Reviews

The Novice by Trudi Canavan

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siraels's review

3.0

3,5 stars

I quite enjoyed reading this, it was a solid read. At times I might have been a bit bored, especially because just reading about Sonea getting bullied literally all of the time was draining as time went on. I really enjoyed reading about this world but I didn't really care for the plot of this book. I liked it but the first one was definitely better.

sgarland990's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

aarain's review

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adventurous funny mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

kanissa's review against another edition

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4.0

A fun romp of magic and intrigue. Seems like there will be some interesting twists in the third book.

Some of the characterizations feel a bit like... pandering. I don't really know how to describe what I feel though. The main actors (aside from Regin, naturally) seem to be nuanced and complicated, which is something I always appreciate, but bits and pieces just feel off. Overall though I feel like they are better than the usual - each character has a weakness or disadvantage, and most of them seem likable.

I appreciate some good mysterious questing and uncovering of secrets, and this definitely had those while the first novel did not. I also didn't feel any issues with pacing like I did in the first.

Enjoyable book, looking forward to the third.

anacatnascimento's review

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4.0

A segunda parte da «Black Magician Trilogy» prende-nos ainda mais às páginas que a primeira. Desta vez, «The Novice» mostra.nos uma Sonea mais madura e mais poderosa, que começa finalmente a ver alguns pontos positivos em pertencer à Guilda.

Mas se Sonea nunca levara uma vida fácil nas no guetto de Kyralia, na Guilda - só porque tinha cama, roupa lavada, refeições à séria e água quente - as coisas não tinham por que ser diferentes.

Apesar do apoio do mentor Rothen e do sempre amigo Dannyl (que leva também uma reviravolta interessante a sua vida…), Sonea percebe que até os seus pensamentos têm consequências.

Este é o primeiro livro da saga em que o High Lord Akkarin é uma presença constante, mas nem sempre pelos melhores motivos - ou pensamos nós.

«The Novice» é o livro de transição perfeito entre o início e o fim da aventura de Sonea na Guilda. Não é aborrecido, explica pontas soltas e dá-nos a conhecer um pouco mais sobre Sonea e, paralelamente, sobre os que a rodeiam - especialmente no que toca a Lorde Dannyl e as suas aventuras como Embaixador.

Com um tom mais escuro, mais sério, «The Novice» deixa-nos com a pulga atrás da orelha, aquela sensação que sabemos preceder sempre a grandes acontecimentos.

aggressive_nostalgia's review against another edition

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Eh. This was all right—not much more than mediocre. It dragged quite a bit. It was less interesting than the first book, as well as repetitive, predictable, lacking in imagery, and also rather lacking in originality, in my opinion (except perhaps for the twist in Dannyl's character, which I flatly didn't like). A few parts seemed a bit disjointed and pointless, like the random appearance of Cery for one page. And I must agree with another reviewer that it was dreadfully in need of a better editor, and that "trudging" through all the thoughts and potential responses of every character became very tedious after a while. Honestly, I mostly skimmed the last couple of chapters to pick up the main plot points. Canavan's writing style has really begun to grate on me. I'm vaguely curious about the how the plot will be resolved, but I rather doubt I'll actually read the final book of the trilogy.