The Novice by Trudi Canavan
Jun. 16th, 2008 11:35 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
snugglekittyI went into this book with high expectations. I loved The Magician's Guild, and thought this one would be even more fun, now that our heroine Sonea has won a place for herself among the magicians. But all is not well. The other novices harass Sonea endlessly and she no longer has a mentor she trusts. She is struggling just to survive. Meanwhile, her friend Dannyl has become an ambassador. He is investigating the High Lord's past - and his own past is also called into question.
This book hit a particular quirk of mine about literary fairness, which I've mentioned before. I realize that terrible things have to happen to characters in order to make books interesting. Most of the time I can accept this. But sometimes when it's done a certain way, it bugs me. You might describe it as "can't win for losing." In other words, no matter what the characters do, they can't get ahead. Not only are the odds against them, but the odds are insurmountable. Either no one is on their side, or they can't reach anyone who is. They're terribly isolated and feel completely powerless. Any small victories they do achieve are immediately undercut by snide words, impossible obstacles, or the recollection of their powerlessness. I don't know if you know what I'm talking about, but it bugs me.
Anyway, that is basically how I felt about this book. Sonea seems to have lost her confidence and street smarts. She is no longer one step ahead of her enemies - heck, she can't even keep up. They always have the advantage. No one protects her, no one befriends her. The adult magicians know that the other novices are attacking her in groups but they don't interfere - they claim it will help her develop her talents, but in reality, they just seem to be curious about what will happen next. Whenever she thinks she's found a solution, it's barred to her or shown to maybe not help at all anyway. I found it terribly depressing and unfair. I'm getting depressed again just thinking about it. Two stars, and I won't read the last book in the trilogy.
This book hit a particular quirk of mine about literary fairness, which I've mentioned before. I realize that terrible things have to happen to characters in order to make books interesting. Most of the time I can accept this. But sometimes when it's done a certain way, it bugs me. You might describe it as "can't win for losing." In other words, no matter what the characters do, they can't get ahead. Not only are the odds against them, but the odds are insurmountable. Either no one is on their side, or they can't reach anyone who is. They're terribly isolated and feel completely powerless. Any small victories they do achieve are immediately undercut by snide words, impossible obstacles, or the recollection of their powerlessness. I don't know if you know what I'm talking about, but it bugs me.
Anyway, that is basically how I felt about this book. Sonea seems to have lost her confidence and street smarts. She is no longer one step ahead of her enemies - heck, she can't even keep up. They always have the advantage. No one protects her, no one befriends her. The adult magicians know that the other novices are attacking her in groups but they don't interfere - they claim it will help her develop her talents, but in reality, they just seem to be curious about what will happen next. Whenever she thinks she's found a solution, it's barred to her or shown to maybe not help at all anyway. I found it terribly depressing and unfair. I'm getting depressed again just thinking about it. Two stars, and I won't read the last book in the trilogy.