The Magicians Guild by Trudi Canavan
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The Magician's Guild is set in Imardin, where every year the magicians amass in order to rid the streets of the homeless and miscreants. The magicians believe themselves untouchable behind a magical shield but when Sonea, who is upset by the behaviour towards her friends and family, throws a stone that passes through the shield, the entire city is shaken. It is at this point where Sonea comprehends her own power and the magician's worst fears are realised ... there is an untrained magician loose in the city, one who could destroy both herself and the city.
Inspired by the forced removal of the homeless in Barcelona before the 1992 Olympic Games, this is a good, well written fantasy book. There is nothing exceptionally original in there but neither is it just a re-hash of stories such as Harry Potter and the Earthsea books.
This would be enjoyed by the younger reader as this offers a dual-sided story which is sympathetic to all characters. This is not a black and white tale and it is all the richer for it. It is always nice to see a female character like Sonea and Trudi Canavan writes her well.
The is a simple story, and I can't stress enough how good it is to read a book that is kept simple, there are far too many fantasy authors who make their stories un-readable by over-complicating in terms of character numbers and plot.
The Magician's Guild sets the stage nicely for the two books to come. Give it a go, if you enjoy it then the good news is that you still have two more books to read.
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Peter Doherty from UK
I thought that this trilogy was fantastic and the best set of books that I have read in the last few years! I found that they all built up to the final book where you can't help but get swept away in the story. I thought the books were very well written and very descriptive. The only downside was my own interest in what else was happening this world, what about... what is... Hopefully Trudi will have answers to these questions in the prequel and sequel books. I am very much looking forward to reading them and can't wait until they are released!
Unknown from Unknown
Sonea and her friend Cery are slum dwells. Considered by all to be the lowest of the low, so much so that the King routinely purges the city of these undesirables every winter, driving them out using members of the Magicians' Guild to back up the soldiers. But this year something goes horribly wrong. Sonea throws a rock at the mages, an act of defiance everybody realizes is futile, but somehow her rock gets through the magical barrier! In the confusion a young boy is killed, mistakenly taken for the one who threw the rock, and Sonea runs for fear of her life. This is an excellent read, it's fairly fast paced and nothing is as it appears to be, which in my mind makes for a good story. I love cheering for the underdog and turning pages in anticipation of what happens next, this tale caters to both nicely. There is definite cliffhanger ending so I do recommend getting all 3 for back to back enjoyment.
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