The High Lord by Trudi Canavan

[meganbmoore]

A lot of what happened here I predicted, but only because it seemed the only natural course, as opposed to telegraphing itself. I'm not sure I like the ending(specifically, the last chapter and epilogue) but there's a sequel trilogy set 20~ years later, so Canavan may have had it in mind when she wrote it. All in all, though, a pretty good fantasy trilogy.
I guessed that Sonea and Akkarin's relationship would turn romantic in the second book, especially since it was almost immediately obvious he wasn't the monster they thought he was. I think it was handled very well, especially given the age difference. From the first book, I assumed one or the other had to die, so Akkarin's death didn't surprise me. I am surprised, though, that Rothen survived, and that neither Dannyl or Tayend died. Ditto for Cery and his (pretty cool) girlfriend. What can I say? I pegged Canavan early on as one of those authors who likes to make her characters suffer romantic angst and loss.

I LOVELOVELOVE the "different-often dueling-factions banding together to save home" stories, so obviously, I was in heaven the last chunk of the book. I wasn't sure about Akkarin teaching Sonea Black Magic at first, or about her following him into exile(though the reason THAT was happening was pretty obvious even before Sonea started wondering about her feelings) but I thought they were done well, and I liked that, once again, everything hinged on what choice Sonea would make.

What I didn't like was what happened with Sonea at the end. No, not the pregnancy. I fully support OTP babies and all(yes, people who aren't 16 year old fangirls like the idea of people canonically in love having sex and having kids, even when things don't work out as planned) or even Akkarin's death, as it was almost necessary(I fully believe that Sonea will eventually be High Lord, so he had to die sometime.) What I dislike is Sonea's fate. I mean...WTF?

Girl saves THE ENTIRE CITY and THE ENTIRE MAGICIAN'S GUILD, AFTER being exiled, humiliated, and told to never come back, INCLUDING using her power to SAVE ALL YOUR LIVES instead of the life of her lover, and your reaction is to make her a privileged prisoner? Not "hey, you saved all our butts, so a pardon is only natural...by the way, would you mind teaching us the magic you use, so we're better prepared for the next army" but "ok, you saved us all, but now you're under arrest again...tell you what, we'll let you wander around the city under guard-but you can never leave the city-as long as you teach us that magic we kicked you out for studying."

Ungrateful bastards.

And, of course, it ties into my worries in the first book...that Sonea would ultimately always be left choosing the lesser of two evils, with no real control over her life.

Sonea better become High Lord in the sequel trilogy, or I'll be pissed.

Has anyone read Canavan's other fantasy trilogy? (Too lazy to look up the name right now.)

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