The Magician's Guild

The Black Magician Trilogy: Book One

By: Trudi Canavan

Narrated by: Richard Aspel

Length: 15 hrs and 23 mins

Publisher's summary

Sonea is caught up in a confrontation between the hated Guild magicians and the angry youth of the slums. To her dismay, she discovers that she possesses the same powers as the reviled magicians. To avoid capture, she must seek protection from the city's feared underworld, The Thieves. In return, she must use her powers for them, but her magic never seems to do quite what she intends it to.

©2004 Trudi Canavan (P)2004 Bolinda Publishing Pty Ltd.

Critic reviews

"The first part of the Black Magician Trilogy, this captivating tale has already been hailed by critics as a 'must for lovers of good fantasy'." ( Marie Claire)

Amazing!

Loved listening to the story. Would highly recommend to fantasy-lovers. Was always eager to continue the book.

Better story than narrator

The story is definitely quite good, especially for this genre - sure, it's a little cliched (poor child from the slums accidentally discovers s/he has huge magical powers; pursuit ensues; epic battle between good and evil changes a society in which magicians can move things with their minds but no one has managed to invent, say, central heating yet) but it's fairly well-written and character development is good.

However, the reader - Richard Aspel - isn't all that great. Some reviewers have criticized his 'raspy' voice and accents, but those aren't the problem. It's that the best readers tend also to be good actors - think Ian Carmichael, Jonathan Cecil, Anton Lesser - and this guy just isn't. When you're reading, it's REALLY important to put the stresses on the right words/syllables (even a sentence like "That's great!" can be read in a whole lot of different ways, all of which change the meaning), and I think part of the problem other people were having with this was that Aspel wasn't putting the right inflection into the words. It doesn't ruin it or anything - it's just that it could be a lot better.

Is this going to be your favourite audiobook ever? Unlikely. But if you like the genre, you could do a lot worse than this one.

Started slow but I’m glad I stuck with it

I listen to audiobooks while running so it’s very important to me that the book is able to hold my interest at all times. This means either the plot is quick moving and/or the writing is captivating enough to maintain a high level of interest.

As with most high fantasy books, world building and character introductions dominated the start of the book and after the first big “event” the plot slowed for a bit too long. However, I’m glad I stuck with it because I really enjoyed the story for the second half and am excited to continue the series. There was just enough of a conclusion to feel satisfied while leaving plenty of intrigue for future novels, something I very rarely say.

Awesome Read

A great book to dive into and get lost in!

I really enjoyed this first book and can’t wait to binge the next one 🤓

Already dreading that there are only two more to read, lol.

Will explore my the same author after finishing this trilogy.

Great trilogy

worth the time and money spent it keep me going on all three books. wish they had more.

Too predictable

The story is way too predictable and the characters are mostly stereotypes. There's no depth behind their opinions or actions. Malicious bad guy is malicious because, well, he just is that kind of guy. Good guy is good because, well, I have no idea why.

These straight forward stereotypes make the plot very predictable. Something happens, how would the stereotypical malicious guy react to that? Well, that's exactly what he does and thus moves the plot forward a bit. How would stereotypical good guy react in that situation? Okay, he reacts exactly like that and moves the plot forward. Considering the cover says this is the first book in a trilogy you can easily guess the overall direction and goal. Repeat until you have arrived there.

This book might be okay for younger readers or otherwise inexperienced readers who haven't yet started to expect more from a plot and the characters.

I like the narrator but I think a female narrator would have been better since the main character is female.

An enjoyable start to a fun story

What other book might you compare The Magician's Guild to and why?

This book in many ways reminds me of the dragon age circle mages. While its not as extreme mages are held apart from society in many ways.

Any additional comments?

The first book starts very focused on the divide of rich and poor. Later on this idea is mostly lost as character back story and makes way for the deeper over aching story. If the primary plot of all books had been based around this Idea it would have made an excellent story in its own right. The fact that later in this book and moving into the rest of the story this is mostly set aside and causes a rift in the story telling that has a negative effect on the overall story. This is mended as you get deeper into the main plot line. If your able to hold out past this bad transition you will enjoy this book. For the most part this story is very PG to PG13. The writer mostly avoids foul language and fights are more about the battles than the depiction of death.

not impressed

I am less than 1/2 through this book and am having a very hard time listening to it. The narrator is very hard to listen to. The story I HOPE will get better. I will listen because I paid for it.....but struggling!!

One of the best in it's class.

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

If you like magic and intrigue than this is a great book for you. This is the first review I have ever done and this book has inspired me to start.

What did you like best about this story?

The search for Sonea by the magicians and the protection of the thieves as her magical powers begin to show.

What does Richard Aspel bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

As with most narrators he provides an emotional connection to the story.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Absolutely! As with any great read it is hard to stop at any point.

Any additional comments?

I think you will find yourself looking forward to book 2 in the series before you finish the first.

The Abridgement is better

What a story! Yet it becomes as slow as Bram Stoker's Dracula at places. Irrespective of this flaw, Canavan is able to engulf the listener in her fantasy world.

I would suggest the abridged audio book read by Samantha Bond over and against this reading by Richard Aspel. I found his accent at some places difficult, also his pronunciation of the names of the characters sounded improbable. Bond's interpretation gives so much more life to the story.