The Magicians' Guild (The Black Magician Trilogy #1) in Ultimate Popsugar Reading Challenge

Mar 04, 2017 Naj rated it really liked it

Before you even start reading the book you may have caught in its synopsis: There is someone outside their ranks who possesses a raw power beyond imagining, an untrained mage who must be found and schooled before she destroys herself and her city with a force she cannot yet control.

Or something along those lines. One would expect the book to pull you in and make you question whether the MC is going to live or die in the end. Then you see the title of the second book which is 'Novice' and instant Before you even start reading the book you may have caught in its synopsis: There is someone outside their ranks who possesses a raw power beyond imagining, an untrained mage who must be found and schooled before she destroys herself and her city with a force she cannot yet control.

Or something along those lines. One would expect the book to pull you in and make you question whether the MC is going to live or die in the end. Then you see the title of the second book which is 'Novice' and instantly you know she IS going to live in the end. I don't know how to quite put it... but it's like when you're about to watch a movie but then you see the trailer which pretty much shows every single plot point the story has. Similarly here, you're given promise of a good tale but you're already given hints of its ending. It was disappointing.

Now, sometimes the journey is better than its destination. Maybe it didn't matter that we know she will live in the end. So I trudged through the story anyway - really trudged, for at least the first third of the book. I'm normally a fan of descriptive writing because my imagination can go all sorts of ways out of control and description helps anchor me down. But in this case... the writing was a little too long-winded. I realise now I like fast-moving plots with no wasted pages the likes of Brandon Sanderson. Or if it needs to move at a slower pace why not insert some comic-relief into the tension like Michael J Sullivan.

The first third of the book was hard. I'm not sure when the turning point was - maybe that one scene that was written from Cery's point of view. Somewhere after that first third things really started to pick up. Finally it was a a pace that I could chase after and you know what? I even ended up finishing this book at 3 in the morning! That's how un-put-down-able it became.

There were still a few things I wasn't very satisfied with:

1) The Villain was disappointing. Asides one or two scenes that were pretty good, the rest just seemed forced. There was a backstory and a side plot relating to him but I couldn't really get a feel that he was supposed to be a big obstacle for the main character. A few well-placed scenes point to perhaps a better villain in the future. Here's to hoping.

2) Where is the 'friendship' between Sonea and Cery? I just couldn't be persuaded that they really have a 'thing' between them. Their dynamic pretty much boils down to damsel-in-distress and prince-charming with the damsel being almost wholly dependant on the prince. I only see Cery's attraction to her as being someone who needs him. But I can't seem to figure out what Sonea sees in him at all. I could be wrong.

3) Too many good guys at the Guild. Are they saints? Are there only one or two bad eggs at the Guild? After portraying them to be evil and then making excuses for their activities somewhere mid-way through the book, I got the sense that the author was trying to justify actions done by the upper class (in real life). Why was there a need to over-justify and present an argument in the book? If the author was trying to teach kids in real life to see another side to the story - perhaps this seems like an appropriate insertion.

Regardless of the above... I'm still going to pick up the next book. This first installment ended in a kind of 'soft' cliffhanger, so for those that can't stand not knowing - better have the second book nearby as you might want to get to it immediately. ...more

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