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The Black Magician Trilogy #0.5
The Magician's Apprentice
Taking place hundreds of years before the events of The Magicians' Guild, The Magician's Apprentice is the new novel set in the world of Trudi Canavan's Black Magician Trilogy.
In the remote village of Mandryn, Tessia serves as assistant to her father, the village Healer. Her mother would rather she found a husband. But her life is about to take a very unexpected turn.
When the advances of a visiting Sachakan mage get violent, Tessia unconsciously taps unknown reserves of magic to defend herself. Lord Dakon, the local magician, takes Tessia under his wing as an apprentice.
The hours are long and the work arduous, but soon an exciting new world opens up to her. There are fine clothes and servants - and, to Tessia's delight - regular trips to the great city of Imardin.
However, Tessia is about to discover that her magical gifts bring with them a great deal of responsibility. For a storm is approaching that threatens to tear her world apart.
In the remote village of Mandryn, Tessia serves as assistant to her father, the village Healer. Her mother would rather she found a husband. But her life is about to take a very unexpected turn.
When the advances of a visiting Sachakan mage get violent, Tessia unconsciously taps unknown reserves of magic to defend herself. Lord Dakon, the local magician, takes Tessia under his wing as an apprentice.
The hours are long and the work arduous, but soon an exciting new world opens up to her. There are fine clothes and servants - and, to Tessia's delight - regular trips to the great city of Imardin.
However, Tessia is about to discover that her magical gifts bring with them a great deal of responsibility. For a storm is approaching that threatens to tear her world apart.
752 pages, ebook
First published February 23, 2009
531 people are currently reading
12388 people want to read
About the author
Trudi Canavan
76 books6,660 followersTrudi Canavan was born in Kew, Melbourne, and grew up in Ferntree Gully, a suburb at the foothills of the Dandenongs.
In 1999 she won the Aurealis Award for Best Fantasy Short Story with “Whispers of the Mist Children”. In the same year she was granted a writers residency at Varuna Writers’ Centre in Katoomba, New South Wales.
In November 2001, The Magicians’ Guild was first published in Australia. The second book of the trilogy, The Novice, was published in June 2002 and was nominated for the Aurealis Award for Best Fantasy Novel. The third book The High Lord was released in January 2003 and was nominated for the Best Novel Ditmar category. All three books entered Australian top ten SF bestseller lists.
The Black Magician Trilogy reached the international market in 2004, published by HarperCollins’ EOS imprint in North America and Orbit Books in the UK. The trilogy is now rated by Nielsen BookScan as the most successful debut fantasy series of the last 10 years.
Trudi’s second trilogy, Age of the Five, has also enjoyed bestselling success. Priestess of the White reached No.3 in the Sunday Times hardback fiction bestseller list, staying in the top ten for six weeks.
In early 2006 Trudi signed a seven-figure contract with Orbit to write the prequel and sequel to the Black Magician Trilogy. The prequel, The Magician’s Apprentice was released in 2009 and won the Best Fantasy Novel category of the Aurealis Awards.
In 1999 she won the Aurealis Award for Best Fantasy Short Story with “Whispers of the Mist Children”. In the same year she was granted a writers residency at Varuna Writers’ Centre in Katoomba, New South Wales.
In November 2001, The Magicians’ Guild was first published in Australia. The second book of the trilogy, The Novice, was published in June 2002 and was nominated for the Aurealis Award for Best Fantasy Novel. The third book The High Lord was released in January 2003 and was nominated for the Best Novel Ditmar category. All three books entered Australian top ten SF bestseller lists.
The Black Magician Trilogy reached the international market in 2004, published by HarperCollins’ EOS imprint in North America and Orbit Books in the UK. The trilogy is now rated by Nielsen BookScan as the most successful debut fantasy series of the last 10 years.
Trudi’s second trilogy, Age of the Five, has also enjoyed bestselling success. Priestess of the White reached No.3 in the Sunday Times hardback fiction bestseller list, staying in the top ten for six weeks.
In early 2006 Trudi signed a seven-figure contract with Orbit to write the prequel and sequel to the Black Magician Trilogy. The prequel, The Magician’s Apprentice was released in 2009 and won the Best Fantasy Novel category of the Aurealis Awards.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 862 reviews
March 16, 2009
Trudi Canavan's new prequel to her Black Magician trilogy is a decent book that just moves along too slowly. It is a story about the origins of Higher Magic, how the wasteland between Schakan and Krylia was formed, the origins of the Magician Guild, and a female group of survivors of the horrible war between Sachakan and Krylia. Like many authors who write these semi historical purpose books -- that is my name for a novel that attempts to answer historical facts or show how events occurred in the centuries prior to the author's original work, this has various plot lines which attempt to show the historical basis of events. One problem is that the plot line about Stara, a daughter of a Sachakan noble is completely divorced from the overall novel structure and seems solely to be bootstrapped onto this book to show how some Sanctuary for Women was formed in Sachakan.
The best part of this overlong novel is the focus on Tessia, a female healer who becomes an apprentice to Dayon, one of the Magician Lords in Krylia. Her learning of magic, with Jayan, another of Dayon's apprentices is fine. An inordinate portion of the novel is spent, however on the long war between Krylia and Sachakan, and this part of the novel should have been shortened.
I did like Canavan's magic set up and some of the plot lines and the magical war was well handled.
Good workman like fantasy but you can do better.
The best part of this overlong novel is the focus on Tessia, a female healer who becomes an apprentice to Dayon, one of the Magician Lords in Krylia. Her learning of magic, with Jayan, another of Dayon's apprentices is fine. An inordinate portion of the novel is spent, however on the long war between Krylia and Sachakan, and this part of the novel should have been shortened.
I did like Canavan's magic set up and some of the plot lines and the magical war was well handled.
Good workman like fantasy but you can do better.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 3, 2009
Definitely a worthy prequel to the Black Magician Trilogy. I enjoyed the story and the fact that it wasn't entirely predictable. I would definitely recommend it to any of Trudi Canavan's fans. The only thing I had an issue with was that the story jumped around between more characters than I thought necessary, making it a bit harder to relate to the main characters.
February 24, 2014
The Magician's Apprentice is considered #0.5 in Trudi Canavan's The Black Magician Trilogy. It was written after, but serves as a set up for The Magicians' Guild, which I have not read. It mainly follows the story of Tessia, a young healer apprenticed to her father, who discovers her magical abilities when she deflects the advances of a Sachakan mage. She becomes apprenticed to Lord Dakon, joining his apprentice Jayan, who initially disdains the fact that a he must share his education with a woman.
There are two other characters who occasionally get to tell their story, namely Stara, a Sachakan noble daughter who is forced into an unwanted marriage in order to produce an heir for her father, and Hanara, the slave of the Sachakan mage who tried to take Tessia. While I appreciated the effort to reveal the other sides of the story, these characters weren't particularly strong enough in their telling. I'm not sure where Hanara's story is supposed to lead, though Stara is obviously meant to connect this prequel to Canavan's other series, The Traitor's Spy.
The use of magic is one of the most interesting aspects of this book. Through Tessia's training, we get a peek into the process of how magic works in Canavan's world. I was surprised by the idea of magical wars entirely fought by mages. Unfortunately, when the battles are fought in the story, they are very anti-climactic. In fact, I had to reread several of them, believing I must have missed something because they were so brief. Something happens, mages on one side or the other die, but despite all the descriptions that go into Tessia's training, we get no insight on the battle magic. Then certain magical items and practices - that I assume have significance in the future books - are introduced like deus ex machina.
As the war with the Sachakans rages on, things really started to unravel for me. Characters suddenly seemed to be forced into certain roles with no previous indication of why that would be so. Along with the magical elements, several guilds and factions are mentioned, and several relationships are forced awkwardly into place. All of this comes piling in toward the end in a jumble that made me feel like I should have read the other books in order to at least appreciate the significance of these things within the greater picture. I didn't need to read the other books to understand what they were or understand what was going on in this book, but things might have held more meaning, rather than feeling like a sudden rush of elements meant to connect the past to the present.
I'm sure the rest of the series is quite interesting and I did appreciate the glimpse I got of it here, but I sense that this backstory would have better served as a wiki entry instead.
See more reviews at
The BiblioSanctum
There are two other characters who occasionally get to tell their story, namely Stara, a Sachakan noble daughter who is forced into an unwanted marriage in order to produce an heir for her father, and Hanara, the slave of the Sachakan mage who tried to take Tessia. While I appreciated the effort to reveal the other sides of the story, these characters weren't particularly strong enough in their telling. I'm not sure where Hanara's story is supposed to lead, though Stara is obviously meant to connect this prequel to Canavan's other series, The Traitor's Spy.
The use of magic is one of the most interesting aspects of this book. Through Tessia's training, we get a peek into the process of how magic works in Canavan's world. I was surprised by the idea of magical wars entirely fought by mages. Unfortunately, when the battles are fought in the story, they are very anti-climactic. In fact, I had to reread several of them, believing I must have missed something because they were so brief. Something happens, mages on one side or the other die, but despite all the descriptions that go into Tessia's training, we get no insight on the battle magic. Then certain magical items and practices - that I assume have significance in the future books - are introduced like deus ex machina.
As the war with the Sachakans rages on, things really started to unravel for me. Characters suddenly seemed to be forced into certain roles with no previous indication of why that would be so. Along with the magical elements, several guilds and factions are mentioned, and several relationships are forced awkwardly into place. All of this comes piling in toward the end in a jumble that made me feel like I should have read the other books in order to at least appreciate the significance of these things within the greater picture. I didn't need to read the other books to understand what they were or understand what was going on in this book, but things might have held more meaning, rather than feeling like a sudden rush of elements meant to connect the past to the present.
I'm sure the rest of the series is quite interesting and I did appreciate the glimpse I got of it here, but I sense that this backstory would have better served as a wiki entry instead.
See more reviews at
The BiblioSanctum
July 16, 2021
Reading vlog: https://youtu.be/UVqyVmY3T1o
Buddy read with Deborah from Hills of Books.
This book instantly restored my earlier disappointment in the finale of the previous trilogy. Although a standalone prequel, it was a thick one and added so much context to the land of both Sachaka and the countryside of Imardin.
It was cool to see earlier maps of the land as well as the start of concepts and issues that had been studied as history in the later books (specifically the start of the war and the idea of a shared knowledge and teaching of apprentices through a Guild system, as well as the beginning healing as a magician and other big ideas that were fleshed out in the two trilogies).
