Thief's Magic

I was very excited when I first heard about Trudi Canavan’s Thief’s Magic, and doubly more so when I discovered it was going to be an introduction to a brand new universe we’ve never seen before. I’m not completely unfamiliar with the author’s work, having read The Magician’s Guild, book one of her Black Magician trilogy, but knowing that she has two series and a couple more novellas based in that world of Kyralia which I haven’t even yet come close to finishing, I was glad to have a fresh start in Millennium’s Rule.

Magic and magic users seem to feature strongly in Canavan’s books, and that’s no exception here. At the beginning of this novel we meet Tyen, a young archaeology student (though calling what he and his show more professor and fellow students do “Archaelogy” might be a bit of stretch…they’re more like tomb robbers) who discovers a sentient book while excavating an ancient tomb. The book can read the minds of anyone who makes physical contact, communicating through text appearing on the pages. Calling herself Vella, the book claims to have once been a sorcerer-woman, until she was transformed into her current form by one of the greatest sorcerers of history. She has been gathering and storing information through the ages ever since. Sensing bad things to come if Vella were to ever fall into the wrong hands, Tyen decides to keep her to himself for now, but as we all know, a secret this big is always bound to come out sooner or later.

Meanwhile in another world, a dyer’s daughter named Rielle harbors a secret of her own. From a young age, she has had the ability to sense magic – and hence the potential to use it. However, Rielle’s society could not be any more different from Tyen’s, where magic is used freely (and some might say TOO freely) to power their fantastical machines. Instead, the priests of Rielle’s world teach that to use magic is the equivalent to stealing from the Angels themselves. Anyone caught committing this crime is published severely then cast out from the city to live out the rest of their lives in a prison. Rielle is therefore all too happy to just keep her head down, hoping to also to do what her family wants of her and find a prospective husband. But then she meets and falls in love with a local artist named Izare, which is patently NOT what her parents had in mind. Oh, hello, Forbidden Love.

What do these two plot lines have to do with each other? Very little, actually. Reading Thief’s Magic felt essentially like reading two-books-in-one. The novel’s structure can be a little jarring if you’re not expecting it. We first start with Part I which follows Tyen’s story, and several chapters after that Part II begins with Rielle’s. The novel continues like this, alternating back and forth between their narratives. Actually getting the hang of this perspective-jumping isn’t all that difficult, but Canavan likes to tease, and she seems to have this knack for choosing the most suspenseful moments to make the switch between characters. Often, I would find myself pulled away into Rielle’s story just as I was getting completely drawn into Tyen’s, or vice versa. This format was both simultaneously addicting and frustrating, though I have to admit I kind of liked it.

When it comes down to it, I’m just completely hooked by these two characters and their respective worlds. Both Tyen and Rielle are written very well, even though occasionally their naiveté would grate on my nerves. However, their decisions – misguided as they are sometimes – always led to interesting things happening. I’m fascinated by the differences in their cultures and how each of them view magic. I love that their own personal conflicts take them on completely disparate adventures, so that the individual challenges they face differ profoundly as well. I’m especially intrigued by Rielle and her struggles in a society where unauthorized use of magic is treated as the greatest sin, where women like her have very little choice and practically no future when they are discovered to possess magical abilities.

I don’t know if Tyen and Rielle’s paths will ever cross, though something tells me that they will – but that particularly story is not for this book to tell. At this point, I feel I’ve been given enough information to formulate a tenuous theory on how the two characters’ worlds are linked, but for the most part we don’t get too many answers on that front. I really enjoyed following both story lines, but if you’re the kind of reader who prefers self-contained story arcs or at least some closure at the end of a novel, you won’t really find it here. It’s a factor to think about, though I already know I will be picking up the next book in spite of it. Thief’s Magic may have all the hallmarks of a “Book One”, but Canavan has crafted a very fine beginning (technically, TWO very fine beginnings) and I want to find out what happens to both Tyen and Rielle. show less

Tyen, a sorcerer-archaeologist student at the Academy in Leretia discovers a mysterious book on a archaeology dig. He knows he should turn it in but first he wants to study it – only this isn’t any ordinary book. Vella was once a live woman, transformed by a famous sorcerer long ago into a book that records any information it receives from its holder whether spoken or thought and must answer any question they ask – assuming, of course, that someone else has given Vella the information sought.

Rielle lives in Fyre, a world where magic is forbidden to everyone but priests, all of whom are men. For anyone else, using it is considered stealing from the angels and, if caught, are first humiliated publicly and then disappear. All of her show more life, she has had to hide the fact that she can see Stain or ‘the taint that magic left behind’. But the temptation to use it may be too strong for her to ignore especially when she falls in love with an artist, a man her parents disapprove of.

