Always quirky, sometimes sweet speculative fiction

Tag: The Black Magician trilogy

Australian Spec-Fic Authors Challenge 2014 – March Round-Up

high lordI have started way too many series and left them unfinished with this challenge. For March I set out to finish one. I read The High Lord, the last of the Black Magician trilogy.

Far more action packed than its predecessors, The High Lord delivers on the promises of the earlier books in the series.

Sonea is still the favoured apprentice of the High Lord Akkarin, a position she doesn’t want as she knows he practices forbidden black magic and she is being held hostage in this position to ensure the two others who know his dark secret also keep their silence.

Akkarin gives her books and insists she read them. Slowly Sonea realises the books are revealing tid-bits about black magic to her. Sonea is horrified, thinking Akkarin intends to teach her black magic – possibly against her will – and she confronts him.

We see what Cery is up to after being rejected by Sonea as well as seeing several relationships bloom. Also Akkarin’s motivations are finally revealed.

The world the story is set in continues to expand, showing a wealth of world building. The world is something I love in this series. It’s rich and full, but you don’t get bashed over the head with information.

I was a little disappointed with one small piece of information laid out in the climax SPOILER ALERT: about how the entire University was made of magic that a black magician could use, but then it was never used. Not even the arena. It kind of bummed me out. True it means Sonea was a thousand time more awesome for not having needed to use it, but this isn’t the first time I’ve seen a great tool offered to characters which then doesn’t get used. Is this some new thing in books I’m not aware of – red herring ultimate weapons? /SPOILER

With plenty of adventure and romance this is definitely my favourite book of the trilogy. And I enjoyed the sneaky little last page twist. Giggles and grins for me.

For April I’m planning to finish reading Sam Bowring’s Broken Well Trilogy.

Australian Spec-Fic Authors Challenge 2014 – January Round-Up

the noviceI followed on from December’s read ‘The Magician’s Guild’, book one of the Black Magician Trilogy, with ‘The Novice’, book two of the same.

Sonea officially becomes a novice of the Magician’s Guild, but that doesn’t mean the high born magicians will accept a slum dweller into their ranks – and let’s not forget that she is one of the few who know the dark secret about the High Lord.

Sonea faces a lot more than just bullying, but I don’t want to play the spoiler harp and ruin that. While the second half of her troubles was genuinely intriguing, the bullying got a bit annoying for me after a while. The reason is very personal to me, because I can’t really understand the mentality Sonea had of not going and asking for help. I can see the motivations that drive a person to behave that way, but it’s just so opposite to my nature that it drives me insane. But enough about me ;p

Things get much more complicated with the secret about High Lord Akkarin, but I won’t divulge how(spoilers sweetie) and again, the ending stakes make me eager to read the next book.

But the one *SPOILER ALERT* I will throw out there (yes, legitimate SPOILER ALERT) I loved the relationship between Dannyl and Tayend. I thought it was very nicely treated and I think there was a certain sense of chemistry even before Tayend was revealed as gay. There were a lot of parallels placed between the real world and the book’s world and it was interesting to see these issues tackled in a fantasy setting. My only disappointment is they haven’t gotten together (yet, looking forward to book three). I must now confess I always have been, and always will be a shipper 😀 (for those not familiar with the term it means I get deeply invested in relationships (there are other meanings too, but that’s how I use it)). And the kiss between Sonea and Dorrien was so cute.

/Spoiler.

I’m looking forward to the concluding book, I’m going to try and cram it in before my February read.

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