the middle book of any series is the slowest but that is not the case with 'The Novice'. Great writing, great story, great action. Well done Trudi! I highly recommend this series. I have already purchased the follow up series 'The Traitor Spy Triology' and am eager to finish this series so I can see where the next series goes.

The Novice follows the story of Sonea a poor girl from the slums who has discovered she is a magician. After her pursuit by the guild, she decides to become a student. But her life isn't easy because there are people who resent the fact that someone of her social standing can join the guild. She is constantly harassed by her fellow students. She becomes motivated to excel so that she can move ahead of her fellow classmates and move to another class. Her life changes for the better or perhaps the worst when the High Lord decides to take her guardianship. Her social standing improves but she is still harassed and then there is the secret that she knows about the High Lord. The secret could change the power structure and leadership of the guild. The High Lord would like to keep that from happening and has put pressure on Sonea to ensure that it doesn't. Sonea will just have to find a way to survive. This is book two of the three part series and is recommended to all that like fantasy.

With this 2nd book of the trilogy--the author keeps the pace moving along with the development of the characters. Twists and turns to the story/plot keep the actions of the characters interesting and life-like. This 2nd part of the trilogy did not disappoint and I felt that I grew along with the characters in understanding their frustrations, challenges and connections. Worthy of reading--I would recommend getting the trilogy to give you the complete story/plot.

This is of course book two in a trilogy but is still just as exciting as book one. In a world (did you say that in the movie preview guy's voice?) plagued with sub-par sophomore efforts this book takes what worked in the first book and added more detail and character development. I can't wait to start book three (which is downloading to my kindle as I type this). Do yourself a favor and read The Black Magician Trilogy...but start with book one.

I can say with certainity that this triology is the best I've ever stumbled upon. I was completely absorbed in The Novice from start to end, and enjoyed the points of view from all the characters. I do think, however, that Dannyl's travels became a little tedious as time went by as I felt they added little to the plot as a whole. Apart from that, this was a very intriguing book and a very pleasant reading experience. Would definitely recommend it

Ok there are two sides to this book, first we have the Sonea – Akarin (villain or not) that is interesting. And complemented with the research by Dannyl makes for a good background of this magical world and why Akarin does dark magic. That is what keeps you reading the book. But then you have a repeat in Soneas bullying story, and yes the end result is a good thing in developing Soneas strength, the final duel, but it could have been done in less time. Also the Dannyl side story not interesting at all. Has interesting parts, a nice storyline around the dark magics that keeps you interested, but at time feels like it drags around, still I will read the third book

I loved it. Simple as that. I should say that I don't think this style of book is for everyone. It reads like a long epic tale; the smallest of details such as the temperature of the wind should be taken into account as should relationships and rules, etc. If you are looking for a light quick read, then this isn't for you. I saw the Sword&Laser interview with the author and decided to pick up the first book. Then I finished the 1st book and immediately bought the 2nd and finished it and I just purchased the 3rd. The only thing stopping me from reading the 3rd one right now is the fact that I wanted to write a quick review before I started... There wasn't much new introduced in this book, but it did wrap up some questions that were asked in the first book and then of course asked some new ones that were unexpected. I have some speculations about some characters that I hope to have answered in the next one. And I think I should go start it now... :)

Starts out good and just gets better. Good character development and some ploy twists that couldn't see coming so refreshing for the genre in that aspect. Hard to come up with anything brand new in this area, of course, but definitely worth a trilogy or two!

Diese Trilogie zählt neben "Kingkiller's Chronicle" und "Mistborn" zu meinen absoluten Lieblings-Trilogien. Die Heldin ist so sympatisch und die Geschichte hat eine ausgewogene Mischung aus düster, wild und innovativ. Habe die Reihe schon zweimal gelesen und bin immer wieder begeistert, wie detailverliebt Trudi Canavan ihre Welt kreiert hat. Ich kann aber nur von dem Englischen sprechen, die deutsche Version habe ich nicht gelesen.

Arrived quickly and in perfect condition

Fantastic author and a huge fan of this series, highly recommend

Brilliant read

Faisant suite à 'The Magicians'Guild', on retrouve le personnage de Sonea (et d'autres) dans 'the Novice'. La lecture est toujours aussi plaisante, et les personnages aussi attachants. Dans ce deuxième volet, Sonea commence son noviciat et se heurte à l'hostilité de ses condisciples, Dannyl promu ambassadeur part en mission et enquête secrètement sur le 'High Lord' - quant à celui-ci, il prend une place de premier plan dans le roman. On se passionne pour les aventures des uns et des autres et on ne s'ennuie pas un seul instant. A la fin du bouquin, on a déjà enfin de découvrir la suite et la fin de la trilogie.