Both of these people will discover that everything they thought they knew about their lands, magic, and the people they thought they could trust may be a lie; both will find themselves on the wrong side of their societal rules and will be forced to leave their homes, the only lands they have ever known, on the threat of death. The book is divided between the two stories, going back and forth as their lives follow similar but separate paths.

Thief’s Magic by author Trudi Canavan is the first book in the Milennium’s Rule trilogy and the first book I have read by this author. Canavan has created two interesting worlds, one secular, one religious, both deeply flawed. Of the two main protagonists, I must confess I much preferred Tyen: he is resourceful, intelligent, curious, and capable of making independent choices. Rielle, on the other hand, is less interesting at least for much of the novel: most of her decisions are based on what others want for her and she is constantly worrying about these decisions, many of which she should worry about because they seem somewhat arbitrary and just a means to move her story along. In simple terms, I guess, Tyen acts while Rielle reacts. Still, if they are not equally engaging, they are equally likeable and I look forward to seeing how their disparate stories work out and, I’m guessing, merge.

Overall, I quite enjoyed this book. It is well-written and kept my interest throughout. As in most series, this first book ends on a cliffhanger and I will definitely be reading book two. show less

Canavan presents a contrast two worlds united by the same magic system through the perspectives of two characters at odds with the governing powers of their settings. I liked how different the worlds were, and the contrasting approaches to magic that they set up. The characters themselves are a little bland, and I dislike how little agency they have in their own stories--an obstacle appears, they make the most obvious, boring choice possible to resolve it, and then plot events happen to push them forward to next obstacle. I think that's pretty forgivable for this book: the setting--particularly the magic system, and the mysteries thereof--drives the plot forward pretty effectively on its own. Unfortunately, the questions this book asks show more about its setting are largely left unanswered, and dissatisfyingly teased for future books that I'm not sure I'll read. No big surprises to be found here. show less

That was rather disappointing. It's listed at 560 pages, so I expected it to take some time … And it probably didn't take as long as it seemed to take. But it was another book that felt like it took forever.

It's an interesting set of ideas. There are two parallel and alternating stories, one of Tyen who is a student of magic at the Academy and one of Rielle who is a dyer's daughter in Fyre where only priests and angels are allowed to use magic. Canavan has created an interesting system of magic, being something that is pulled from the environment like water, leaving a drought when too much is used, renewing itself by some means that is not fully known, and leaving when it is used "Stain", a black residue that hangs in the air like show more soot after a fire, the size of the smudge indicating the amount of magic used. For Tyen, Stain is something that must be managed, as magic cannot be pulled from within the city lest any of the machinery running off magic – like airborne vehicles – be incapacitated; for Rielle Stain is something she isn't supposed to be able to see, as only those who can use magic can see it, and only priests – all male – are allowed to use magic.

Tyen's story is kicked off when, investigating an ancient tomb, he discovers Tom Riddle's diary.

Well, no, not really, but: "No word marked the first page, so he turned it. The next was also blank and as he fanned through the rest of the pages he saw that they were as well." Thought I: "UH OH". "A mark had appeared. Next to it a dark patch formed, then dozens more. They spread and joined up. Hello, they said. My name is Vella."

And this is when I began to shout at my Kindle "DROP THE BOOK! DROP IT! BURY IT! BURN IT! RUN AWAY"

But it's okay, apparently. It is just like Tom Riddle's diary in that it responds to questions asked, including those not asked aloud (which, sorry, creepy, especially in the beginning), but it is – apparently – not evil, or part of anyone's soul. (As far as we know.) What it actually is is … Vella herself. She was human, some thousand years ago, and was turned by an evil sorcerer into this volume … And by turned I don't mean *poof-you're-a-book* turned. Nope. Nothing remotely that quick or pleasant.

Despite the obvious Harry Potter echoes, I enjoyed the adventure at first. (Although it was frustrating that Tyen asks a dozen questions, but somehow never "Whose tomb was that I found you in, and how did you end up there?" I still don't get that; I wonder if it will ever be relevant, or if that poor old skeleton was just an anonymous plot device.) Tyen's discovery of Vella, then his hasty flight from hostile locals and his return with his colleagues to the Academy; Rielle's abduction by an illicit magic-user and her subsequent involvement with a young artist who helped rescue her (yay) and with said illicit magic (uh oh). It's a fun story… in the beginning. I especially liked the moral conflict Tyen went through with the book: turn it in? Keep it? What's best for the Academy? For Vella? For himself?

