The first in the Black Magician trilogy, a coming-of-age tale focusing on a girl called Sonea, a commoner who’s power is so strong she is able to work rudimentary magic (something that hasn’t happened for hundreds of years, as magic must be unlocked.) The first novel follows her from the gutter, to a minor riot, to a cat-and-mouse game between herself and the magicians and then finally her inevitable capture.

This book came out clinging to the coat-tails of Harry Potter, though offers none of the action or humour. The style of writing is smooth – so much so I want to call it airbrushed. It is so carefully non-insulting it’s dull. Pleasant enough but there is nothing that throws sparks in the mind. Nothing that bursts with flavour. It’s also far too fussy at times. Ms Canavan for some reason can’t call an ox and ox. That goes for spiders, sheep, cows, wolves, rats and mice. It is so redundant when the animals are obviously things with familiar names.

There is also the issue with humour. I know not everyone can write it, I myself have a similar issue, but Ms Canavan disguises the fact in the most jarring, irksome way. Take one scene, where Sonea is spying on a lesson within the Guild. She can hear the teacher loud and clear, but when the students make a joke she can’t hear a word.

The male characters have some interesting points, but Sonea is very, very badly created. She is stupid but thinks herself clever, she is oddly reserved and polite for someone who grew up in the slums and she is uninteresting to the extreme. They all seem to be very hollow and 2D.

And then the culture. The city the book is set in apparently didn’t have organised thieves until fifty years or so before. It’s been standing for over 800 years, and the thieves only seem to hang out in the slums. Why, when no one in the slums have anything worth stealing? There is so much potential and it’s just fluttered at meekly. It’s so very frustrating.

For itself, the book is, well, boring. The chase doesn’t climax until over midway through and the rest is dedicated to persuading her to become a member of the Guild. It lacks plot and action. I have no idea what possessed me to purchase the entire trilogy. I seem to remember the next books being a vast improvement, which I hope is correct.

Characters: 2/10
Setting: 3/10
Plot: 2/10
Dialogue: 3/10
Overall: 2.5/10