The revelation near the end that brought up a group, that had a lot of input in the later books, really blew my mind! I wasn't expecting their inclusion and to see an earlier version of them and how they got their namesake was amazing to read.
I loved all the perspectives in this, and there were many of them. We got perspectives from people from both countries and because I really enjoyed both Tessia and Stara, it made me feel so conflicted when acts of their countries and themselves affected the other negatively, because I'd forget that they were on opposing sides and so when rooting for one, I was, inevitably, rooting for the downfall of the other, which was upsetting.
I loved the really slow burn romance and how that wasn't the centre of everything, but more of a side development of feelings during a busy, intense time for the countries.
I loved piecing together where plots were going and how that inevitably expanded to the other books in this series.
Overall, I adored this book. I'm so glad I read it after the main two trilogies because it gave me extra content I needed and it delivered it all exceptionally well.
Pick it up, give it a go and enjoy! >(^_^)<
Gén
Buddy read with Deborah from Hills of Books.
This book instantly restored my earlier disappointment in the finale of the previous trilogy. Although a standalone prequel, it was a thick one and added so much context to the land of both Sachaka and the countryside of Imardin.
It was cool to see earlier maps of the land as well as the start of concepts and issues that had been studied as history in the later books (specifically the start of the war and the idea of a shared knowledge and teaching of apprentices through a Guild system, as well as the beginning healing as a magician and other big ideas that were fleshed out in the two trilogies).
The revelation near the end that brought up a group, that had a lot of input in the later books, really blew my mind! I wasn't expecting their inclusion and to see an earlier version of them and how they got their namesake was amazing to read.
I loved all the perspectives in this, and there were many of them. We got perspectives from people from both countries and because I really enjoyed both Tessia and Stara, it made me feel so conflicted when acts of their countries and themselves affected the other negatively, because I'd forget that they were on opposing sides and so when rooting for one, I was, inevitably, rooting for the downfall of the other, which was upsetting.
I loved the really slow burn romance and how that wasn't the centre of everything, but more of a side development of feelings during a busy, intense time for the countries.
I loved piecing together where plots were going and how that inevitably expanded to the other books in this series.
Overall, I adored this book. I'm so glad I read it after the main two trilogies because it gave me extra content I needed and it delivered it all exceptionally well.
Pick it up, give it a go and enjoy! >(^_^)<
Gén
December 3, 2022
I don't enjoy prequels generally, so I may be giving this book too little credit. By their very nature, prequels have a predestined outcome, and it always feels that they have a sense of "nudge nudge, wink wink" when events that will clearly influence the original novels crop up.
If anything else, I think this book could have been about half as long and been better for it.
The book follows a young woman, 100s of years before the original Black Magician trilogy. Our main character is very reminiscent of Sonea from the original series in that she's a natural magician from a poor background, who is a healer.
Some elements were interesting but as a while I vastly prefer the original series and the sequel trilogy.
If anything else, I think this book could have been about half as long and been better for it.
The book follows a young woman, 100s of years before the original Black Magician trilogy. Our main character is very reminiscent of Sonea from the original series in that she's a natural magician from a poor background, who is a healer.
Some elements were interesting but as a while I vastly prefer the original series and the sequel trilogy.
March 12, 2025
In the remote village of Mandryn, in the realm of Kyralia, Tessia works as her father's assistant. Tessia dreams of proving herself enough to become a healer like her father but in this realm, woman cannot become healers. Then, just as the realm is about to be plunged into warfare with the neighbouring empire, Tessia proves herself to be a 'natural' she has magical potential and is taken into training by the lord of the village, himself a magician. Tessia finds her new life perplexing, magical training interesting, her fellow apprentice aggravating and works hard. Her hope is, that as magicians can do as they please, she might yet become a healer. As Kyralia is invaded by magicians the empire Tessia is about to learn all too fast what magic can bring to her healing skills.
I wanted to love this story so much but I couldn't. I enjoyed large amounts of it a great deal but some of it was really not that great.
The first part, where we get a bit or world building and are introduced to Tessia - that I enjoyed with no reservations. It is an interesting world, well described and Tessia was a good, if somewhat passive, character. The world is a standard agricultural plus magic fantasy land with not too much to distinguish it and it's cultures but was very pleasant and well, if lightly sketched. The story is well outlined, we know what is happening.
Then, things went downhill for a long time. A really looong time. Somewhere in the 300 pages to somewhere in the 600 pages, the neighboring empire magicians start invading. This is a lot of poorly written book. We have a lot of people riding/walking aimlessly around in mountains or forests with nothing happening except that they talk - they talk a lot, mostly nonsense and repetitions beyond belief. Oh, yes, we alternate Tessia's side, with a slave of one of the invading magicians, with some random woman over in the empire. And here is what I suspect is the real downfall of this enormous portion of the book: Being a prequel of sorts this book is probably meant to be backstory for things other people (not me, this is my first by this author) already know. I can see no other excuse for that completely random story of whatshername in the empire. It had no relevance to any other part of the book.
As a prequel, I can see it is trying to tell the story of Tessia, Jayan and the establishment of a magical college and guild as well as where magical healing came from. Pretty sure that is what is occurring and this part I enjoyed. Tessia and Jayan and the development of magical healing - that was all interested, quite well written and well worth reading. Those were the good bits! However they did not have anywhere near enough 'good' in them for 300 pages, and the good was spread pretty thin over a whole lot of mediocre.
Being a prequel, trying to tell the back history of the two kingdoms would explain what the narrative was trying to do with all the fluffing around in the mountains; pages and pages of nothing happening in those poorly described mountains. And the battles.... Oh dear!
Actually I almost missed the first battle, after pages and pages of everyone talking and talking and nothing happening I was unabashedly skim reading, then all of a sudden we were lining up for a battle FINALLY, so I went back to read it. I like reading about military action. I have read a fair bit of it, much of it, in very good fantasy. This was terrible, it was out of sight one of the most embarrassing attempts at writing a battle scene and it was completely discordant with the general standard of writing (which was good). Fantasy and space opera and sci-fi, they can all get away with good battle scenes if they base them on something. This battle scene (and the next and the next) involved two lines of magicians facing off and throwing magic at each other. Idiotic. No battle works that way, and even if Kyralia has never been in a battle before, Sachaka has, they defeated other nations. This is unbelievable; that no tactics no battle plan... nothing.
Even before the battle actually started, it was unbelievable; we had Lord Dakon standing waiting for a battle to begin, reviewing in his mindfor a couple of pages all the reasons why the apprentices were not on the battle line. What? That is not the way a person's mind works when he is about to be in a battle, even before sparing there is a level of energy... it is.... ludicrous and a waste of my time. Plus we had already been told MULTIPLE times why the apprentices were being kept out of the battle.
All in all, this was a distressingly poor book. Nearly 800 pages that could have fit comfortably into 300 at the most (or does the author have a contract for numbers of pages?), if we just cut down the repetitious talking, did not fluff around in the mountains to no purpose for SOOOO very loooong and kept a story-line and narrative going.
This might be a good book for people who have already read the adventures that it is a prequel to. It may work for people who want to read Tessia's back history or read dozens of times about how whatshername is about to be married off by her father and how she escapes eventually to the mountains with her girl gang (I can't imagine why you would want to, but theoretically you might). It is a bad book to introduce a newcomer to the world.
I wanted to love this story so much but I couldn't. I enjoyed large amounts of it a great deal but some of it was really not that great.
The first part, where we get a bit or world building and are introduced to Tessia - that I enjoyed with no reservations. It is an interesting world, well described and Tessia was a good, if somewhat passive, character. The world is a standard agricultural plus magic fantasy land with not too much to distinguish it and it's cultures but was very pleasant and well, if lightly sketched. The story is well outlined, we know what is happening.
Then, things went downhill for a long time. A really looong time. Somewhere in the 300 pages to somewhere in the 600 pages, the neighboring empire magicians start invading. This is a lot of poorly written book. We have a lot of people riding/walking aimlessly around in mountains or forests with nothing happening except that they talk - they talk a lot, mostly nonsense and repetitions beyond belief. Oh, yes, we alternate Tessia's side, with a slave of one of the invading magicians, with some random woman over in the empire. And here is what I suspect is the real downfall of this enormous portion of the book: Being a prequel of sorts this book is probably meant to be backstory for things other people (not me, this is my first by this author) already know. I can see no other excuse for that completely random story of whatshername in the empire. It had no relevance to any other part of the book.
As a prequel, I can see it is trying to tell the story of Tessia, Jayan and the establishment of a magical college and guild as well as where magical healing came from. Pretty sure that is what is occurring and this part I enjoyed. Tessia and Jayan and the development of magical healing - that was all interested, quite well written and well worth reading. Those were the good bits! However they did not have anywhere near enough 'good' in them for 300 pages, and the good was spread pretty thin over a whole lot of mediocre.
Being a prequel, trying to tell the back history of the two kingdoms would explain what the narrative was trying to do with all the fluffing around in the mountains; pages and pages of nothing happening in those poorly described mountains. And the battles.... Oh dear!
Actually I almost missed the first battle, after pages and pages of everyone talking and talking and nothing happening I was unabashedly skim reading, then all of a sudden we were lining up for a battle FINALLY, so I went back to read it. I like reading about military action. I have read a fair bit of it, much of it, in very good fantasy. This was terrible, it was out of sight one of the most embarrassing attempts at writing a battle scene and it was completely discordant with the general standard of writing (which was good). Fantasy and space opera and sci-fi, they can all get away with good battle scenes if they base them on something. This battle scene (and the next and the next) involved two lines of magicians facing off and throwing magic at each other. Idiotic. No battle works that way, and even if Kyralia has never been in a battle before, Sachaka has, they defeated other nations. This is unbelievable; that no tactics no battle plan... nothing.
Even before the battle actually started, it was unbelievable; we had Lord Dakon standing waiting for a battle to begin, reviewing in his mindfor a couple of pages all the reasons why the apprentices were not on the battle line. What? That is not the way a person's mind works when he is about to be in a battle, even before sparing there is a level of energy... it is.... ludicrous and a waste of my time. Plus we had already been told MULTIPLE times why the apprentices were being kept out of the battle.
All in all, this was a distressingly poor book. Nearly 800 pages that could have fit comfortably into 300 at the most (or does the author have a contract for numbers of pages?), if we just cut down the repetitious talking, did not fluff around in the mountains to no purpose for SOOOO very loooong and kept a story-line and narrative going.