It's when things are taken out of both our hero's and heroine's hands that, for me, the story began to lose steam. Both Tyen and Rielle are left to their own devices, and their devices are not entirely up to the challenge. Tyen is confused and tentative, and rather inept; Rielle is timid and afraid and, at least the way I'm remembering it, doesn't seem to take any action of her own accord, reacting rather than acting. I begin to realize why there are so many extremely feisty heroines out there. The obstacles that stood in the way of each of them seemed to me to be either improbable, or improbably easily dealt with (especially given the level of competence of each).

The writing was a minor issue. Lines like "Floating above the stain was a disturbance. Stain." – weren't the norm, but such awkwardnesses were common enough to be annoying. And then there was “You’re not using ‘you’ in the second person, are you.” Er. Um. I can only hope something like "Would he lay with Famire" was fixed before publication.

I've owned a few books by this author for some time, picked up ages ago at a sale and never really sampled. I was pleased to try this book on Netgalley, as an introduction to her writing. And ... I have to say I'm still not in any huge hurry to go find those books now.

The usual disclaimer: I received this book via Netgalley for review. show less

Pretty much a standard Canavan, a start on a new series. Quite fun as usual, but also somehow a little trite, with not much being said. Good holiday reading!

We follow two characters on two different worlds, but both share the same magic system, so there's always a chance they'll meet at some point. Reili is a young girl in a restrictive social state, wears headcovering attends church and likely to have an arranged marriage for the good of the family. Magic is the exclusive domain of the priesthood, carefully doled out when essential and the Stain of it's use removed by careful cleansing rituals. Reili is a careful to never let on that she too can see the Stain. Tynron is a fairly polar opposite although equally young, he's a student at show more the Acadamy mixing magic and History hoping to make a name for himself on expeditions finding useful/expensive artefacts. Magic is an everyday use to him and his society powering great machines and leaving only a trace of Soot behind. He does find a book of wisdom, being the incarnation of a minor sorceress from another world, imprinted with the knowledge of anyone who's held her, including the most powerful sorcerer Tyron's world has ever seen. The Academy doesn't trust such powerful magic however.

As ever with Trudi, there's an odd thing going on with names, these characters sound quite a lot similar to those in Age of Five, even though it's a completely different series/universe. She's also done her thing of re-naming a few common objects into different ones, despite leaving most of them the same. And perhaps luckily for her, the experience of Reili living poor rings very very untrue. When you're struggling to make ends meet, you can't just casually stop at a cafe for a drink. Even if you're tired and thirsty. Literally every penny counts, and Reili just doesn't behave like that. But otherwise the characterisations are generally engaging as Trudi normally manages. But the world always seems just a little bit trite, and even when things are going wrong, they never quite seem to be serious.

But it's fun. and I'm sure I'll read the rest in due course. show less

Full Review: http://www.tenaciousreader.com/2014/06/08/thiefs-magic-by-trudi-canavan/

Sometimes I really crave a good character driven book. I want to experience the story from the central character, feel and understand them, get inside their head. This was exactly that (plus magic and a cool new world). True there are two POVs in this, but they are actually self-contained stories with no intersection or overlap. Yet.

I know not everyone is a fan of books that start as pretty much multiple stories that have no known connection for the reader yet. It is actually like being given two completely distinct stories in one book. But I actually quite enjoy this. I enjoy getting to know the characters individually, understand their background show more before they come to some common ground. I enjoy speculating about how, when, where and why the storylines will intersect, if the characters will meet or if the one story is really just creating a situation that impacts the other storyline. There are so many possibilities, that even if I have my own ideas, I won’t know until I read on. What Canavan has given us in this first book is a great look at two characters and how their lives have been completely upheaved, sending them in directions they could never have imagined at the start of the book.

I am excited to see where their journeys take them and what lies in store for them in the future. I love that I really enjoyed both story lines and did not have a strong preference for either. Whenever I would get to the end of a characters section, I would be disappointed I couldn’t keep reading, but then would be consoled, because I got to continue the other I had to put on hold for a bit. So while I may have been unsure about reading this one, I am definitely reading the next. show less

Two separate narratives follow Tyen, a student of magic and history striving for an academic position, and in another land, possibly another world, Rielle, the daughter of prosperous dyers, who are maneuvering to marry her into a higher class.
Tyen finds an ancient book that absorbs the memories of all who touch her and when asked, relates accurately what she knows. This gets Tyen into trouble with his superiors.
Rielle keeps secret that she can see the traces of magic usage, called "stain," but after a short abduction by an illicit magic user leads to her acquaintance with a pleasing and attractive artist, she too gets into trouble with the authorities. Adventures ensue, but they are entirely separate ones and not particularly fun.
The show more world-building is good; the characters are a bit stock, good sorts that worry a bit and are fairly talented at what they focus on and limited beyond that. The pursuit of Tyen seems overly relentless, and Rielle seems to have the worst luck, so the plot feels like it's in charge. show less