http://pro-libertate.net/20111222/178-read-ambassadors-mission ( )

I've read all in this series so far. I think they are written very well, but sometimes the story is very dark. I actually really liked this book. I think the story is more interesting to me from the son's point of view, and want to see what happens next. ( )

A decade ago, when I read “The Magician’s Guild”, the first of the “Black Magician Trilogy”, I was filled with excitement. Young Sonea’s struggle with her new found powers, her attempts to understand and survive the upper-class world she was pushed into and the complex loyalties she had to navigate had immediate appeal and, although it was a long book, kept me eagerly turning the pages to find out what happened next.

For me, “The Ambassador’s Mission”, the first volume in the “Traitor Spy” trilogy, has none of the magic I found in the “Magician’s Guild”.

It is well written. The ideas are thought through. The characters are as well drawn as in the previous books. Yet the book seems slow. It feels as if Trudi Canavan is thinking: “I have three thick volumes to tell this story, there’s no need to hurry.” Unfortunately, I was left thinking that, if they all go at this pace, I might never make it to the end of book two.

Perhaps it is that the Sonea is now older and more reflective, she has become part of the establishment, while Cery has become an old thief and the head of a family. Perhaps it is just the need to connect this book to the “Black Magician Trilogy” and its prequel, “The Magician’s Apprentice” but I found that I did not have the same passion for these characters and the challenges that they face.

In “The Magician’s Apprentice”, it mattered to me whether it would be Lord Rothen or the treacherous Lord Fergun who had power over Sonea. In “The Ambassador’s Mission” the death of the whole family of one of the characters barely created an emotional ripple.

As a generation-spanning, fantasy-saga, dealing with a complex world, this is still a book worth reading but set against the last trilogy, I found it disappointing.
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4/5 estrellas.
Tenía muchas ganas de empezar esta trilogía y no me ha defraudado . Aunque hubo algunas partes que se me hicieron algo pesadas por lo general me mantuvo enganchada y cada vez que empezaba a leer me costaba dejar la lectura. De momento la trilogía empieza bien y me hace tener más ganas de leer el segundo. ( )

Twenty years have passed since the Ichani Invasion when large parts of Imardin were destroyed and Akkarin, the High Lord, sacrificed himself to save Kyralia. Since then, a progress for a more equal society has started. The Guild no longer limits itself to magicians from the upperclasses – instead everyone with magical talents are welcome at the Academy. But it doesn't come without its struggles. There's occasional tension between the kids of the various social ranks, in a lot of ways due to the different treatment by teachers and staff.

But as Sonea tries to fight against the unequal treatment; her childhood friend Cery arrives with bad news. Someone is killing off Thieves around the city, and the newest murder included Cery's wife and their two young sons. What's even worse is that the murderer seems to be capable of magic. Once more, they seem to be faced with a rogue magician on the streets of Imardin.

At the same time, Dannyl decides to become the new Guild's Ambassador in Sachaka. He wants to be able to fill in the empty spaces in Kyralian history, as well as Sachakan history. Especially as it seems the history records in Imardin aren't speaking the whole truth – and he suspects the only way to find out what truly happened all those years ago with the Sachakan War is to travel to go back to where it all started. But Sonea's young son Lorkin convinces Dannyl to make him his assistant, something that troubles his mother. Sonea is convinced he will be in danger – something that turns out to be quite true when he finds himself in the middle of a failed murder attempt on his own life.

I quite liked the first series, so I was excited for this one. To be honest, I had missed this world and as I realised this series takes place twenty years later, I was hoping for the world maybe had gotten a little bit better considering how frustrated I was with Kyralian society during the first series.

In a lot of ways, it wasn't as good a first bok as the first series' first book was. There was a lot of explaining in that one, but this book was both explanations and way too many recaps on what happened during the last series. I understand that reminders are very important but I very much felt like Canavan reminded the reader all too much of what had happened previously; most of the major things aren't in need of such long, descriptive reminders. It slows the book down in quite a few ways, and I'm saying that even though I'm quite a fan of details and descriptions. But first time descriptions and reminders are quite different; and this book spent half its pages on reminding the reader of what had already happened.

But the second half was really good, I felt the same kind of excitement as I did during the first series. Although, I do have a feeling I will like the second and third books more. But nonetheless, it felt so good to be back with Sonea and Dannyl – and get to know Lorkin. I was kind of hoping he'd be gay, but he turned out to be quite interesting either way, so I'm not too disappointed. I do have a feeling he will grow a lot more later on in the series, however. I'm also hoping Cery's daughter will be around more. A lot more. She's great. I honestly would rather have her be a main character than Lorkin as her character is much more alive, and interesting. ( )