This might be a good book for people who have already read the adventures that it is a prequel to. It may work for people who want to read Tessia's back history or read dozens of times about how whatshername is about to be married off by her father and how she escapes eventually to the mountains with her girl gang (I can't imagine why you would want to, but theoretically you might). It is a bad book to introduce a newcomer to the world.
January 23, 2022
Esta será una reseña un tanto descarnada, pero no porque el libro sea un completo fiasco sino porque los defectos que le vi fueron demasiado grandes para mi punto de vista.
Para empezar, Canavan parece tener una vaga idea de qué es lo que quiere contar, pero no sabe cómo hacer que suceda. Empieza con mucha fuerza. Tiene un tinte más maduro y político que la trilogía anterior, pero hacia la mitad del libro comienza a perder mucho fuelle. Los personajes se vuelven monótonos y los acontecimientos carecen de atractivo, como si se tratara de un libro de historia que se limita a explicar lo que sucedió y ya.
A cien páginas de terminar el libro es cuando Canavan empieza a sacar recursos de debajo de las piedras y consigue cerrar la obra de forma satisfactoria. Pero el martirio por el que tiene que pasar el lector para llegar al final es injustificable.
Un fallo grande que creo que ha cometido ha sido querer brindar varias perspectivas de los acontecimientos sin profundizar en los personajes. Hanara se convirtió en un personaje inútil. Hubiera preferido mil veces tener la perspectiva del villano, ya que al menos Takado tenía una filosofía y unos principios que lo hacían un personaje más interesante de comprender. Hanara es únicamente la excusa. Es un espectador silencioso cuya presencia y acciones no son relevantes para la historia.
Y otro tanto de lo mismo con Stara. El personaje ni se insinúa en todo el libro hasta pasada la primera mitad y cuando lo hace vuelve a empezar con una nueva protagonista y una trama que nada tiene que ver con lo que venimos leyendo. Hasta que no faltan 100 páginas para acabar, toda la trama de Stara fue hacer vida de palacio y quejarse del patriarcado. Nada más.
Para ser que divide los puntos de vista entre tantos personajes sin profundizar en ellos, tampoco hace un mejor trabajo describiendo las batallas. La parte de los consejos de guerra están bien hechos, pero las batallas en si se limitan a describir un puñado de fichas en un tablero. No hay ni rastro del drama humano ni de la crudeza que amerita (porque sabemos que cuando quiere puede enseñar esa cara más trágica. Como nos demuestra con las intervenciones médicas).
Ya que he mencionado el poco desarrollo que tienen los personajes quisiera hacer un inciso para hablar de Tessia y Stara en concreto. Canavan es incapaz de salir de su zona de confort. Todos los protagonistas femeninos parecen cortados por la misma tijera: adolescente muy inteligente y muy humilde que aunque todo el mundo la infravalore esconde un gran poder mágico. Igual que Sonea. Incluso Stara podría ser un personaje más interesante si no contase todo el tiempo con esa carta bajo la manga. Porque, seamos francos, no necesitó sus poderes para absolutamente nada.
Con respecto a los personajes masculinos...
Canavan hizo una autoreferencia muy interesante en cierta parte del libro: Tassia se había vuelto muy fan de ciertos libros de romance y se se mostró muy sorprendida al descubrir que el autor era hombre. Las ideas que aquí expresa creo que son un reflejo y justificación de la propia autora. Tassia dijo que le parecía sorprendente como un hombre podía meterse en los zapatos de una mujer y expresarse de forma que pueda empatizar con tantas. Creo que aquí Canavan reconoce sus propios defecto porque es incapaz de ponerse en el lugar de un hombre y ni hablemos de empatizar con su situación.
Puestos a juzgar una sociedad arcaica y retrógrada está feo sólo ver víctimas en un género y no en otro. Hacen una pequeña mención a lo injusta que es una sociedad homófoba, pero en el instante que le sigue no tienen ningún reparo en mandarlos a la guerra a que cumplan con su deber como hombres. Incluso cuando hay magas que están escapando a su costa. Tienen el poder para oponerse a los invasores, pero prefieren no hacerlo y usar a los hombres como escudo de carne mientras huyen. Y luego se dan el lujo de hablar de crear una sociedad sin hombres.
Esto último creo que fue la gota que colmó el vaso.
Obviando ciertos puntos que escuecen los ojos de solo leerlos, el resto del final es bastante aceptable. Narvelan a mi parecer se corona en su papel de emperador loco y el resto de personajes siembran varias semillas que pueden servir para futuros libros. Pero no hay mucho más que resaltar.
Opino que puede ser un libro necesario de leer si quieres entender los orígenes de este mundo y cómo se construyó su sociedad, pero yo desaconsejo enormemente leerlo. Es insufrible. Leer un resumen sería más agradable y sano.
Para empezar, Canavan parece tener una vaga idea de qué es lo que quiere contar, pero no sabe cómo hacer que suceda. Empieza con mucha fuerza. Tiene un tinte más maduro y político que la trilogía anterior, pero hacia la mitad del libro comienza a perder mucho fuelle. Los personajes se vuelven monótonos y los acontecimientos carecen de atractivo, como si se tratara de un libro de historia que se limita a explicar lo que sucedió y ya.
A cien páginas de terminar el libro es cuando Canavan empieza a sacar recursos de debajo de las piedras y consigue cerrar la obra de forma satisfactoria. Pero el martirio por el que tiene que pasar el lector para llegar al final es injustificable.
Un fallo grande que creo que ha cometido ha sido querer brindar varias perspectivas de los acontecimientos sin profundizar en los personajes. Hanara se convirtió en un personaje inútil. Hubiera preferido mil veces tener la perspectiva del villano, ya que al menos Takado tenía una filosofía y unos principios que lo hacían un personaje más interesante de comprender. Hanara es únicamente la excusa. Es un espectador silencioso cuya presencia y acciones no son relevantes para la historia.
Y otro tanto de lo mismo con Stara. El personaje ni se insinúa en todo el libro hasta pasada la primera mitad y cuando lo hace vuelve a empezar con una nueva protagonista y una trama que nada tiene que ver con lo que venimos leyendo. Hasta que no faltan 100 páginas para acabar, toda la trama de Stara fue hacer vida de palacio y quejarse del patriarcado. Nada más.
Para ser que divide los puntos de vista entre tantos personajes sin profundizar en ellos, tampoco hace un mejor trabajo describiendo las batallas. La parte de los consejos de guerra están bien hechos, pero las batallas en si se limitan a describir un puñado de fichas en un tablero. No hay ni rastro del drama humano ni de la crudeza que amerita (porque sabemos que cuando quiere puede enseñar esa cara más trágica. Como nos demuestra con las intervenciones médicas).
Ya que he mencionado el poco desarrollo que tienen los personajes quisiera hacer un inciso para hablar de Tessia y Stara en concreto. Canavan es incapaz de salir de su zona de confort. Todos los protagonistas femeninos parecen cortados por la misma tijera: adolescente muy inteligente y muy humilde que aunque todo el mundo la infravalore esconde un gran poder mágico. Igual que Sonea. Incluso Stara podría ser un personaje más interesante si no contase todo el tiempo con esa carta bajo la manga. Porque, seamos francos, no necesitó sus poderes para absolutamente nada.
Con respecto a los personajes masculinos...
Canavan hizo una autoreferencia muy interesante en cierta parte del libro: Tassia se había vuelto muy fan de ciertos libros de romance y se se mostró muy sorprendida al descubrir que el autor era hombre. Las ideas que aquí expresa creo que son un reflejo y justificación de la propia autora. Tassia dijo que le parecía sorprendente como un hombre podía meterse en los zapatos de una mujer y expresarse de forma que pueda empatizar con tantas. Creo que aquí Canavan reconoce sus propios defecto porque es incapaz de ponerse en el lugar de un hombre y ni hablemos de empatizar con su situación.
Puestos a juzgar una sociedad arcaica y retrógrada está feo sólo ver víctimas en un género y no en otro. Hacen una pequeña mención a lo injusta que es una sociedad homófoba, pero en el instante que le sigue no tienen ningún reparo en mandarlos a la guerra a que cumplan con su deber como hombres. Incluso cuando hay magas que están escapando a su costa. Tienen el poder para oponerse a los invasores, pero prefieren no hacerlo y usar a los hombres como escudo de carne mientras huyen. Y luego se dan el lujo de hablar de crear una sociedad sin hombres.
Esto último creo que fue la gota que colmó el vaso.
Obviando ciertos puntos que escuecen los ojos de solo leerlos, el resto del final es bastante aceptable. Narvelan a mi parecer se corona en su papel de emperador loco y el resto de personajes siembran varias semillas que pueden servir para futuros libros. Pero no hay mucho más que resaltar.
Opino que puede ser un libro necesario de leer si quieres entender los orígenes de este mundo y cómo se construyó su sociedad, pero yo desaconsejo enormemente leerlo. Es insufrible. Leer un resumen sería más agradable y sano.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 13, 2018
He liked the idea that if either of them ever fell from grace, the other might be there to offer support
First Sentence:
O, what a journy.
I remember reading The Magicians' Guild many, many years back - so many years in fact I can't remember who the main characters is. But I do remember I enjoyed it, and that I wanted to read the rest of the Black Magician trilogy. And this weekend that little reminder popped into my head and I picked up the prequel. And now obviously I have to read the rest of the books!
First Sentence:
There was no fast and painless way to perform an amputation, Tessia knew.
O, what a journy.
I remember reading The Magicians' Guild many, many years back - so many years in fact I can't remember who the main characters is. But I do remember I enjoyed it, and that I wanted to read the rest of the Black Magician trilogy. And this weekend that little reminder popped into my head and I picked up the prequel. And now obviously I have to read the rest of the books!
October 17, 2012
The Magicians Apprentice is 0.5 in the The Black Magician Trilogy. The first instalment in the trilogy was published in 2001 and this book was published in 2009. Perhaps I should have started the series in publishing order rather than story order, but I spent most of the novel questioning why this was actually a novel. I found it really hard to justify this 0.5 instalment needing to be 600 pages long, especially when it was published several years after the actual series.
The novel uses split POVs and split locations but the story begins in a country called Kyralia which a few hundred years ago was under complete control of a bordering country, Sachaka. Before the novel begins, the Kyralians were given back semi independence and are now just part of the Sachakan empire. However, the Sachakans still feel entitled to come to and fro about Kyralia and expect the people to play nice host games and provide an awfully large amount of food just for funsies and god forbid your cook serves the Sachakan something he’s already had.
