The Rogue

Enjoyable enough but not really going anywhere special. Probably best read with the previous book still in mind. There is abit of a recap at the start but I found I'd forgotton some of the more pertinant details.

We follow various characters who were introduced in the last book. The disjointed style does distract form whatever tension is generated as we quickly jump to the next character. Ambassador Dannyl is snubbed by the Sasactians but manages o still explore some innteresting local tribes. Sonea's son Lorkin is away witht he Traitors learning a new society and trying to keep out of trouble. Meanwhile back in the city they're still hunting for th e rogue Magician thief, causeing Cery many problems while two new Apprentice girls get up to all sorts of trouble on their own.

As before the annoying animal names have been dispensed with, and the world building and magic system remains the most interesting part fo the book, especically because there is very little action happening at all, various characters just find things out over the course of time and conversations. Some of the things they find out are of course romantic in nature, and I'm not quite sure why Trudi is pushing hte homosexuality quite so hard in this novel, when it was muted in the previous ones. It is just anohter plot pint that is left for the final book in the series to clear up.

Very much a mid-trilogy book. ( )

The Rogue, the second book in Trudi Canavan's Traitor Spy Trilogy, picks up right where The Ambassador's Mission left off.

This book is a solid 'middle' book - a few questions are answered, more questions are raised, everyone progresses a little bit and a few sub-plots are resolved. There are no major changes, but the plots are coming together, and the new discoveries about the capabilities of magic seem to be headed for a clash with the old-fashioned Guild traditions.

It seems that big changes are ahead for the magicians of the Guild, whether they want it or not. While much of this book felt like set-up for the next, it was enjoyable set-up. The cast is powerful and fully developed; while the politics and machinations between the two nations brilliantly convoluted.

I am looking forward to the final confrontation. ( )

This follow up to The Ambassador's Mission continues the tale of Lorkin and the Traitors, in addition to weaving the strands of the lives of Sonea, Cery, Dannyl, etc.

An enjoyable read, although it took me a while to get into the book.

I don't feel I can write more without revealing 'too much' of the storyline. However, if you enjoyed The Black Magician Trilogy, and The Ambassador's Mission, then I'm confident you'll love this one, too. ( )

I do really enjoy this series and had the pleasure of meeting Trudi on her recent book tour. What a nice lady she is :) ( )

Much better than the previous book. Loved the new characters and the ending left me wanting to read the next book ASAP without being a frustrating cliff hanger.

Only complaint might be that the three-and-a-half plot lines all interrelated a little too conveniently. But on the other hand, information was withheld from characters in suitable ways that I didn't find contrived, which added to the tension. ( )

Not yet read. ( )

An interesting second instalment in the latest series in The Magician's Guild universe. As usual, several distinct story strands throughout, which are starting to come together.

Lorkin's story remains interesting, but not the most fascinating in the book. There is still something vaguely irritating about him - I think it's his youth. He has kind of a student mentality, 19/20 year old boy attitude and outlook (which, I guess, is accurate!). He's also remarkably chilled out - stuff just washes over him. He's very passive.

I like Dannyl's story a lot less this time, now that he and Tayend have fallen out :(. That plotline makes me sad. And what a bizzare triangle of complication she's set up in that plot thread! It's quite odd.

The most interesting plot, I thought, was Lilia's - but at the same time, I just wanted to shake some common sense into her for the entire book! She is so unbelievably gullible and impressionable, and makes so many clearly stupid decisions. I guess she is only about 18 and very inexperienced in the world. But even so! And yet, she is somehow likable. I like how her story ended up, although it was a messy progress to get there! I was constantly willing her to stop being dumb, and constantly sighing when she was. Her relationship with Naki very effectively turned from good to bad - that was well written, even though it was quite obvious where it was going.

Anya, Cery and Sonea's plot is good - I sill like Sonea a lot. She's a good, strong character (as is Anya). I'd like to see more of her. I'm still wondering what's going to happen with Regin, if anything. I can't believe he's really changed so much from the first series - it just doesn't seem likely. I reckon either he has changed (which would seem unlikely to me, and so not a great plot development from the author) or there's some twist. I really rather hope he and Sonea don't get together - that would just be wrong. His story has been very much in the background in this series, but it does keep cropping up here and there.

It looks like the third book will tie up all the disparate plot lines - should be interesting to see how that goes! Much political chaos and subplots ahoy! ( )

http://staffersmusings.blogspot.com/2011/05/rogue-trudi-canavan.html ( )

I just loved this – gorgeous visiting again with old friends, even better that it’s a new story. Looking forward to the next instalment. ( )

I'm finding it hard to decide what I thought of this book. I found it hard to put down and enjoyed most of the plot development: but I'm increasingly finding Trudi Canavan's style frustrating.

There are many threads interwoven here - Lorkin, Sonea, Dannyl, Cery and the new character Lilia. Some are much more interesting than others (which often seem to plod aimlessly), some are blindingly predictable and others are fascinating. But the pacing seems unbalanced and occasionally months pass "just like that".

I love some of the characters, but find myself ambivalent to many of the rest now. All the non-lead characters have become completely flat. I think the lack of any convincing villains is a flaw.

I am looking forward to part 3 of the trilogy, I really want to find out where the story goes, but I'm bracing myself for a bumpy ride. ( )

My first piece of advice is to make sure you read this book when you are not in danger of accidentally missing your bus or train stop or not going back to work after lunch because you have been drawn in to Canavan's world of magicians and have lost track of the time. Because drawn in you will be!

While the start is a little slow, as Canavan refreshes readers on what happened in the previous book : The Ambassador's Mission, the story very quickly picks up pace and I found myself arriving at the last page much quicker than I expected.

The story picks up shortly after the end of the previous book and continues tthe threads of Sonea continuing the chase for the rogue magician and thief Skellin, Lorkin in the Traitor's sanctuary and Dannyl in Sachaka, along with a new thread with new characters and skillfully moves from one thread to another, weaving each thread tighter to create a story by itself while leaving all threads poised to come together in the final instalment, The Traitor Queen

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, though as mentioned it came to the end far too quickly. Canavan creates a world of magicians and a society that you can truly get drawn into and characters that make you invested in what is happening and what will happen toi them next.

As it is the second in a set of three, it would probably be a good idea to have read the first before starting this and if you have read the Magician's Apprentice, this will also add to the enjoyment of the tale but is by no means essential to understanding thestory.

I definitely recommend this book to all Trudi Cananvan fans and the series as a whole to those looking for a new author to enjoy.

SapphiredDragon xx ( )