First in 'The Black Magician' trilogy.
Each year, the magicians of Imardin gather together to purge the city streets of vagrants and miscreants. Masters of the disciplines of magic, they know that no ordinary lowlife can oppose them. But their protective shield is not as impenetrable as they think.
Sonea, angry, frustrated and outraged by the treatment of her family and friends, throws a stone at the shield, putting all her rage behind it. She is amazed when it sails unrestricted through the barrier and knocks a magician unconscious.
The Guild's worst fear has been realised . . . there is an untrained magician loose in Imardin who must be found before her uncontrolled powers can destroy herself and the city . . .
I forgot how much I love fantasy
I was pretty excited to get into this series. I loved the Age of Five series and had quite high expectations of Trudi. As far as fantasy goes this trilogy definitely follows a fairly traditional formula, but I think that's one of the things I love about fantasy... When I picked these up I hadn't read fantasy in quite a while and it was like seeing an old friend again. I think it was in book 2 that I developed a bit of a crush on one of the magicians in the book. My friends teased me about this but as a fellow booklover you know how it is...right... When I was reading book 3 I did something very silly. I looked Trudi Canavan up on Wikipedia. I just wanted to see what else she had written and I may have spoiled the ending for myself a little bit. I should know better. So for most of the book I was impatient for certain things to unfold. If you love a good fantasy trilogy I would highly recommend this to you.
Kate, 28/09/2013