Enter Lord Dakkon, magician and owner of a village that borders Sachaka, being forced to play host to Lord Takado of Sachaka, also a magician, who has been touring around Kyralia with nefarious intentions. Lord Dakkon has been tasked with plying him with wine to find out what those intentions are. During his stay, Takado gives nothing away except the slave he beats to near death and decides he has no use for, “gifting” him to Lord Dakkon. Lord Dakkon calls for the local healer, and his daughter Tessia who assists him, to tend to the slave, Hanara. Takado, it turns out, takes delight not only in beating his slaves, but also young women and it doesn’t take him long to try to rape Tessia. As a result, Tessia uses magical powers she didn’t know she possessed to repel Takado and becomes Lord Dakkon’s assistant.
While Lord Dakkon and his two apprentices Jayan and Tessia take an annual pilgrimage to Kyralia’s capital – Immardin – Takado strikes by slaughtering one village after another. As Takado and his group of Sachakan rebels quickly make their way through Kyralia, growing stronger every day as they suck the life energy out of people, the magicians of Kyralia are slow to respond and fight back. Once they finally do fight back, and slowly begin to beat the Sachakan forces, Kyralia begins to contemplate being free of Sachakan rule forever.
Kyralia is very much a slow, bumbling, passive country. There is very little to suggest that the reason the Sachakans rescinded control over Kyralia because of Kyralia’s growing strength. Instead, Sachaka relinquished control because Sachaka no longer had the forces and strength to continue to colonise Kyralia. Though the Kyralians have now been free of empiric rule for a long time, they have not grown into a strong nation full of growth. Education is poor, there is little unity between the outer villages and the capital city and the nation as a whole is stagnated. They rely solely on the protection the magicians can provide, yet there are very few of them and the training of new magicians is carried out individually rather than collectively in a school. As a result, knowledge and new ideas are scarce as everyone keeps information to themselves.
Sachaka, meanwhile, has given up trying to rule Kyralia due to in-fighting and a lack of their own number of magicians. However, driving Sachaka to higher levels of success is the fact that there are more magicians than fiefdoms and the younger magicians are restless. What fun is owning slaves if you can’t put them to work tilling fields, serving you food and providing you with large amounts of money to spend? So Takado, and his like-minded allies, have started restlessly thinking about good old Kyralia, too silly to use slaves and truly make the most of the land they possess.
So when Kyralia comes under attack from a skilful, planned army, they really don’t know what to do with themselves. As a result, while hundreds of villages are being slaughtered and making a more powerful enemy, the Kyralians philosophise and debate and lose an ever increasing amount of ground and people. Their inexperience with defending themselves is proven when the magicians decide to wear their best robes to travel the country and horseback, and insist on bringing a large trope of defenceless servants with them to cook their meals.
Interwoven in this incredibly long account of a very short war is the story of Stara. Stara is half Sachakan and half Elynian (I’m just guessing about that – her mother is from a country called Elyne). Elyne is another country bordering Kyralia, but it’s a much happier one where gays are widely accepted and women can have sex with whoever they want. Stara is sent to Sachaka to stay with her father in a country where women are only slightly better off than slaves and the fact that Stara knows magic and has had sex before makes her of little worth to a prospective husband. Stara, by far the most likeable character in the book, spends most of her screen time complaining to her slave about how unfair life is for her, how terrible it is to be a woman, and how her father doesn’t love her. She is married to a man who is secretly gay and once Kyralia invades, she and a group of like-minded oppressed women decide to escape to the mountains to make their own civilisation.
As I mentioned earlier, this book is a prequel. The rest of the trilogy takes place, I believe from other reviews I’ve read, a few hundred years down the track. None of the characters appear to be present in the trilogy. After the first hundred pages or so, I found myself constantly questioning why this novel was published. Why were the events of this novel so incredibly important that, six years after the series was finished, it was necessary to come back and write this book? Apart from the last 50-100 pages of the novel, I have managed to describe in 600 words what it took Trudi Canavan 600 pages. So surely, in the first book of the trilogy, this bit of backstory was quite easily explained to make the rest of the series make sense, and if not, couldn’t a bit of editing in 2001 have fixed this? Even the events of the last hundred pages do not justify the need to write this book.
After a very slow, dry, fairly uneventful, passive and unemotional 500 pages, the pace does pick up slightly, but the events seemed so entirely at odds with the first 4/5 of the novel that it honestly could have been two separate books accidentally stuck together. In the last 100 pages, Kyralia, after centuries of passive acceptance of Sachakan rule, decide to become the aggressors, invade Sachaka and declare themselves in charge. The final battle on Kyralian soil is over in about two pages and suddenly the Kyralian magicians have amassed at the Sachakan border and stampede their way through an anticlimactically empty country to take over the capital. Along the way they completely abandon their former morals and slaughter all who cross their path and take their life power along the way. They meet with the Sachakan Emperor briefly, he then disappears (presumably killed though there’s no mention of it), Tessia and Jayan declare their sudden undying love for each other, and a bunch of scared Sachakan women run away to start a civilisation in the mountains that will include no men (good luck with that everlasting civilisation girls). Tessia finally discovers how to heal with magic, Jayan says he’s going to create a Magician’s Guild to train apprentices and share knowledge and a couple of magicians are selected to stay behind and rule Sachaka.
The novel then cuts to several decades later in a rushed epilogue in which Lord Dakkon, a main character, gets given one sentence in which it is explained he died in mysterious circumstances, Tessia and Jayan are expecting a baby and Lord Narvelan, one of the magicians assigned to stay behind, has been ousted for being too crazy and decides that, out of a lack of gratitude from his peers, he is going to climb a mountain and blow up a very powerful magical stone. Blowing up this magical stone instantly kills himself, and poor Hanara the slave who was forced to go along, and creates an enormous wasteland which Narvelan hopes will prevent the Sachakans from being able to truly regain power.
From finishing the novel and the reviews I have read since I have ascertained that the important parts of this novel that actually affect the trilogy are: the creation of the wasteland, the discovery of how to heal with magic, the creation of the Magician’s Guild, the creation of the secret women’s only cave and the fact that Kyralia and Sachaka have an unpleasant history. Again, I still question why this novel was written. God knows it’s not hard for people to grasp that two countries that share a common boundary will squabble over turf, so that didn’t need 600 pages of explaining. Most fantasy novels include the ability to heal with magic because it makes life more fun and, in most cases, rules out the dangers of Black Death, herpes and accidentally stabbing oneself. Most fantasies also include a magic school or training hub and there’s usually some forbidden, dangerous land that no one dares enter except our poor hero/heroine who has no choice. All of these things can easily be explained in a paragraph to a page at most without anyone feeling confused or cheated of a great story, so again, why was this novel necessary? And why, if they were indeed so completely necessary to the story that they needed further explanation, did it take over five hundred pagesbefore they were even mentioned?
Perhaps, had this simply been the first novel in the series, none of these issues would have been a problem for me and I could have overlooked the dull writing and the poor character development and the lack of continuity in character and plot I experienced throughout this novel. Then again, most probably not. The final nail in the coffin for me was, after including a glossary of terms most of which are not mentioned in the book, I got to Trudi Canavan’s acknowledgements:
The first half of this book was written during a very stressful and frustrating year, then the second half, rewrites and polishing in a tight six months.
All I can say is: my god Trudi Canavan, it showed.
The novel uses split POVs and split locations but the story begins in a country called Kyralia which a few hundred years ago was under complete control of a bordering country, Sachaka. Before the novel begins, the Kyralians were given back semi independence and are now just part of the Sachakan empire. However, the Sachakans still feel entitled to come to and fro about Kyralia and expect the people to play nice host games and provide an awfully large amount of food just for funsies and god forbid your cook serves the Sachakan something he’s already had.
Enter Lord Dakkon, magician and owner of a village that borders Sachaka, being forced to play host to Lord Takado of Sachaka, also a magician, who has been touring around Kyralia with nefarious intentions. Lord Dakkon has been tasked with plying him with wine to find out what those intentions are. During his stay, Takado gives nothing away except the slave he beats to near death and decides he has no use for, “gifting” him to Lord Dakkon. Lord Dakkon calls for the local healer, and his daughter Tessia who assists him, to tend to the slave, Hanara. Takado, it turns out, takes delight not only in beating his slaves, but also young women and it doesn’t take him long to try to rape Tessia. As a result, Tessia uses magical powers she didn’t know she possessed to repel Takado and becomes Lord Dakkon’s assistant.
While Lord Dakkon and his two apprentices Jayan and Tessia take an annual pilgrimage to Kyralia’s capital – Immardin – Takado strikes by slaughtering one village after another. As Takado and his group of Sachakan rebels quickly make their way through Kyralia, growing stronger every day as they suck the life energy out of people, the magicians of Kyralia are slow to respond and fight back. Once they finally do fight back, and slowly begin to beat the Sachakan forces, Kyralia begins to contemplate being free of Sachakan rule forever.
Kyralia is very much a slow, bumbling, passive country. There is very little to suggest that the reason the Sachakans rescinded control over Kyralia because of Kyralia’s growing strength. Instead, Sachaka relinquished control because Sachaka no longer had the forces and strength to continue to colonise Kyralia. Though the Kyralians have now been free of empiric rule for a long time, they have not grown into a strong nation full of growth. Education is poor, there is little unity between the outer villages and the capital city and the nation as a whole is stagnated. They rely solely on the protection the magicians can provide, yet there are very few of them and the training of new magicians is carried out individually rather than collectively in a school. As a result, knowledge and new ideas are scarce as everyone keeps information to themselves.
Sachaka, meanwhile, has given up trying to rule Kyralia due to in-fighting and a lack of their own number of magicians. However, driving Sachaka to higher levels of success is the fact that there are more magicians than fiefdoms and the younger magicians are restless. What fun is owning slaves if you can’t put them to work tilling fields, serving you food and providing you with large amounts of money to spend? So Takado, and his like-minded allies, have started restlessly thinking about good old Kyralia, too silly to use slaves and truly make the most of the land they possess.
So when Kyralia comes under attack from a skilful, planned army, they really don’t know what to do with themselves. As a result, while hundreds of villages are being slaughtered and making a more powerful enemy, the Kyralians philosophise and debate and lose an ever increasing amount of ground and people. Their inexperience with defending themselves is proven when the magicians decide to wear their best robes to travel the country and horseback, and insist on bringing a large trope of defenceless servants with them to cook their meals.
