The Novice by Trudi Canavan
Apr. 16th, 2008 01:00 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
meganbmooreThe Novice picks up shortly after The Magicians Guild' leaves off, focusing on Sonea's first year as a guild novice(hence the title.) Like The Magicians' Guild, in many ways, it's fairly normal for the middle book of a fantasy trilogy-Sonea is bullied by the other students by her classmates because of her background, she has to prove herself to them and her teachers, she does, Dannyl goes off investigating everything so we'll have a better idea of what's going on, and everything gets moved into place for the final book, etc.-but still a very well written one. It stands out, though, for the revelations at the end of the first book, and how they alter the typical setup, as well as for the excellent characterization.
There, is, of course, Sonea, who remains smart, practical and resourceful. She never whines about her bad situation and instead does what she can to make the best of it, and when she has good fortune, it's because she made it for herself, not because she lucked into it. Then there's Dannyl, a clever man who is far more good natured than his past should allow for, and their mutual mentor, Rothyn, who I begin to fear iss far too kind and believing in the goodness of others(yet without seeming stupid or gullible) to live. And Sonea's friend, Cery, who continues to carry a torch I feel is destined to be blown out, and Lorlen, placed in the terrible position of knowing too much about the last person he could want to know too much about. And, of course, there's Lord Akkarin, the hard and cold head of the guild who's far more than he seems, even to those who think they've discovered all his secrets.
I do, though, have a few reservations.
Also, I am spending an inordinate amount of time wonder who Sonea's costar is on the cover of The Magicians' Guild. From the matching wardrobes and antagonistic stance, I assume it's Regin on the cover of The Novice, and from his outfit, the back description and the story developments here, I assume it's Akkarin on The High Lord, but I can't figure out who it is on The Magicians' Guild. It can't be Akkarin or Rothyn, and Cery isn't...well...man enough for it to be him(not that Cery's remotely wussy or anything, but that's no teenaged boy on the cover.) I suppose Dannyl's a possibility...
And yes, I realize how absurd it is to try to apply context to 99% of the sff covers out there. But I ponder these things.
There, is, of course, Sonea, who remains smart, practical and resourceful. She never whines about her bad situation and instead does what she can to make the best of it, and when she has good fortune, it's because she made it for herself, not because she lucked into it. Then there's Dannyl, a clever man who is far more good natured than his past should allow for, and their mutual mentor, Rothyn, who I begin to fear iss far too kind and believing in the goodness of others(yet without seeming stupid or gullible) to live. And Sonea's friend, Cery, who continues to carry a torch I feel is destined to be blown out, and Lorlen, placed in the terrible position of knowing too much about the last person he could want to know too much about. And, of course, there's Lord Akkarin, the hard and cold head of the guild who's far more than he seems, even to those who think they've discovered all his secrets.
I do, though, have a few reservations.
First of all...notice how I mention only one female character? While I love Sonea and like that the focus of the series is a strong female character(even if the titular character seems to be Akkarin) all the other female roles are bit roles. Her aunt is never seen and while the medical head has a lot of potential, she's also never seen. In addition, Sonea's female classmates are shown as nothing more than the obedient flunkies of Regin, the boy behind most of the bullying of Sonea.
I'm also not quite comfortable with how it seemed that Reegin's entire character revolved around bullying Sonea. While I know her being a slum girl is his reasons, it just seemed a little too extreme, with just that to go on.
