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The Magicians' Guild (Black Magician, Bk 1)
The Magicians' Guild - Black Magician, Bk 1
Author: Trudi Canavan
"We should expect this young woman to be more powerful than our average novice, possibly even more powerful than the average magician." — This year, like every other, the magicians of Imardin gather to purge the city of undesirables. Cloaked in the protection of their sorcery, they move with no fear of the vagrants and miscreants who de...  more »
ISBN-13: 9780060575281
ISBN-10: 006057528X
Publication Date: 1/27/2004
Pages: 384
Rating:
  • Currently 3.9/5 Stars.
 251

3.9 stars, based on 251 ratings
Publisher: Eos
Book Type: Mass Market Paperback
Other Versions: Hardcover
Members Wishing: 0
Reviews: Member | Amazon | Write a Review

Top Member Book Reviews

Spuddie avatar reviewed The Magicians' Guild (Black Magician, Bk 1) on + 412 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 13
Black Magician trilogy Book 1, about a teenage girl named Sonea, a commoner who gets caught up in a protest against the Magicians on Purge day. When she becomes very angry and throws a rock that breaches the Magicians' magical barrier, it's obvious that Sonea must have latent magical power. Soon everyone is searching for her--from the Guild itself to fellow slum dwellers, eager for the reward that turning her in would bring. Sonea is shuttled from hiding place to hiding place by a small group of friends while trying to make sense of her new-found magic power only to discover just how dangerous it can be when she has no idea how to control it. I thoroughly enjoyed this book! The writing style kept you reading on and on, and while it contains many of the elements that make up other fantasy books and is not a terribly unique story line, I thought it was a very well-told story and the author was able to make her characters and settings come to life
reviewed The Magicians' Guild (Black Magician, Bk 1) on + 16 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 7
Great series. Comparable to Raymond Feist's Magician series but darker (only slightly) and with a female protagonist. A coming of age novel
NonExistence avatar reviewed The Magicians' Guild (Black Magician, Bk 1) on + 239 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 7
The Magicians' Guild will not take your breath away like some of the other fantasy series out there but it is definitely
worth a shot. The book did not take long in terms of growing on me though it does feel like it is targeted at teens. The
story moves at a blistering pace and is based on the life of Sonea, a girl with magical powers who does not know that she has them.
The plot: It is exciting, fast paced but extremely simple. There is very little politics and the number of characters leaves
nothing to the reader's imagination. You know who the bad guy is from the very start. Even then, it does not stop you
from reading on.
The characters: I would have to say that the characters are probably the best part of this book.
The writing style: I am uncertain what to say about the writing style. It is good enough and I read the book fairly quickly.
All in all, I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I will be starting the second book today (which is when I finished this).
I would recommend this as a nice book to anyone who likes fantasy.
reviewed The Magicians' Guild (Black Magician, Bk 1) on + 55 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 4
The Magician's Guild is about a girl who unexpectedly comes into her magical powers. Sonea is from the slums, and most magicians in the guild are from the Houses, the caste of noblemen. Sonea is hunted by the magicians because they fear the danger she will pose to the city if she loses her power. This book is good read.
reviewed The Magicians' Guild (Black Magician, Bk 1) on + 20 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 4
Quick easy read with enough differences from others of this genre to keep it interesting. I enjoyed it enough that I will read the others of the series as well
Read All 20 Book Reviews of "The Magicians Guild Black Magician Bk 1"

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esmestohelit avatar reviewed The Magicians' Guild (Black Magician, Bk 1) on + 109 more book reviews
I don't read a lot of Epic Fantasy. It's not that I don't enjoy it. I'm an impatient reader. I want action within the first few chapters. A proper epic fantasy requires quite a bit of set up. It takes a truly amazing author to keep my attention through 100 pages of set up. Canavan had my full attention at page 1 and kept it through the entire book.

The world building was phenomenal. No matter what part of the city the characters were in, I felt like I was there with them. I could clearly picture the rickety homes in the slums and the grandness of the guild. I could feel the damp of the underground tunnels. And the characters were brilliant. Sonea is one is one of the strongest and most likable characters I've met this year. If I had to deal half the things thrown at her, I would have been a blubbering mess of tears and snot hiding in a corner somewhere. She thought about the decisions she had to make. She didn't run into danger thinking she could over come anything. She knew she couldn't out run everyone, but she's be damned if she's go without a fight. She had just the right amounts of fear and braveness.

This is one of my favorite reads this year. I'm really glad I already have the next book in this series. I can't wait to find out what happens next. I highly recommend this if your looking for something similar to Harry Potter without all the teenage dramatics
ProstheticLips avatar reviewed The Magicians' Guild (Black Magician, Bk 1) on + 25 more book reviews
A quick read, good characters and a believable main character. A little sparse on the "mechanics" of the world / magic, but that is my own personal taste, coming from a science fiction background. All in all, a good start to a series, and a nice entry from a new author (this was Ms. Canavan's first published book).
lsuth avatar reviewed The Magicians' Guild (Black Magician, Bk 1) on + 39 more book reviews
Enjoyable tale. Easy to read. I will get the next one in the series. I haven't been reading much fantasy recently so it was fun.

Book Wiki

Series
People/Characters
Sonea (Primary Character)
Cery (ceryni) (Major Character)
Rothen (Major Character)
Fergun (Major Character)
Dannyl (Major Character)
(Show all 6 People/Characters)
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