Interwoven in this incredibly long account of a very short war is the story of Stara. Stara is half Sachakan and half Elynian (I’m just guessing about that – her mother is from a country called Elyne). Elyne is another country bordering Kyralia, but it’s a much happier one where gays are widely accepted and women can have sex with whoever they want. Stara is sent to Sachaka to stay with her father in a country where women are only slightly better off than slaves and the fact that Stara knows magic and has had sex before makes her of little worth to a prospective husband. Stara, by far the most likeable character in the book, spends most of her screen time complaining to her slave about how unfair life is for her, how terrible it is to be a woman, and how her father doesn’t love her. She is married to a man who is secretly gay and once Kyralia invades, she and a group of like-minded oppressed women decide to escape to the mountains to make their own civilisation.
As I mentioned earlier, this book is a prequel. The rest of the trilogy takes place, I believe from other reviews I’ve read, a few hundred years down the track. None of the characters appear to be present in the trilogy. After the first hundred pages or so, I found myself constantly questioning why this novel was published. Why were the events of this novel so incredibly important that, six years after the series was finished, it was necessary to come back and write this book? Apart from the last 50-100 pages of the novel, I have managed to describe in 600 words what it took Trudi Canavan 600 pages. So surely, in the first book of the trilogy, this bit of backstory was quite easily explained to make the rest of the series make sense, and if not, couldn’t a bit of editing in 2001 have fixed this? Even the events of the last hundred pages do not justify the need to write this book.
After a very slow, dry, fairly uneventful, passive and unemotional 500 pages, the pace does pick up slightly, but the events seemed so entirely at odds with the first 4/5 of the novel that it honestly could have been two separate books accidentally stuck together. In the last 100 pages, Kyralia, after centuries of passive acceptance of Sachakan rule, decide to become the aggressors, invade Sachaka and declare themselves in charge. The final battle on Kyralian soil is over in about two pages and suddenly the Kyralian magicians have amassed at the Sachakan border and stampede their way through an anticlimactically empty country to take over the capital. Along the way they completely abandon their former morals and slaughter all who cross their path and take their life power along the way. They meet with the Sachakan Emperor briefly, he then disappears (presumably killed though there’s no mention of it), Tessia and Jayan declare their sudden undying love for each other, and a bunch of scared Sachakan women run away to start a civilisation in the mountains that will include no men (good luck with that everlasting civilisation girls). Tessia finally discovers how to heal with magic, Jayan says he’s going to create a Magician’s Guild to train apprentices and share knowledge and a couple of magicians are selected to stay behind and rule Sachaka.
The novel then cuts to several decades later in a rushed epilogue in which Lord Dakkon, a main character, gets given one sentence in which it is explained he died in mysterious circumstances, Tessia and Jayan are expecting a baby and Lord Narvelan, one of the magicians assigned to stay behind, has been ousted for being too crazy and decides that, out of a lack of gratitude from his peers, he is going to climb a mountain and blow up a very powerful magical stone. Blowing up this magical stone instantly kills himself, and poor Hanara the slave who was forced to go along, and creates an enormous wasteland which Narvelan hopes will prevent the Sachakans from being able to truly regain power.
From finishing the novel and the reviews I have read since I have ascertained that the important parts of this novel that actually affect the trilogy are: the creation of the wasteland, the discovery of how to heal with magic, the creation of the Magician’s Guild, the creation of the secret women’s only cave and the fact that Kyralia and Sachaka have an unpleasant history. Again, I still question why this novel was written. God knows it’s not hard for people to grasp that two countries that share a common boundary will squabble over turf, so that didn’t need 600 pages of explaining. Most fantasy novels include the ability to heal with magic because it makes life more fun and, in most cases, rules out the dangers of Black Death, herpes and accidentally stabbing oneself. Most fantasies also include a magic school or training hub and there’s usually some forbidden, dangerous land that no one dares enter except our poor hero/heroine who has no choice. All of these things can easily be explained in a paragraph to a page at most without anyone feeling confused or cheated of a great story, so again, why was this novel necessary? And why, if they were indeed so completely necessary to the story that they needed further explanation, did it take over five hundred pagesbefore they were even mentioned?
Perhaps, had this simply been the first novel in the series, none of these issues would have been a problem for me and I could have overlooked the dull writing and the poor character development and the lack of continuity in character and plot I experienced throughout this novel. Then again, most probably not. The final nail in the coffin for me was, after including a glossary of terms most of which are not mentioned in the book, I got to Trudi Canavan’s acknowledgements:
The first half of this book was written during a very stressful and frustrating year, then the second half, rewrites and polishing in a tight six months.
All I can say is: my god Trudi Canavan, it showed.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 5, 2019
This and my other reviews can be found at http://amethystbookwyrm.blogspot.co.uk/
The Magician’s Apprentice is about Tessia, the local healer’s daughter, who unknowingly uses magic after fending of the advances of a visiting Sachakan mage, she becomes an apprentice to the magician Lord Dakon alongside fellow apprentice Jayan. However she would soon learn that with her magical gifts comes with responsibilities and not all is peaceful as it seems between Sachakan and Kyralia.
This prequel, set a few centuries before the black magician trilogy, has the features that Trudi Canavan is good at - action, romance, humour and lots of magic. It is really interesting to see how the events of this book affected this world centuries down the line in the black magician’s and the traitor spy trilogies, I especially like finding out how the traitors began and how the war affected relations between the nations for years to come.
The characters in this book are all really realistic and you can understand everyone’s motives, while each character is still very different from the people in Canavan’s other series. However while I really liked Tessia, Jayan and Dakon perspectives, I could not get into Hanara’s or Stara’s however it was interesting to hear the story from the other sides view point.
I also like how Canavan did not romanticise what war is like and the hardships of it and how even the “good guys” can justify doing bad things as a means to an end and everyone believes they are they doing what they think is right.
This is a brilliant prequel and would recommend this book to anyone likes Trudi Canavan’s work especially her Black Magician trilogy.
The Magician’s Apprentice is about Tessia, the local healer’s daughter, who unknowingly uses magic after fending of the advances of a visiting Sachakan mage, she becomes an apprentice to the magician Lord Dakon alongside fellow apprentice Jayan. However she would soon learn that with her magical gifts comes with responsibilities and not all is peaceful as it seems between Sachakan and Kyralia.
This prequel, set a few centuries before the black magician trilogy, has the features that Trudi Canavan is good at - action, romance, humour and lots of magic. It is really interesting to see how the events of this book affected this world centuries down the line in the black magician’s and the traitor spy trilogies, I especially like finding out how the traitors began and how the war affected relations between the nations for years to come.
The characters in this book are all really realistic and you can understand everyone’s motives, while each character is still very different from the people in Canavan’s other series. However while I really liked Tessia, Jayan and Dakon perspectives, I could not get into Hanara’s or Stara’s however it was interesting to hear the story from the other sides view point.
I also like how Canavan did not romanticise what war is like and the hardships of it and how even the “good guys” can justify doing bad things as a means to an end and everyone believes they are they doing what they think is right.
This is a brilliant prequel and would recommend this book to anyone likes Trudi Canavan’s work especially her Black Magician trilogy.
July 18, 2012
I've come across Trudi Canavan many times when looking for good fantasy reads, and I finally decided to give it a go. The first few pages of The Magician's Apprentice were quite exciting, I thought Tessia would be an interesting character. But further on I started to get doubts, the plot was a bit shallow and most of all, the characters were really flat. Having read awesome books like "A song of ice and fire" where there's plenty of characters and each of them has so much history and depth that they're like real people in your head, here I was getting the exact opposite feeling. There is a pretty big war going on, people dying and hard times in general, and still the characters are like zombies, there's very little emotion there that should make it all feel real. In the end, the only character I liked at all was Stara and her servant, I don't remember her name. Generally disappointed and I don't think I'll be reading more books from Trudi Canavan. Unless someone can convince me that they're better than this one...
March 30, 2024
4,5 stars - English Paperback
Review follows after Easter.
Review follows after Easter.
January 29, 2009
Good Intro to Fantasy; but not Groundbreaking.
I have not read any of Trudi Canavan's Black Magician Trilogy (THE MAGICIAN'S GUILD, THE NOVICE, and THE HIGH LORD), although I have thought about it for a while. It is obvious that this edition to the world introduced in the original trilogy was written after and I can only guess at what is to be the beginning of the trilogy.
This is a wonderful book for people just getting into the fantasy genre. It has everything that is to be expected in a fantasy world. Wars, magic, politics, and interesting characters. Unfortunately, while all of these areas of the book are executed well, they are not executed well enough to earn high praise. The writing and pacing is good enough, but it is not as engaging as it could have been.
I suppose the biggest "fault" in this book is that it is only a precursor to the world already established. There is a lot of magic, but it is all the same. The magician's discover new tricks that will presumably be further developed in the hundreds of years between this book and THE MAGICIAN'S GUILD. There is simply too much under described magic shields and fireball type spells. The battles are not chaotic and too organized, thus rendering them almost unbelievable and anticlimactic.
At no point was I frustrated in continuing to read this book, and I would highly recommend it to anyone who is thinking about entering the world of fantasy books. It doesn't compare to some of the epic fantasy sagas out there, but it does do a great job of telling a story and moving the plot along. I'm glad I read it.
Good reading,
J.Stoner
http://plantsandbooks.blogspot.com
I have not read any of Trudi Canavan's Black Magician Trilogy (THE MAGICIAN'S GUILD, THE NOVICE, and THE HIGH LORD), although I have thought about it for a while. It is obvious that this edition to the world introduced in the original trilogy was written after and I can only guess at what is to be the beginning of the trilogy.
This is a wonderful book for people just getting into the fantasy genre. It has everything that is to be expected in a fantasy world. Wars, magic, politics, and interesting characters. Unfortunately, while all of these areas of the book are executed well, they are not executed well enough to earn high praise. The writing and pacing is good enough, but it is not as engaging as it could have been.
I suppose the biggest "fault" in this book is that it is only a precursor to the world already established. There is a lot of magic, but it is all the same. The magician's discover new tricks that will presumably be further developed in the hundreds of years between this book and THE MAGICIAN'S GUILD. There is simply too much under described magic shields and fireball type spells. The battles are not chaotic and too organized, thus rendering them almost unbelievable and anticlimactic.
