The Magician's Guild by Trudi Canavan

In Imardin, all people with magic ability are automatically drafted into the Magician's Guild.  This isn't so much for power as it is that those who aren't trained to use their power constructively and to let it out tend to end up losing control and killing themselves with it.  They tend to take other people out with them.  A sensible enough reason, but it does leave the Guild in a position of great power, and since it's rare for mages to be born to anything but the noble class, it only emphasizes the class distinction, leaving the lower classes understandably bitter, something that isn't helped by the fact that every year, the mages purge the city of what they consider to be undesirables.

Sonea used to be one of those undesirables and a member of a gang of street kids until two years ago, when her aunt and uncle were finally able to move out of the slums and start their own business, and she went with them.  However, when she learns that her old district will be the target of this year's purge, she goes to warn her old friends, Harrin and Cery, only to get caught up in the riot caused by the purge.  When she sees others uselessly hurling rocks at the mages, she throws one of her own, only to have her rock get through their fields and strike a mage, Fergun, in the head.  By the time everyone calms down enough to go "hey, that was someone with magic and if she did that without training, she's probably going to kill herself and half the city soon" Harrin and Cery have bundled Sonea off and into hiding.

( more )

In all honesty, it's a fairly straightforward medieval-lite guilds and politics fantasy, but it's a pretty well written one with and interesting enough take on the usual setup(peasant-variety kid learns she has great power, is sought after) and good characters.It's also only a three book series, so no endless storylines.  (Her website tells me that there are more books planned for the world, but in different time periods.)

The Magician's Guild by Trudi Canavan

In Imardin, all people with magic ability are automatically drafted into the Magician's Guild.  This isn't so much for power as it is that those who aren't trained to use their power constructively and to let it out tend to end up losing control and killing themselves with it.  They tend to take other people out with them.  A sensible enough reason, but it does leave the Guild in a position of great power, and since it's rare for mages to be born to anything but the noble class, it only emphasizes the class distinction, leaving the lower classes understandably bitter, something that isn't helped by the fact that every year, the mages purge the city of what they consider to be undesirables.

Sonea used to be one of those undesirables and a member of a gang of street kids until two years ago, when her aunt and uncle were finally able to move out of the slums and start their own business, and she went with them.  However, when she learns that her old district will be the target of this year's purge, she goes to warn her old friends, Harrin and Cery, only to get caught up in the riot caused by the purge.  When she sees others uselessly hurling rocks at the mages, she throws one of her own, only to have her rock get through their fields and strike a mage, Fergun, in the head.  By the time everyone calms down enough to go "hey, that was someone with magic and if she did that without training, she's probably going to kill herself and half the city soon" Harrin and Cery have bundled Sonea off and into hiding.

( more )

In all honesty, it's a fairly straightforward medieval-lite guilds and politics fantasy, but it's a pretty well written one with and interesting enough take on the usual setup(peasant-variety kid learns she has great power, is sought after) and good characters.It's also only a three book series, so no endless storylines.  (Her website tells me that there are more books planned for the world, but in different time periods.)

Blue Seed eps 10-14

( i guess i should start using a cut )

Blue Seed eps 10-14

( i guess i should start using a cut )

Random Infodumps of Doom

 anyone read Carol Berg?  I've started reading her Son of Avonar and, while I like the story(exiled noblewoman has amnesiac madman wander up to her house and decides she's keeping him, while her evil brother and his henchman hunt for him, and she hides him mostly to thumb her nose at them)  I am struggling very, very hard with the Random Infodumps of Doom.

They just...pop up from almost nowhere cram tons of stuff in, then go away.

Does she always do this?  Do they last the whole book?  The whole series?  Will they drive me mad?

Random Infodumps of Doom

 anyone read Carol Berg?  I've started reading her Son of Avonar and, while I like the story(exiled noblewoman has amnesiac madman wander up to her house and decides she's keeping him, while her evil brother and his henchman hunt for him, and she hides him mostly to thumb her nose at them)  I am struggling very, very hard with the Random Infodumps of Doom.

They just...pop up from almost nowhere cram tons of stuff in, then go away.

Does she always do this?  Do they last the whole book?  The whole series?  Will they drive me mad?