#to STUDY LIKE SONEA

[semper-legens]

182. The Novice, by Trudi Canavan

Owned?: Yes Page count: 577 My summary: Sonea is a magician now - or training to be one, at least. Her studies, however, are hampered by many new problems. One of her fellow novices seems to have it out for her. But that’s going to be the least of her problems. She saw the High Lord doing black magic, and that’s going to have consequences. And not just for her... My rating: 4/5 My commentary:

Part two of this series! I continue to enjoy it deeply. And it continues to surprise me, mostly because my terrible memory only has a vague impression of what happens in these books and the order these events occur in. I’m always partial to magicians and ceremony, as well as the mechanics of magic in a certain universe, and this book most definitely scratches that particular itch.

Sonea continues to be a great protagonist. I don’t know what specifically it is about her - I think it’s partially because she’s a reasonably regular person? Other than having a huge amount of natural power, I mean. But even with that advantage, we see her working her ass off to match her strength with skill and knowledge. She’s a hard worker, she’s cunning, she’s so stubbornly decent and honourable, and that makes her so bloody likeable. I also appreciate the realism this book goes for with her relationships with the other novices. She never really fits in and makes friends, because all of the others are prejudiced against her due to her background - she’s lowborn, they’re all highborn. Even the single friend she does make doesn’t stick around for too long. Eventually, one particular novice, Regin, ends up making her life hell. I gotta say, Regin’s not the most developed of characters - his motivations don’t have a lot of nuance beyond him being posh and a prick, especially given his dogged pursuit of Sonea to the advanced class. Still, it’s in service to Sonea’s character development and growing into her powers, and I’m certainly not gonna say no to that.

The other reason I love this series is my dear Dannyl. He’s Rothen’s friend, and appointed Ambassador. He’s also gay, and that’s a part of his story. When he was a novice, rumours were spread about his relationship with another male novice - in Kyralia, where the novel is set, such relationships are frowned upon. And so, Dannyl has spend his life denying being a ‘lad’, the in-universe term for it in the country he visits. But his assistant Tayend is a known lad, though he hides it at first, and Dannyl ends up growing closer to him and realising that, oh shit, he’s been gay the whole time, and magically Healing himself subconsciously whenever those feelings would arise, taking them away. It’s an interesting take on being closeted and in denial - and Dannyl and Tayend are cute together, I gotta say. Though it is notable that, unlike the straight couples we see, they don’t even get an on-page kiss. We’re told they got together, but we don’t see them in intimate moments, where we do see this for straight couples.

I’m less keen on some of the worldbuilding revealed through Dannyl’s trip. It’s just some of that Standard Fantasy Setting stuff - Kyralia is European-coded, with the characters from there being described as white. Other nations, like Lonmar or Sachaka, are coded as being Middle-Eastern or African, with the people described as brown and black. And those are the less tolerant or outwardly hostile places. It’s sadly common in fantasy, but I’d feel remiss if I didn’t point out how they are contrasted with Kyralia as Bad Places with Bad Ideas or Bad People, building on harmful stereotypes.

And then there’s Akkarin. See, Dannyl is following the High Lord Akkarin’s footsteps, retracing a trip he took many years ago, in which he learned black magic. And when Akkarin’s friend and Guild Administrator Lorlen accidentally lets slip that he, Rothen, and Sonea all know about him doing black magic, Akkarin takes Sonea’s guardianship away from Rothen, using her as a hostage to buy their silence. We don’t see much of Akkarin here - he hints that he has good reasons and intentions for doing what he does, and it turns out that he isn’t behind the murders happening in the city that look like black magic. Still, a lot of questions about him are left unanswered. I like that, there’s a real tension building around him and his motivations, and the dawning sense of horror from the corner Sonea, Rothen, and Lorlen are all backed into is very effective. You can almost feel the trap closing around them, and seeing Sonea being gradually taken away from Rothen, the only character who’s been unequivocally good to her, is heartbreaking.

Well, that’s all I got here - next time, the conclusion!

[soneasims]

Get to know me // Tag thingy

I was tagged by @skadisim​, thank you (:

Star sign: Scorpio Height:  168cm // 5′6″ (i think) Time right now:  23:15 Last thing googled: a psychology term while studying today Favourite music artist: this is such a hard question .. I am just going to name a few, but there are a lot more: Bring Me The Horizon, Front Porch Step, Bastille, Massive Attack,  Gnash, twenty one pilots, Muse, Linkin Park, Neck Deep, Nirvana, 30 Seconds To Mars, Sia .. and many more tbh Last TV show watched: The 100! New season (:  What I’m wearing right now: Black sweatpants and a grey hoodie When did I create my blog: I believe I created my blog a year ago? But I went on hiatus like three times ..?  What kind of stuff do I post about: Sims 4, manly edits and gameplay.. occasional cc (it has been a while) Do I have any other blogs: Yes. My CC-finds blog @soneasimsccfinds​ and a personal blog where I mainly reblog .. stuff Do I get asks regularly: nah, just occasionally. I used to get more when I was more active  Why did I choose my url: Sonea is the main character in my favourite book :) Favourite colour(s): black, dark and deep reds/greens   Average hours of sleep: around 6h Favourite character(s): Sonea and Akkarin (Black Magician Trilogy), Lexa (The 100), Dean Winchester (Supernatural), Severus Snape and Tonks (Harry Potter), Liz Taylor (American Horror Story Hotel) and many more Dream Job: Being payed to travel around the world and write alternative travel guides would be pretty nice 

I am pretty sure I am one of the last people to do this .. so no tagging today