At no point was I frustrated in continuing to read this book, and I would highly recommend it to anyone who is thinking about entering the world of fantasy books. It doesn't compare to some of the epic fantasy sagas out there, but it does do a great job of telling a story and moving the plot along. I'm glad I read it.
Good reading,
J.Stoner
http://plantsandbooks.blogspot.com
January 5, 2020
A very addictive read that I would willingly read again and again. A book I could not put down with lots of fantasy elements that I like. The only reason I didn't give this five stars is because of the constant switches between the impressive cast of characters, some of which were not as interesting as others. Personally I preferred Tessia and Jayan's story and would have liked to stick with them all the way through.
September 25, 2023
Llega a las 4 estrellas por los pelos. Y no porque la historia principal esté mal, que es la que lleva las estrellas, sino porque hay material que encuentro sobrante.
La historia de la protagonista, el inicio del uso de la magia para curar y el inicio de la creación de un gremio de magos, me ha parecido interesante y pertinente.
Pero la historia de la shachakana y "las traidoras" puede que tenga algún interés de cara a la próxima trilogía, no lo sé... pero en sí misma no ha logrado engancharme.
Además, una vez solventado el problema que dio origen a todo el asunto, que siguieran adelante se percibió como anticlimático ya que el asunto había llegado a su fin en realidad y a partir de ahí todo se percibió como una prolongación postiza que no sé si tendría alguna necesidad de cara a futuras entregas, pero que a esta que lee, una vez el asunto llegado a su conclusión, no logró interesarle esta prolongación.
De todas maneras, la parte que sí era pertinente sí que me ha tenido enganchada y visto todo en conjunto, considero que mereció la pena, pese a sus "desdoros". Goodreads lectores (Autor)
La historia de la protagonista, el inicio del uso de la magia para curar y el inicio de la creación de un gremio de magos, me ha parecido interesante y pertinente.
Pero la historia de la shachakana y "las traidoras" puede que tenga algún interés de cara a la próxima trilogía, no lo sé... pero en sí misma no ha logrado engancharme.
Además, una vez solventado el problema que dio origen a todo el asunto, que siguieran adelante se percibió como anticlimático ya que el asunto había llegado a su fin en realidad y a partir de ahí todo se percibió como una prolongación postiza que no sé si tendría alguna necesidad de cara a futuras entregas, pero que a esta que lee, una vez el asunto llegado a su conclusión, no logró interesarle esta prolongación.
De todas maneras, la parte que sí era pertinente sí que me ha tenido enganchada y visto todo en conjunto, considero que mereció la pena, pese a sus "desdoros". Goodreads lectores (Autor)
October 29, 2025
Okay. Deep breath after I finished this book and I felt like I’ve been teleported, emotionally sandblasted, and then tucked into a cozy magical blanket. 🧙♀️💨🛌 This prequel to The Black Magician Trilogy is high fantasy with strong political drama, light romance, and a hearty serving of magical world-building, and let me tell you, it delivered.
Trudi Canavan’s writing is smooth like enchanted butter. Her prose flows with quiet elegance, no flashy tricks, just solid storytelling that sneaks up on you and punches your feelings with velvet gloves 😌🥊. She builds atmosphere like a pro, and the magic system? So detailed and believable I was mentally applying for an apprenticeship by chapter five. 😂✨
The structure is deliberate, not slow, but... thoughtful. We’re not sprinting, we’re gliding through lush scenes of war, politics, mentorship, and magical ethics. 🧠⚖️ Some might find the pacing a bit methodical early on, but patience is rewarded (in emotionally devastating and glorious ways, naturally).
Characters? YES, please. Real, flawed, and heartbreakingly earnest. There’s a beautiful tension between duty and desire, tradition and change, and one specific character arc had me dramatically gasping like a Victorian boy at a tea scandal 🍵😱.
Target audience: Fantasy lovers who like their magic deep, their politics tangled, and their hearts mildly bruised. Not for adrenaline junkies, but perfect if you want your soul quietly rearranged. ❤️🔥
This book has a bit exposition-heavy at times. But nothing fatal.
Originality? It expands Canavan’s world beautifully, adding rich context to the trilogy. It’s a prequel that matters.
The Magician's Apprentice book whispered to my nerdy heart and then made it scream. Addictive, intelligent, and sneakily emotional. Read it... and read it NOW..! 👏🖤
Trudi Canavan’s writing is smooth like enchanted butter. Her prose flows with quiet elegance, no flashy tricks, just solid storytelling that sneaks up on you and punches your feelings with velvet gloves 😌🥊. She builds atmosphere like a pro, and the magic system? So detailed and believable I was mentally applying for an apprenticeship by chapter five. 😂✨
The structure is deliberate, not slow, but... thoughtful. We’re not sprinting, we’re gliding through lush scenes of war, politics, mentorship, and magical ethics. 🧠⚖️ Some might find the pacing a bit methodical early on, but patience is rewarded (in emotionally devastating and glorious ways, naturally).
Characters? YES, please. Real, flawed, and heartbreakingly earnest. There’s a beautiful tension between duty and desire, tradition and change, and one specific character arc had me dramatically gasping like a Victorian boy at a tea scandal 🍵😱.
Target audience: Fantasy lovers who like their magic deep, their politics tangled, and their hearts mildly bruised. Not for adrenaline junkies, but perfect if you want your soul quietly rearranged. ❤️🔥
This book has a bit exposition-heavy at times. But nothing fatal.
Originality? It expands Canavan’s world beautifully, adding rich context to the trilogy. It’s a prequel that matters.
The Magician's Apprentice book whispered to my nerdy heart and then made it scream. Addictive, intelligent, and sneakily emotional. Read it... and read it NOW..! 👏🖤
July 30, 2012
Although this didn't have the same magical introduction to a new world for me as The Magicians' Guild, I think someone starting with this book may get some of that same feeling, although the pace at which the larger universe is introduced lacks some of the details of the first book.
However, the plot is essentially the story the first book should have had. The main character, Tessia, essentially has the same personality and motivations as Sonea of the original trilogy, and the same issues with falling in love with authority figures, but the plot is much more smoothly written with very little of the overbearing foreshadowing. The final endings weren't really a surprise and were prepared for in prior events, but were still not annoyingly obvious.
While this was an extremely enjoyable book, it still wasn't very deep or thoughtful. Just a simple, enjoyable, well-written fantasy adventure. There is some discussion of slavery, war, and women's rights but it doesn't really take advantage of the setting to really delve into any of these issues. If you are looking for a nuanced discussion of morality, you won't find it here. The superficiality in that borders on young adult, but both the story and writing are enjoying and enrapturing. Its a fun journey, but don't expect to learn or think much about the world, at least in complicated terms. There is a heroic villain - a man fighting for the good side who has lost sight of morality and does evil things for good ends, but that is about as far as thinking goes.
Just sit back and enjoy the adventure.
However, the plot is essentially the story the first book should have had. The main character, Tessia, essentially has the same personality and motivations as Sonea of the original trilogy, and the same issues with falling in love with authority figures, but the plot is much more smoothly written with very little of the overbearing foreshadowing. The final endings weren't really a surprise and were prepared for in prior events, but were still not annoyingly obvious.
While this was an extremely enjoyable book, it still wasn't very deep or thoughtful. Just a simple, enjoyable, well-written fantasy adventure. There is some discussion of slavery, war, and women's rights but it doesn't really take advantage of the setting to really delve into any of these issues. If you are looking for a nuanced discussion of morality, you won't find it here. The superficiality in that borders on young adult, but both the story and writing are enjoying and enrapturing. Its a fun journey, but don't expect to learn or think much about the world, at least in complicated terms. There is a heroic villain - a man fighting for the good side who has lost sight of morality and does evil things for good ends, but that is about as far as thinking goes.
Just sit back and enjoy the adventure.
October 8, 2011
Actual Rating: 2.5 stars
Well, I liked it, but I certainly didn't love it. The premise sounded very promising--I love fantasies about strong, young women discovering their magical powers and learning how to control them to fight against evil--and the writing was certainly quite acceptable. But, somehow, this one fell a little short for me.
For one thing, the pacing for the most part was very plodding and slow and the plot was rather dull in places. There was a lot of talk about fighting, but not really a lot of action. The "battle", if it could be called that, seemed very sporadic and anticlimatic. There wasn't really a thrilling final battle scene despite the build-up to it and the rather voluminous length of the book.
For the most part, I liked Tessia and her dedication to using her magic for healing, but I just wish we could have seen more of her in the book. Sometimes, I don't mind multiple points of view in a story, but sometimes it's nice to follow one main character instead of several. As for Jayan, once he got over his arrogant, standoffish attitude, he became a little more likeable toward the end. Dakon seemed like a genuinely nice man with a lot of integrity and compassion. But, somehow, the rest of the characters were a little too one-dimensional and we really didn't learn an awful lot about them.
I know this is a prequel to the Black Magician Trilogy and I do intend to read the first book in that series in the near future. Reviews seem to indicate that this trilogy is quite good, so I'm willing to give it a try.
Well, I liked it, but I certainly didn't love it. The premise sounded very promising--I love fantasies about strong, young women discovering their magical powers and learning how to control them to fight against evil--and the writing was certainly quite acceptable. But, somehow, this one fell a little short for me.
For one thing, the pacing for the most part was very plodding and slow and the plot was rather dull in places. There was a lot of talk about fighting, but not really a lot of action. The "battle", if it could be called that, seemed very sporadic and anticlimatic. There wasn't really a thrilling final battle scene despite the build-up to it and the rather voluminous length of the book.
For the most part, I liked Tessia and her dedication to using her magic for healing, but I just wish we could have seen more of her in the book. Sometimes, I don't mind multiple points of view in a story, but sometimes it's nice to follow one main character instead of several. As for Jayan, once he got over his arrogant, standoffish attitude, he became a little more likeable toward the end. Dakon seemed like a genuinely nice man with a lot of integrity and compassion. But, somehow, the rest of the characters were a little too one-dimensional and we really didn't learn an awful lot about them.
I know this is a prequel to the Black Magician Trilogy and I do intend to read the first book in that series in the near future. Reviews seem to indicate that this trilogy is quite good, so I'm willing to give it a try.
April 20, 2021
3'5/5🌟
No estuvo mal. Me ha gustado mucho mas los libros principales del gremio de los magos pero aun así me ha gustado y he disfrutado de volver a leer este mundo que me encanto desde que empecé a leer esta trilogía.
