Why did you start reading TC?

[Renée]

Which was the first book you read from TC?
And what was the reason you decided to pick up that particular book?
What is it what makes TC writing special for you?

[Renée]

When I was done with the Study and Glass series from Maria V. Snyder I was in desperate need of an new Epic Fantasy series!

My aunt, one of the biggest book addicts ever who works in an bookstore, told me te read TC's books!

So I went to the bookstore and bought the whole BMT. I read all three of them in 4 days. I was in love! Her writing makes you live the stories, not just read them.

After I finished them, I ordered (most bookstores here have a limited list of English books, so I order almost everything on-line) her other books all at once!

Since then I'm addicted! I pre-order every new book and devour them in 2days or less!

[Donna]

Wow! that's impressive Renee!

I also started reading BMT after the Study and Glass series and it kind of took me a while to get into the Magicians Guild, because the chapters jump from person to person (that's kind of confusing, I know! :p) while in the Study and Glass books, the whole story revolves around Yalena Zaltana and Opal Cowan.
But after I got used to the way it was written I was totally engrossed! Defiantly one of the best series I've ever read! :-)

[Renée]

I like the jumping from POV to POV (George R.R. Martin does the same in his 'a Song of Ice and Fire' series) It creates interesting cliffhangers and plot twists!

[Becky]

That's really weird because I read the BMT way before i had even heard of Maria V Snyder! I remember getting really excited when the Age of Five books came out and i had to wait every time until the next one was available.
I found the books in a bookshop and read the first chapter in the shop and then bought it then bribed my parents into taking me back the next day to buy the rest

[Rea]

I too read Trudi Canavan long before Maria V Snyder was even a blip on the publishing world's radar. I much prefer Canavan to Snyder, too. Snyder's style is just too chatty for my preferences.

I was just browsing in the bookstore during a trip to the UK when I came across Trudi Canavan's books. This was just before The Highlord came out and the books were available as both paperback and hardback at the same price. Hardback looked better, I mean, look: or ? Second one all the way.

So my brother and I bought the first and second books then we ordered the last one from Amazon at some astronomical price that we had to bribe our father to pay.

I now own every one of her books, each one in TBM twice. I haven't read the Traitor Spy books yet but I've got them both in hardback. Trudi Canavan is one of the only authors I'll splash out for. I have all her books in hardback and I intend to keep buying all her future releases in hardback too!

[Melaszka]

First TC book I read was The Magician's Guild. I saw it in the library and thought it looked interesting. I don't often read fantasy these days, but something drew me to it - I think it was possibly the fact that it had a female protagonist. I'd been having a lot of discussions in Harry Potter fandom about a comparative lack of central female characters in that series around that time, so I was up for a fantasy series which was a bit more female centric.

I started reading it on a long coach journey and almost immediately got totally engrossed - it's rare for me to get that immersed and the journey flew by.

Some things I like about her books are (a)the multiple PoVs - I love the way that you think you've got a handle on which faction are the good guys, and then she suddenly switches to the other faction's viewpoint and you realise that both sides have good points and bad points and biased views of each other (b) the fact that it acknowledges social problems like sexism, class snobbery and homophobia, but without getting overly idealistic or preachy. I like the way that Kyralia is a society in progress and that it gradually gets a bit more accepting of oppressed groups, but without having any unrealistic Damascene conversion where it completely changes its ideas overnight. And the way that some characters can hold some offensive ideas about one thing, but still be an OK person overall.

[Christian]

I first noticed the books when I was in Ireland studying. I am from the US, but was in Dublin, studying at Trinity College for the summer. And I am an avid reader, so I was at a book store looking for something new to read. I saw the cover for the Magician's Guild, which is just cool looking (way better than the US covers). So I decided to check it out and the rest is history. I haven't had the chance to read The Traitor Queen just yet, but I am looking forward to the opportunity.

[Rebecca]

The first book I read of Trudi Canavan's was the Magician's Guild, followed by the rest of that series, then the Age of the Five series, and now I've read the Ambassador's Mission and Traitor Spy, but not Traitor Queen - I'm really looking forward to it though.

I first encountered the series as audio-books, which me and my dad used to listen to on the way to school. I remember that we finished High Lord at Christmas when I was twelve - and I was hard pressed not to cry at the ending in front of my dad. In any case, after that I bought the paper-backs of all the Black Magician books, and started looking for other books by Trudi Canavan.

[Tilly]

I read them slightly out of order :
about 3 years ago my mum was looking for a book to get me for Christmas and looked in this bookshop that was closing down. she saw The Novice, thought it looked like the sort of book I'd like and got it. I then read it on Christmas day, not realising it was the 2nd book! when it finally dawned on me there were more, as soon as possible I got the other two! they are so AMAZING, better than Harry Potter any day, I think... :) then before the Traitor Spy trilogy came out I read the Age of the Five books.
Now I've read the first 2 in TTS trilogy and although the Traitor Queen is out I haven't got it yet :/ can't wait to read it though! (however I actually prefer TBM to TTS.)

[Becky]

My mum did that to me as well a few years ago with the Artemis Fowl books, it does take you a while before you realise its not the first book in a series.

[Raimo]

In my case, my brother had purchased and read all three of the books from BMT, and said he really liked them, and that I would like them too if I were to read them. Then one summer, we went to some acquaintances, and I started reading The Magician's Guild. I had read a part at home, but somehow it didn't really grab me, as it of course did later. (I always have that with books and music and games and stuff, it sometimes takes a while for me to get into it.) So when I read it in the summer, I immediately read the other two books afterwards, and the High Lord was of course really awesome, and one of my all-time favourites to date... Oh, and I read the TST way later, and I liked the traitor parts of each book very much (I felt like the other parts where just repetetive...), but I'm not going to say what I thought of TTQ, that might spoil the reading-experience for those among you who have yet to read it^^.

[Shima]

The 1st book was The Novice, and I picked it up because one of my friends recommended it to me.
To me TC's writing has the right amount of fantasy, not too much fighting (I tend to get bored with battles and such which take too long), and the reader can really connect with the characters.

To be honest, the last book I read of TC (Traitor Queen) was really below what I expected of her... So for now I have put TC on hold! In the future I will read the Priestess of the White trilogy :)