Then there's the issue of Dannyl's sexuality. Now, to explain: I like Dannyl. I like Tayend. I like the development of their relationship was well done, fits the story, and makes perfect sense for the characters. The relationship is not gender typecast and both unquestionably come across as men, and they suit each other well. There's no "look, slash to sell more copies" feel to it, and the characterization doesn't revolve around it (well, maybe Tayend to a degree, but that's mostly a default of being introduced in book two of three and needing that storyline to be resolved in that same book.) I support it like I support pretty much any decently done canon pairing, and that was more than decently done. My concern, however, is that Dannyl seems to have realized her was homosexual when he was younger because the bullies told him he was. I never get the feeling that he'd ever though he might have those urges until a bully saw to boys who were easy targets interacting and decided it would be fun to ruin their reputations with rumors. "I didn't realize I was stupid until someone told me I was." "I didn't realize I should be barefoot and pregnant until someone told me I should be." "I didn't realize I was worthless until someone told me I was." "I didn't realize I was gay until someone told me I was." See what I mean? I just wish it had been clearer that, until Tayend, Dannyl had been aware of that part of himself beyond having been bullied about it as a teen. (Yes, I realize I'm probably giving that part way too much importance, but the whole trope of realizing who and what you are because someone told you you were, when it's something perceived as negative by your society, never quite sits well with me, because it edges on allowing someone else to define who you are, instead of realizing and establishing that for yourself.)
And all this makes it sound like I have big problems with the book, when actually, I don't feel remotely critical of it. Just a bit nitpicky. It's very wellwritten and easy to read, with none of the flowery, "epic" prose so many writers are fond of, and has enough twists on the standard fantasy tropes to make for interesting reading on its own. And I'm very interested in seeing in the Sonea/Akkarin storyline goes where I think it will, as well as in learning the rest of Akkarin's past, which we already know isn't quite what Sonea, Rothyn and Lorlen think it is.
I'm also not quite comfortable with how it seemed that Reegin's entire character revolved around bullying Sonea. While I know her being a slum girl is his reasons, it just seemed a little too extreme, with just that to go on.
Then there's the issue of Dannyl's sexuality. Now, to explain: I like Dannyl. I like Tayend. I like the development of their relationship was well done, fits the story, and makes perfect sense for the characters. The relationship is not gender typecast and both unquestionably come across as men, and they suit each other well. There's no "look, slash to sell more copies" feel to it, and the characterization doesn't revolve around it (well, maybe Tayend to a degree, but that's mostly a default of being introduced in book two of three and needing that storyline to be resolved in that same book.) I support it like I support pretty much any decently done canon pairing, and that was more than decently done. My concern, however, is that Dannyl seems to have realized her was homosexual when he was younger because the bullies told him he was. I never get the feeling that he'd ever though he might have those urges until a bully saw to boys who were easy targets interacting and decided it would be fun to ruin their reputations with rumors. "I didn't realize I was stupid until someone told me I was." "I didn't realize I should be barefoot and pregnant until someone told me I should be." "I didn't realize I was worthless until someone told me I was." "I didn't realize I was gay until someone told me I was." See what I mean? I just wish it had been clearer that, until Tayend, Dannyl had been aware of that part of himself beyond having been bullied about it as a teen. (Yes, I realize I'm probably giving that part way too much importance, but the whole trope of realizing who and what you are because someone told you you were, when it's something perceived as negative by your society, never quite sits well with me, because it edges on allowing someone else to define who you are, instead of realizing and establishing that for yourself.)
And all this makes it sound like I have big problems with the book, when actually, I don't feel remotely critical of it. Just a bit nitpicky. It's very wellwritten and easy to read, with none of the flowery, "epic" prose so many writers are fond of, and has enough twists on the standard fantasy tropes to make for interesting reading on its own. And I'm very interested in seeing in the Sonea/Akkarin storyline goes where I think it will, as well as in learning the rest of Akkarin's past, which we already know isn't quite what Sonea, Rothyn and Lorlen think it is.
Also, I am spending an inordinate amount of time wonder who Sonea's costar is on the cover of The Magicians' Guild. From the matching wardrobes and antagonistic stance, I assume it's Regin on the cover of The Novice, and from his outfit, the back description and the story developments here, I assume it's Akkarin on The High Lord, but I can't figure out who it is on The Magicians' Guild. It can't be Akkarin or Rothyn, and Cery isn't...well...man enough for it to be him(not that Cery's remotely wussy or anything, but that's no teenaged boy on the cover.) I suppose Dannyl's a possibility...
And yes, I realize how absurd it is to try to apply context to 99% of the sff covers out there. But I ponder these things.