Eso si se me ha hecho muy largo debido a los capítulos extensos que tiene a parte de ser un libro bastante gordo.
Pero aun así lo disfrute además de que con este libro se entiende como ha llegado todo a ser como en él primer libro del gremio de los magos lo cual a sido muy interesante. Y con esto aclaro que es un libro que se puede leer perfectamente sin haber leído los otros , pero creo que quien haya leído la trilogía lo va a disfrutar bastante .
No estuvo mal. Me ha gustado mucho mas los libros principales del gremio de los magos pero aun así me ha gustado y he disfrutado de volver a leer este mundo que me encanto desde que empecé a leer esta trilogía.
Eso si se me ha hecho muy largo debido a los capítulos extensos que tiene a parte de ser un libro bastante gordo.
Pero aun así lo disfrute además de que con este libro se entiende como ha llegado todo a ser como en él primer libro del gremio de los magos lo cual a sido muy interesante. Y con esto aclaro que es un libro que se puede leer perfectamente sin haber leído los otros , pero creo que quien haya leído la trilogía lo va a disfrutar bastante .
January 31, 2016
Olete lugenud sarja "Musta võluri triloogia", autoriks austraallane Trudi Canavan?
Kui ei, siis ruttu lugema, sest see on täis põnevust ja maagiat. Selle aasta lugemise väljakutse nõuab ka ühe võlukunsti raamatu lugemist, nii et kui raamatukogus mulle sarja eellugu ette juhtus, teadsin kohe, et see minuga koju tuleb.
"The Magician's Apprentice" algab Kyralia põhjaosas piiri lähedal väikeses külakeses Mandryn, kus ravitsejaks pürgival Tessial võluvõimed avalduvad. Temast saab kohaliku maagi Lord Dakoni õplane. Peagi liigub sündmustik kodust kaugele, sest naaberriik Sachaka ei mahuta enam kõiki oma võlureid ära ning osa neist otsustab Kyralia vallutada. Mööda maad rännates pannakse proovile nii Tessia maagiaõpingud kui ka ravitsejaoskused.
See fantaasiaromaan sobib lugeda ka siis, kui sari ise lugemata, sest sündmused toimuvad mitusada aastat enne triloogia keskmes oleva Võlurite gildi loomist. Õigupoolest, saab sealt aimu, kuidas gild üldse olema sai. Canavan on selle eellooga süvenenudki oma loodud maailma ajalukku, seletades mitme koha tekkelugusid. Sinna ümber on kirjutatud ka sõjalugu, mis mulle paraku kesiseks, sest suur osa raamatust oli mööda maad rändamine ning lahingud jäid nõrgaks ning ka ebaloogilisteks.
Lisaks Tessiale ning tema kaaskondlastele, on üheks tegelaseks Stara, kelle kaudu näeme naiste ahistamist Sachaka ühiskonnas. Temast meeldis mulle isegi rohkem lugeda, kui Kyralia võluritest, aga ülejäänud loost oli tema oma täiesti eraldi ning lõpuks kohtusid süžeeliinid reaalselt umbes pooleks leheküljeks. Materjali Starast oli terve eraldi raamatu jagu ning lugu jäi üpriski põnevas kohas veel pooleli. Mulle oleks tema lugu eraldi teosena rohkem meeldinud.
Ka ülejäänud romaani oleks tegelikult andnud pikemaks venitada, seega mulle tegelikult meeldis, et autor oli kõik ühte paksu raamatusse mahutanud, mitte eellooks uut triloogiat kirjutanud, sest järellugu on sellisel kujul juba olemas ning plaanis ka kunagi käsile võtta.
Kui ei, siis ruttu lugema, sest see on täis põnevust ja maagiat. Selle aasta lugemise väljakutse nõuab ka ühe võlukunsti raamatu lugemist, nii et kui raamatukogus mulle sarja eellugu ette juhtus, teadsin kohe, et see minuga koju tuleb.
"The Magician's Apprentice" algab Kyralia põhjaosas piiri lähedal väikeses külakeses Mandryn, kus ravitsejaks pürgival Tessial võluvõimed avalduvad. Temast saab kohaliku maagi Lord Dakoni õplane. Peagi liigub sündmustik kodust kaugele, sest naaberriik Sachaka ei mahuta enam kõiki oma võlureid ära ning osa neist otsustab Kyralia vallutada. Mööda maad rännates pannakse proovile nii Tessia maagiaõpingud kui ka ravitsejaoskused.
See fantaasiaromaan sobib lugeda ka siis, kui sari ise lugemata, sest sündmused toimuvad mitusada aastat enne triloogia keskmes oleva Võlurite gildi loomist. Õigupoolest, saab sealt aimu, kuidas gild üldse olema sai. Canavan on selle eellooga süvenenudki oma loodud maailma ajalukku, seletades mitme koha tekkelugusid. Sinna ümber on kirjutatud ka sõjalugu, mis mulle paraku kesiseks, sest suur osa raamatust oli mööda maad rändamine ning lahingud jäid nõrgaks ning ka ebaloogilisteks.
Lisaks Tessiale ning tema kaaskondlastele, on üheks tegelaseks Stara, kelle kaudu näeme naiste ahistamist Sachaka ühiskonnas. Temast meeldis mulle isegi rohkem lugeda, kui Kyralia võluritest, aga ülejäänud loost oli tema oma täiesti eraldi ning lõpuks kohtusid süžeeliinid reaalselt umbes pooleks leheküljeks. Materjali Starast oli terve eraldi raamatu jagu ning lugu jäi üpriski põnevas kohas veel pooleli. Mulle oleks tema lugu eraldi teosena rohkem meeldinud.
Ka ülejäänud romaani oleks tegelikult andnud pikemaks venitada, seega mulle tegelikult meeldis, et autor oli kõik ühte paksu raamatusse mahutanud, mitte eellooks uut triloogiat kirjutanud, sest järellugu on sellisel kujul juba olemas ning plaanis ka kunagi käsile võtta.
April 25, 2022
SPOILER FREE
The Magician’s Apprentice is essentially an explanation for how the world came to be in The Black Magician trilogy. Trudi Canavan has created an epic fantasy world with a rich history and vibrant characters.
The magic system might not be particularly complex, like something we might see from Brandon Sanderson, but there are costs and a method for wielding it.
Tessia is one of my favourite main characters Canavan has created
She begins life in a typical rural setting but is soon thrust into the larger world. It was fascinating – on several levels – exploring this new world with her.
Knowing a little of this world from reading The Black Magician trilogy, seeing it before its destruction was wonderful. It adds so much to the history and cultures explored in the main trilogy.
The plot itself is a typical Trudi Canavan plot:
in The Magician’s Apprentice, our main character works her way from the bottom of the food chain to a main cog in the progression of the larger events that take place. The plot isn’t complex but it’s compelling and thoroughly enjoyable.
I can’t say any more due to possible spoilers, but I would like to finish this review by saying that this prequel does what many prequels struggle to do well – it adds valuable characters, worldbuilding, and history to the story it is coming before.
If you loved The Black Magician trilogy, then you will love this.
View the full review at The Fantasy Review
The Magician’s Apprentice is essentially an explanation for how the world came to be in The Black Magician trilogy. Trudi Canavan has created an epic fantasy world with a rich history and vibrant characters.
The magic system might not be particularly complex, like something we might see from Brandon Sanderson, but there are costs and a method for wielding it.
Tessia is one of my favourite main characters Canavan has created
She begins life in a typical rural setting but is soon thrust into the larger world. It was fascinating – on several levels – exploring this new world with her.
Knowing a little of this world from reading The Black Magician trilogy, seeing it before its destruction was wonderful. It adds so much to the history and cultures explored in the main trilogy.
The plot itself is a typical Trudi Canavan plot:
in The Magician’s Apprentice, our main character works her way from the bottom of the food chain to a main cog in the progression of the larger events that take place. The plot isn’t complex but it’s compelling and thoroughly enjoyable.
I can’t say any more due to possible spoilers, but I would like to finish this review by saying that this prequel does what many prequels struggle to do well – it adds valuable characters, worldbuilding, and history to the story it is coming before.
If you loved The Black Magician trilogy, then you will love this.
View the full review at The Fantasy Review
May 30, 2019
Im so disappointed. Oh why, dear Canavan, have you let me down.
One day me and Emer discussed in A Book Nirvana group about how often books read at younger age are the ones that stick to all-time-favorites lists rather than new ones. And Trudi Canavans The Black Magicians trilogy was exactly that to me. An all time favorite read at a young age. I also loved the Traitor Spy Trilogy which followed that but this was sadly weak for me.
Alltogether 702 pages. The first 300 flew by but the last 400... I reallly had to force myself through it. So much repetition without anything actually happening. All those small battles and encouters couldve been summed up in one chapter and concentrate on bigger stuff. Show snippets of the bigger situations. Reading through every step they took in a beginning war made me as tired as the walking magicians mustve felt.
I still love Canavan's writing though and I absolutely loved to learn more about the Black magicians world and how the Guild came to be.
One day me and Emer discussed in A Book Nirvana group about how often books read at younger age are the ones that stick to all-time-favorites lists rather than new ones. And Trudi Canavans The Black Magicians trilogy was exactly that to me. An all time favorite read at a young age. I also loved the Traitor Spy Trilogy which followed that but this was sadly weak for me.
Alltogether 702 pages. The first 300 flew by but the last 400... I reallly had to force myself through it. So much repetition without anything actually happening. All those small battles and encouters couldve been summed up in one chapter and concentrate on bigger stuff. Show snippets of the bigger situations. Reading through every step they took in a beginning war made me as tired as the walking magicians mustve felt.
I still love Canavan's writing though and I absolutely loved to learn more about the Black magicians world and how the Guild came to be.
August 22, 2021
*3,5
Książka przyzwoicie napisana i muszę przyznać, że podobała mi się nieco bardziej niż sama główna historia, czyli Trylogia Czarnego Maga. Nie wciągnęłam się w nią jednak tak bardzo jak bym chciała, więc nieco się z nią męczyłam.
