The Black Magician (novel series)
| Author | Trudi Canavan |
|---|---|
| Country | Australia |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Fantasy, Young adult fiction |
| Publisher | Orbit Books |
| Media type | Print (Hardcover and Paperback) |
| Preceded by | The Magician's Apprentice (Prequel) |
| Followed by | The Traitor Spy Trilogy |
The Black Magician trilogy is a fantasy novel series written by Australian author Trudi Canavan. The books follow a slum-dwelling girl named Sonea who, although born and raised in the slums of Imardin, discovers that she has natural magical abilities usually restricted to the upper classes. They describe her attempts to escape capture by the Magicians' Guild and gain control of her powers, her struggle to fit in and learn magic, and ultimately her attempts save Kyralia using the one type of magic forbidden from use. Although the series is composed of only three books, it is accompanied by a prequel entitled The Magician's Apprentice and a sequel series, called The Traitor Spy trilogy.
This novel is continuation of the 'The Magician's Apprentice' five centuries on. The Magician's Guild now consists of three department: healers, alchemists, and warriors. Sonea, a slum girl, discovers that she has magical ability during the city's annual Purge, in which slum-dwellers are forced out of the outer-circle of the city and back into the slums. With the help of her friend Cery she attempts to evade capture by the Magicians' Guild whom she believes wish to harm her. The Guild, however, must find her in order to teach her to control her powers, because if she is not taught this, she will eventually lose control completely, killing herself and destroying part of the city. Only a magician can teach her this. Finally, on the brink of losing control, she is found and captured by one of the Guild Magicians, a kind man named Rothen who wishes for her to join their ranks. Fergun, another Magician, is one of the many who believe that slum-dwellers, who have never before been allowed into the Guild, should not be Magicians. He captures Cery and tries to use him to blackmail Sonea into lying to the Guild in order to convince them to allow him to take guardianship of her. However, his plan is foiled when Cery is discovered by the High Lord of the Guild, Akkarin. When Fergun thus has lost his hold on Sonea, she comes clean about the blackmail, and Lord Lorlen, the Guild's Administrator, reads Sonea's mind to verify the truth and inadvertently discovers that she earlier had witnessed the Guild's leader, High Lord Akkarin, practicing forbidden black magic.
Sonea begins studies at the Guild University as a Novice but her charismatic and influential classmate, Regin, sways the opinion of the other first-year Novices, turning them against her. Through various means (stealing a classmate's pen and putting it in Sonea's private box, setting out rumours of her having killed someone, among other things) he attempts to convince everyone, including the teachers, that she is little more than a thief and far below them in status. Lorlen sends Dannyl, Rothen's former Novice, to Kyralia's neighbouring land Elyne as a second ambassador of Elyne, to follow the research Akkarin did as a young man, trying to discover where he learned black magic without letting Dannyl know what the research is for. High Lord Akkarin discovers that Lorlen knows of his secret (that Akkarin has used black magic), and by reading his mind finds that Sonea and Rothen also possess this knowledge. Akarrin claims guardianship over Sonea in order to keep their silence and she reluctantly moves into the High Lord's Residence. Regin's bullying intensifies until finally Sonea follows an idea given to her by Lord Dorrien, Rothen's son, and challenges Regin to a duel in the Arena and wins. Sonea later witnesses Akkarin kill a Sachakan man, and he explains that the man was a spy sent from Sachaka to kill him, although Sonea doesn't know whether or not to believe him.
...
Wikipedia