Product Description

Each year the magicians of Imardin gather to purge the city streets of beggars, urchins and miscreants. Masters of the disciplines of magic, they know that no one can oppose them. But their protective shield is not as impenetrable as they believe. As the mob is herded from the city, Sonea, a young street girl, furious at the authorities' treatment of her family and friends, hurls a stone at the shield, putting all of her rage behind it. To the amazement of all who watch, there is a flash of blue light and the stone passes straight through the barrier and cracks a magician on the temple, rendering him unconscious. After five hundred years of order, the guild's worst fear has been realised - an untrained magician is loose on the streets. She must be found, and quickly, before her uncontrolled powers unleash forces that will destroy both her, and the city that is her home.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #71170 in Books
• Published on: 2005-09-01
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 480 pages

Review
'A wonderfully and meticulously detailed world, and an edge-of- the-seat plot, this book is a must for all lovers of good fantasy' JENNIFER FALLON

About the Author
Trudi Canavan lives in the Melbourne suburb of Ferntree Gully. As well as writing fantasy, she works as a freelance designer and illustrator, and is Art Director for an Australian SFF magazine.

Customer Reviews

not revolutionary, but rivetting nonetheless
"It is said, in Imardin, that the wind has a soul, and that it wails through the narrow city streets because it is grieved by what it finds there..." Canavan starts her novel with that sentence, and it just gets better.

There have been loads of fantasy books written about young people growing up not knowing they are mages/magicians/witches and suddenly finding out. And who are a danger because they don't know how to control the magic... sound familiar? Well, this is another one. But don't let that put you off, because Trudi Canavan can write. She can write very well indeed. Her world is well developed, her characters well-rounded, and the story line is gripping. Likeable characters, except for a really unlikeable well-drawn villain. Put simply: it is a great read.

I haven't given it five stars because I reserve that for books that offer me something new and mind-blowing as well as good writing, but don't let that put you off. This book is superb and well-worth the buy. I suspect this writer is going to go a long, long way as she explores the opportunities open to her as a writer of fantasy - this after all, is her first book.

A great surprise purchase
I bought this book purely by chance whilst waiting for a flight home from Melbourne. Being an avid fantasy reader I have read a lot of debut novels and been disapointed that the plot and characters are often weak and trudge along. What a lovely surprise to find that Ms Canavan drops you straight into a world fully formed and ready to be explored. After only brief introductions the reader is hurled into a world of strong characters, intrigue, discovery and an edge-of-seat plot that keeps you reading and eager for more. To anybody looking for a good read with characters you will love and hate I recomend this book without reservation. I only wish that I had been brave enough to buy all three books of this trilogy at the same time as they are not yet available here in UK and now I will have to wait to find out how things develop.

A typical plot, but it stands out amonst the others
The plot, girl finds out she can perform magic all the usual stuff like controling her powers and running from the law. However in this story, magic is controled by the powerful and is very political, but she is poor and non-important, the idea that such a person is capable of magic could have major political effects..... In terms of plots and the twists and turns it is a very nice story, it tries to touch on many different settings/scenarios so it has a bit of everything for everyone, the only downside is that in my oppinion the ending was changed to allow continuation into the other books, ie im not sure that when the author started writing, she was expecting to write a trilogy. thankfuly though this means its not like the lord of the rings, the first book deals with introductions, the second plot development, the third the final ending, okay i havnt read the other books yet but the first book kept me interested enough to write my first review and secondly to place preorders for the next two books, (a wait of upto 9 months)