Zacznę od tego, co mi się podobało. Polubiłam Tessię i to, że nie porzuciła swoich marzeń o zostaniu uzdrowicielem po tym, kiedy się dowiedziała, że potrafi władać magią tylko starała się udoskonalać swoje umiejętności. Poza tym dobrze zostało pokazane niewolnictwo i walka z takim traktowaniem człowieka, poprzez ukazanie historii z perspektywy nie tylko głównej bohaterki, ale również niewolnika. Mało tego, nie ma tu mocno zarysowanego wątku miłosnego, a fabuła jest spójna i nie ma większych niejasności.
Niestety minusy też występują. Jak już wspomniałam fabuła mi się niesamowicie dłużyła. Było tak wiele niepotrzebnych monologów i przemyśleń, że niektóre omijałam. Powiem więcej, momentami miałam wrażenie, że książka jest o wszystkim i o niczym. Miałam nadzieję na to, że zostanie opisane to, jak powstała Gildia Magów, która jest tak ważna w głównej historii. Ale dostałam tylko przemyślenia, że przydałoby się takową Gildię założyć, mamy przesunięcie w czasie i okazuje się, że ta instytucja już funkcjonuje.
Spodziewałam się czegoś innego, ale najgorzej nie wyszło. Nie żałuję przeczytania, ale nie była to jedna z lepszych książek fantasy jaką przeczytałam. Nie przywiązałam się do bohaterów, a momentami podczas czytania zdarzyło mi się przysnąć.
Książka przyzwoicie napisana i muszę przyznać, że podobała mi się nieco bardziej niż sama główna historia, czyli Trylogia Czarnego Maga. Nie wciągnęłam się w nią jednak tak bardzo jak bym chciała, więc nieco się z nią męczyłam.
Zacznę od tego, co mi się podobało. Polubiłam Tessię i to, że nie porzuciła swoich marzeń o zostaniu uzdrowicielem po tym, kiedy się dowiedziała, że potrafi władać magią tylko starała się udoskonalać swoje umiejętności. Poza tym dobrze zostało pokazane niewolnictwo i walka z takim traktowaniem człowieka, poprzez ukazanie historii z perspektywy nie tylko głównej bohaterki, ale również niewolnika. Mało tego, nie ma tu mocno zarysowanego wątku miłosnego, a fabuła jest spójna i nie ma większych niejasności.
Niestety minusy też występują. Jak już wspomniałam fabuła mi się niesamowicie dłużyła. Było tak wiele niepotrzebnych monologów i przemyśleń, że niektóre omijałam. Powiem więcej, momentami miałam wrażenie, że książka jest o wszystkim i o niczym. Miałam nadzieję na to, że zostanie opisane to, jak powstała Gildia Magów, która jest tak ważna w głównej historii. Ale dostałam tylko przemyślenia, że przydałoby się takową Gildię założyć, mamy przesunięcie w czasie i okazuje się, że ta instytucja już funkcjonuje.
Spodziewałam się czegoś innego, ale najgorzej nie wyszło. Nie żałuję przeczytania, ale nie była to jedna z lepszych książek fantasy jaką przeczytałam. Nie przywiązałam się do bohaterów, a momentami podczas czytania zdarzyło mi się przysnąć.
October 20, 2021
3,75/5 ⭐
May 8, 2010
Retardation galore! The prequel to Black Magician Trilogy is riddled with boring, tedious narrative, moralizing talk for primary school kids and tons of ridiculously funny gaffes that would make people on literary constructive crit boards roll with laughter. It doesn't explain anything about the magic from the trilogy. This book's setting doesn't even match the trilogy and some of the situations plainly contradict the rules laid out in the other books. Overall it looks like a rehashed draft or a retelling of the trilogy - the similarities of plot and characters are very noticeable.
The Magician's Apprentice is chock-full with amazing examples of characters' stupidity. Everybody is a dumb simpleton; I guess this is Canavan's way of catering to younger readers. The most notable examples include:
1) people "hiding" on a forest clearing (wut?)
2) the battles look like this: two groups of people bombard each other with fireballs. The end.
3) perhaps the thing that made me roar with laughter every time it was mentioned was the "army". Consisting of... 100 people! And that's together with reinforcements from the entire country! The initial "army" counted about 20 persons! Is this book written for people who can count only on their fingers?
4) the final "army" counts were: 110 people vs 66 people. That was, like, the biggest battle of the century. Please remember, the first border skirmish was 4 vs 2.
5) both countries do not appear to have any normal troops. Law reinforcement = mages... magicians, who aren't even trained to the job. Just how dumb it can get?
6) about 100 people travel with wagons, horses, kids, livestock (!), after rain, with the enemy less than a day ride behind them - and they think they won't be found. The best thing is, they really lost the enemy. LOL
7) Canavan is totally a yaoi fangirl. We have one declared gay dude and two "suspects". The first suspect is suspected because he called his friend "friend". The second suspect is suspicious because he allowed another male to reassure him in difficult situation via placing his hand on his arm. That's very suspicious! The main characters, who witnessed these extraordinary situations, immediately noticed these anomalies! :D
I don't even mention the characters because they're all cardboard-cut.
All in all, it was amazingly boring for something containing so many
things you could laugh at. This book is pathetic.
The Magician's Apprentice is chock-full with amazing examples of characters' stupidity. Everybody is a dumb simpleton; I guess this is Canavan's way of catering to younger readers. The most notable examples include:
1) people "hiding" on a forest clearing (wut?)
2) the battles look like this: two groups of people bombard each other with fireballs. The end.
3) perhaps the thing that made me roar with laughter every time it was mentioned was the "army". Consisting of... 100 people! And that's together with reinforcements from the entire country! The initial "army" counted about 20 persons! Is this book written for people who can count only on their fingers?
4) the final "army" counts were: 110 people vs 66 people. That was, like, the biggest battle of the century. Please remember, the first border skirmish was 4 vs 2.
5) both countries do not appear to have any normal troops. Law reinforcement = mages... magicians, who aren't even trained to the job. Just how dumb it can get?
6) about 100 people travel with wagons, horses, kids, livestock (!), after rain, with the enemy less than a day ride behind them - and they think they won't be found. The best thing is, they really lost the enemy. LOL
7) Canavan is totally a yaoi fangirl. We have one declared gay dude and two "suspects". The first suspect is suspected because he called his friend "friend". The second suspect is suspicious because he allowed another male to reassure him in difficult situation via placing his hand on his arm. That's very suspicious! The main characters, who witnessed these extraordinary situations, immediately noticed these anomalies! :D
I don't even mention the characters because they're all cardboard-cut.
All in all, it was amazingly boring for something containing so many
things you could laugh at. This book is pathetic.
January 23, 2016
Well, once I read the other reviews and figured out this was a prequel to a trilogy, the bizarre pacing made more sense. The narrative switches between several characters, something that rarely works for me--I always end up liking one character more than another and I can never get into a groove one way or the other. The same was true here. I really liked Lord Dakon and Tessia but I could have done without the others, especially the character that popped in about halfway through the book. Sachka just showed up randomly and I shrugged it off at first, assuming it would all come together in the end. But does it? No! I understand her actions are important later in the history of the world and the author was trying to shove her in here to explain her origins, but as a stand alone work it completely messed with the story. Overall, I found it lagged a lot during the middle and then had a really uneven, unsatisfying ending. I won't be reading another one by this author!
March 22, 2016
I lost interest about page 200. After the interesting beginning, the plot became one of those "frolicking around countryside, letting the suspense wane" types.
I liked the character of Tessia - a pity that she didn't have much to do. Also, the interesting merging of the magic and medicine was hastly done. I would have loved to see it more developed. The relationships were nicely developed, but some of the character progression didn't make much sense (I'm tired of the "he's a paranoid schizophrenic type haunted by traumatic experiences, let's have him revel in killing for no reason" lines of thought).
I feel like this prequel was full of stuff for fans of the original trilogy because the inclusion didn't make any sense to me. For example, Stara's story didn't add anything new to the story. I hadn't read the Black Magician trilogy, so it was just more boring drivel.
I liked the character of Tessia - a pity that she didn't have much to do. Also, the interesting merging of the magic and medicine was hastly done. I would have loved to see it more developed. The relationships were nicely developed, but some of the character progression didn't make much sense (I'm tired of the "he's a paranoid schizophrenic type haunted by traumatic experiences, let's have him revel in killing for no reason" lines of thought).
I feel like this prequel was full of stuff for fans of the original trilogy because the inclusion didn't make any sense to me. For example, Stara's story didn't add anything new to the story. I hadn't read the Black Magician trilogy, so it was just more boring drivel.
April 20, 2015
No parece que le falte medio libro como a los de la primera trilogía de Kyralia, pero la narración sigue sin ser demasiado buena.
La historia es curiosa aunque predecible una vez conoces a los personajes y las descripciones son demasiado escuetas. A veces tienes la sensación de haberte perdido una parte completa y en realidad solo te has saltado una línea.
Por mucha batalla y guerra que haya en una historia, si no sabes narrarla, siempre le faltará sustancia al libro. Leeré la última parte de las crónicas de Kyralia y si no me convence aparcaré a esta autora en el estante. Una lástima, porque tiene buena imaginación.
La historia es curiosa aunque predecible una vez conoces a los personajes y las descripciones son demasiado escuetas. A veces tienes la sensación de haberte perdido una parte completa y en realidad solo te has saltado una línea.
Por mucha batalla y guerra que haya en una historia, si no sabes narrarla, siempre le faltará sustancia al libro. Leeré la última parte de las crónicas de Kyralia y si no me convence aparcaré a esta autora en el estante. Una lástima, porque tiene buena imaginación.
February 27, 2009
Well written, solidly characterised, nicely constructed. But dull.
Might be a good one for those who are new to Fantasy - a way in, as Brooks' Sword of Shannara , Eddings' Pawn of Prophecy or Ray Feist's Magician was for many. And for those who are fans of the Black Magician series, (of which this is a prequel), I can see this being a much desired book.
But for me the plot was just way, way too obvious, the characters a little too cookie-cut. I lost interest very quickly.
Might be a good one for those who are new to Fantasy - a way in, as Brooks' Sword of Shannara , Eddings' Pawn of Prophecy or Ray Feist's Magician was for many. And for those who are fans of the Black Magician series, (of which this is a prequel), I can see this being a much desired book.
But for me the plot was just way, way too obvious, the characters a little too cookie-cut. I lost interest very quickly.
November 23, 2021
Das ist das langweiligste und langatmigste Buch, das ich jemals gelesen habe. Am liebsten würde ich Minussterne geben, so enttäuscht bin ich. Die anderen Bücher der Autorin habe ich verschlungen. Schade.
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