The Novice

The Black Magician Trilogy, Book 2

By: Trudi Canavan

Narrated by: Richard Aspel

Length: 18 hrs and 33 mins

Publisher's summary

The sequel to The Magicians' Guild, one of Bolinda's top-selling audio books. The High Lord, Book 3 in the trilogy, is scheduled for publication in audio late 2008.

Sonea knows the other novices in the Magicians' Guild all come from powerful families, but she also knows she can turn to Rothen and Dannyl for help when she needs it. That is, until somone starts spreading malicious rumors about her - and Akkarin, The High Lord, steps in.

Promoted to Guild Ambassador, Lord Dannyl leaves for the Elyne court. His first order from Administrator Lorlen is to resume, in secret, High Lord Akkarin's long-abandoned research into ancient magical knowledge. Not knowing the true reason for his journey, Dannyl is soon facing unexpected dangers.

Meanwhile, Sonea has almost forgotten the High Lord's dark secret, but keeping the truth hidden may be a grave mistake.

©2004 Trudi Canavan (P)2008 Bolinda Publishing Pty Ltd

Critic reviews

"...a wonderfully and meticulously detailed world, and an edge-of-the-seat splot, this book is a must for lovers of good fantasy." - Jennifer Fallon

Good story but too much of author’s worldview.

Storyline was interesting and usually exciting. Narration was excellent. Unfortunately though, about a third of this book is an apologetic for the morality and acceptability of homosexuality. The author can write about what she wants but, imho, that didn’t belong in a fantasy book.

Great trilogy

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

Amazing

Where does The Novice rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

The Novice is a great book to listen to, Richard Aspel makes Trudi Canavan's book come to life, he shows emotion and speaks clearly

Could not stop listening

could never stop listening to the story. amazing performance with the voices, and an amazing story

An enjoyable trilogy. A decent performance.

This is an enjoyable trilogy. I got into it more than I thought I would. The author definitely allows you to build an emotional connection to the characters. It was a decent performance by the narrator. Not the best I've heard, but solid enough to not detract in any way from the story.

Weaving a web of plots and story lines.

Would you listen to The Novice again? Why?

Yes! This second book in the Black Magician's Trilogy pulls on the strings of the many different character stories and weaves them together into a compelling story.

Who was your favorite character and why?

The High Lord. One of the few characters who's story is still wrapped in a cloak of mystery. He's intriguing and beguiling and it sucks you into the story!

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

I'm sure that Richard Aspel would add something to the right story. However, this series is not one that I actually enjoy him reading.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

Not extreme, but it did certainly leave me wanting more.

Any additional comments?

Love this book and have read it and/or listened to it three times already!

Very entertaining

Now that I'm used to the narration, really loved the experience. I've read the books and enjoyed the audio just as much

So good!!

I am loving this series and the narrator is great! Can’t wait to read the next one in the series!!!!!

err, yeah, the story continues, kinda

Any additional comments?

So the story continues from the first book, and 75% of the world building seems to disappear. This could probably stand on its own because there are very few connections to the first book. Unlike the first book, this book gets mired in sexual orientation...which feels forced and overly highlighted...I guess marketing thought it would be a great idea to create some buzz. If it was the main character, it would have added some dimension, but because it was a throw away character...it just feels forced. Ignoring that aspect, the book is about 38 chapters too long. There is some minor growth, but the timeline, travel times..etc, but its all so minor, that its just ugh. If you expect to hear more of the interaction with the city, you might want to adjust that expectation...that was part of world building that was thrown away...as are 98% of the characters from the city.

The performance supports this story, and I will probably get the last book just to end it...because, well, it is a nice waste of time...even if I spend a lot of time swearing at the author and proof readers...or was that marketing...one of them at least.

The Magician's Guild

Very enjoyable listen. This audible book helped me through my spring cleaning. Thank you very much. Your fan.