Review: The Magician's Guild by Trudi Canavan

Name: The Magician's Guild
Author: Trudi Canavan
Pages: 465
Format: Paperback
Publisher: Orbit
ISBN: 978-1-84149-960-4
Rating: 4/5

**Synopsis taken from the back of the book**

 "Each year the magicians of Imardin gather to purge the city streets of beggars, urchins and miscreants. Masters of the disciplines of magic, they know that no one can oppose them. But their protective shield is not as impenetrable as they believe.As the mob is herded from the city, Sonea, a young street girl, furious at the authorities' treatment of her family and friends, hurls a stone at the shield, putting all of her rage behind it. To the amazement of all who watch, there is a flash of blue light and the stone passes straight through the barrier and cracks a magican on the temple, rendering him unconscious.After five hundred years of order, the guild's worst fear has been realised - an untrained magician is loose on the streets. She must be found, and quickly, before her uncontrolled powers unleash forces that will destroy both her, and the city that is her home." 

Having been told multiple times that I need to read these I finally picked up the first novel in the Black Magician trilogy. I was not disappointed. The world is so well developed and, if you forget about the magic, believable. Sonea is such a great character. I've heard a few people say that they aren't fond of her which admittedly I can see why. She's very naive in this first novel but you need to remember, she is a child. 

Rothen. The most awesome Magician ever. The way he looks after Sonea is adorable, she's like the daughter he never had. I like how he interacts with the other Magicians too, you can see the respect they have for him.

I felt the start of this novel was awfully slow. Sonea's hiding phase seemed to go on and on but once the story actually picked up pace I really liked how it played out. The emphasis on the hierarchy within Imardin was done very well too, if it annoyed me to no end how Reign managed to get away with so much. 

I went straight out to get the rest of the books in this series. 

Have you read this? 

Katie x