The High Lord
First edition cover
|
|
| Author | Trudi Canavan |
|---|---|
| Country | Australia |
| Language | English |
| Series | The Black Magician series |
| Genre | Fantasy novel |
| Publisher | ATOM Books |
|
Publication date
|
2003 |
| Media type | Print (Hardback & Paperback) |
| Pages | 647 pp (UK edition) |
| ISBN | |
| OCLC | 61441400 |
| Preceded by | The Novice |
| Followed by | The Ambassador's Mission |
The High Lord is the third book in The Black Magician series by Trudi Canavan. Published in 2003, it is the sequel to The Novice and The Magicians' Guild and concludes the story of Sonea, a former slum-girl discovered to possess magical potential. Having earned the respect of her fellow students and her teachers, Sonea must face the terrible secret of the High Lord's use of forbidden Black Magic.
A year has passed since Sonea had challenged Regin to a public duel and had beaten Regin by one bout. Since that victory, she has finally won the respect she deserves, not only as a novice with exceptional power, but also as the High Lord's favorite. But even with this new respect, she still has one challenge left to face: Akkarin. Still unable to shake off the memory she has after the duel, she continues to avoid Akkarin.
Ceryni, Sonea's old friend, now has a powerful position with the Thieves. He has a task which he must perform which could cost him his life. But that task is not a secret. A strange woman, named Savara, with great skill knows of this task and wishes to help Cery, however he will not accept her aid as he does not trust her.
Akkarin surprises Sonea by showing her a book, which is an autobiography of Coren, a famous architect. This book reveals that Coren himself had discovered and no doubt used black magic. Sonea is amazed at this knowledge but is suspicious why he has shown this information to her. Akkarin is pleased that Sonea has read the book and gives her another one which is nearly 500 years old. From reading it, Sonea discovers that many centuries ago black magic was referred to as 'higher magic.' The book tells of a novice who desired power and used the higher magic to obtain more power by killing many magicians and absorbing their power. The Guild, in the end, suffered greatly from confronting the novice. They decided to store the knowledge of higher magic and rename it black magic. They sealed the knowledge, hoping that no one would take advantage of that power, but only use it in the greatest need and the knowledge was hidden in a secret passage of the University. The author also tells of a threat from Sachaka, that the Sachakans will have vengeance for losing an ancient war. Only the Head of Warriors knew of this secret weapon, however the knowledge was later lost.
As Sonea starts to absorb this new information, Akkarin takes her into the city in disguise. Sonea realises that the Thieves are in on a secret with Akkarin as they use their 'private road.' Sonea and Akkarin come to a room face to face with a captured Sachakan slave who was sent to see how weak the Guild was. Akkarin starts to search the man, and finds a gold tooth with a red gem inside it; the gem is a blood gem, used by their masters to see and hear what the holder sees, hears and does. Akkarin then tells Sonea that he will teach her to read a mind of an unwilling person. Struggling at first, Sonea discovers the name of the Sachakan. She also discovers that Akkarin was a slave. Amazed and shocked, Sonea starts seeing memories of a group called the Ichani, powerful magicians that have been labeled as outcasts by the Sachakan King. Sonea is then taken outside while Akkarin stays inside and kills the man using black magic.
...
Wikipedia