16. The Magicians’ Guild

Happy Friday my most excellent friends! What a week it’s been! I can’t say I have been terribly busy, but the majority of the people I know are finishing undergrads, or having busy weeks doing things at work or with school or college or having serious life changes or personal epiphanies. It is certainly starting to feel like the middle of the year, and what better way to mark the occasion than with the sixteenth novel of the year. This is not my first time. The Magicians’ Guild, and the rest of it’s sister novels in The Black Magician trilogy I’ve read before.

 

The Magicians’ Guild – Trudi Canavan

 

I had a revelation a few weeks ago that reading when younger often resulted in feelings of disorientation. Regardless of how much I enjoyed the novel I would often find myself totally lost in the narrative. The Black Magician trilogy unfortunately belongs to a number of novels I had these feelings about. So as I am now older, wiser, and more attractive *winks*, I have decided to revisit some of these novels to see if I gain any more from them.

And surprise surprise I did! This time around I knew exactly where I was and who was who – always important things. On this read I feel I may have picked up a few subtleties that had previously been very much lost to me. The story follows Sonea while pelting a stone at a magician, is shocked to find it breaks through the magical barrier and knocks him out. This personal discovery is shocking to her, as her social stature is the lowest of the low and only high born families send children with magical potential to the Guild for magical training.

As a magician whose powers have manifested themselves naturally, Sonea is a threat to both herself and the city, and the Magicians’ Guild find themselves in a race to find her. Much like an elaborate game of cat and mouse as she hides within the slums of Imardin and evades them countless times by chance. Of course Sonea and her friends mistakenly believe the magicians intend her harm. From the reputation the magicians have within the slums of Imardin, it is hardly surprising. Quickly Sonea realises the harm she will do herself as the power of her magic grows and unused and unchecked it begins to manifest itself in sporadic ways and ultimately welcomes the Guild’s help with suspicion. (After destroying a street and nearly herself.)

This is a lovely fantasy novel. It’s a simple story and the characters are engaging and I haven’t really gone into some of the finer points of the novel. There is local slum slang, politics, unrequited love, some betrayal and manipulation, and at the centre of it a very unexpected character breaking into a world in which she is very much out of place. I was very much right to love this novel when I first read it all those years ago. Whilst it might not be the most staggering fantasy novel I’ve ever read. It is certainly one of the more endearing, timeless novels I have read. By timeless I mean that it has aged very well and has successfully tempted me back and after all this time there is still plenty to enjoy.

I dare say, I’ll visit again.