Priestess of the White

Epic Fantasy once used to be my favourite genre, and books like this remind me why; the author has a strong sense of world-building. She interweaves the various characters’ lives, societies and religions in a way that makes them wholly believable. And amid all this, there’s an interesting love story. I was particularly taken with the Dreamweaver, Leiard, haunted in a possibly life-threatening way by ‘linked memories’. I have Books 2 & 3 to look forward to and hope I enjoy these equally, although I don’t feel this series is as compelling as Canavan’s ‘The Black Magician Trilogy’.

Book 1 of "Age of the Five" trilogy. "Follows Auraya, who is named a Priestess of the White—one of five powerful, god-serving rulers. As she steps into this role, she faces political tensions, forbidden friendship with outcast Dreamweavers, and a rising threat from black-clad sorcerers in the south." Super slow-paced. I like the friendship with the dreamweaver. Underlying mystery about the real nature of the Gods that is being dangled. I liked the diplomacy angle of Auraya solving conflicts.

Try as I did, I just do not enjoy Trudi Canavans writing style. She is on a list for me of authors who have great stories, ideas, and worlds in their minds, but who cannot write them well.
I do enjoy the story she is trying to tell as there were so many great fantasy elements to it that I love; sorcery, new imaginative races, battles, magic, etc. However her writing just ended up distracting from those great things.
While she had new races, they all had the same characteristics of her humans. The best part of new races is that they would think, act, and feel different. Otherwise why have them? Authors like Tolkien, and Hayden, and Williams do this wonderfully.
I think if I had read this book years ago, I would have liked it better, show more before I had read some amazing other fantasy authors.
Overall a good fantasy story, but in no ways a great one. show less

The Black Magician trilogy established Trudi Canavan as an author capable of delivering absorbing and intricate fantasy that packs an emotional punch.

Auraya is a girl with magical gifts and precocious wisdom. She is tutored by Leiard, a Dreamweaver. Dreamweavers are healers and mind-linkers, and part of a group of people who are persecuted and despised because they don't worship the gods.Auraya rises through the Circlian priesthood to the position of one of the White, the god's chosen servants, early on in the book. Gifted with great powers that include immortality, there are only five of the White. Auraya is the last to be chosen.

As with Canavan's other novels, there are strong political threads running through Priestess of the White. show more The gods have instructed the White to seek out alliances with other peoples. So Auraya spends a lot of time in diplomatic negotiations, trying to unite the north. But war is coming. The southern Pentadrians are led by ruthless and powerful sorcerers, and they worship gods of their own. The Pentadrians believe that the Circlians are heathens whose gods are false. The sentiment is mutual. And that eventually leads to a war between the Circlians and their allies and the Pentadrians.

The book seems to be written to a plan. There are clearly some elements that Canavan has to set up now in order to develop them later in the trilogy. Nonetheless, I feel she has sacrificed the flow of the narrative in order to do so - and I hope it will all be worth it in the end.

Having said that, some of the characters are beautifully drawn and the story is chock full of potential for exciting and unexpected developments going forward.

Priestess of the White is a good read, but it is not up there with the Black Magician series. I'm counting on Canavan getting back to her stride in the subsequent books. show less

First of a new trilogy, Humans living on a fairly small continent of a few countries are blessed by five gods. "Talents" abound and nearly everyone has some degree of magical ability. A priestess is chosen as the God's current favourite, but before she can fully learn her skills war breaks out with strangers from a nearby land - whose gods seem just as strong. Fortunetly allies in the form of flying people are at hand even if their sea cousins are harder work.

Well written though a trifle wordy at times without much depth to any but the most central characters it is nevertheless a good fantasy story in a promising world. The viewpoint jumps around a bit from the various characters which can be annoying, but in general I'm looking show more forward to the forthcoming sequals.

After re-read. This is not, as from the prologue one might expect, a coming of age fantasy. Auraya starts out as a high priestess of the Five, and quickly comes to terms with her increasesed powers, and learns more about the world and it's cultures around her.

These are enjoyably fairly well-fleshed characters, without an absolute set of good and eveil, just differenet people trying to do their best. Leneid's and Emeralh's stories are obviously leading to some darker undertones than the original premise of the White Five might suggest. Engaging and intruging it's a complex plot lightly told. The action jumps around to several bit parts but this leads to an interesting world with details of minor areas sketching in the a wider picture. Personally I feel it is a trifle long, with too much happening, and maybe a harsher editor would have produced a more gripping tale - but perhaps without some of the wealth of intricate detail that makes this such a fun read. show less

Decidedly lackluster, for the following reasons:

1) Thin characterization. Though I am not a slavish devotee of the "show, don't tell" school of writing, this novel could definitely benefit from less direct exposition and more character-revealing dialogue. The characters show little differentiation in their patterns of thought, either on a personal or a cultural level. In short, they all sound the same.

2) Haphazard world-building. Information about the world is always revealed only when it is necessary to the plot. For example, on page 78 Auraya reveals that "All Dreamweavers make an oath to heal any person who needs and wants it." She knows this because she studied with a Dreamweaver for several years as a teen. This kind of information show more could easily have been revealed earlier - during the first pages of the book, even, which depict just such a teaching session between Auray and her Dreamweaver tutor. Revealing crucial information well in advance of the point where it becomes crucial would deepen the characters, the world, and make for a more enjoyable reading experience. Revealing it only when necessary adds nothing to the tension of the book, and prevents the reader from participating fully.

3) Poor writing. In particular, relies too much on passive voice. Example: "Her voice was tentative and questioning ..." (p.207) Ugh. Just use an adverb "questioningly" or "tentatively" and be done with it.

I read Canavan's first book, "The Magician's Guild," some time ago. It suffered from much the same problems. She's improved since then, but not much. Perhaps I will try the first book of her next series as well. Or perhaps not. Two strikes is plenty in my ball game. show less

This read like a more grown-up version of the Black Magician trilogy with a lot of incidental similarities. The five representatives of the Gods unite Northern Ithania in war against the evil invading Pentadrians, providing a solid plot to hang themes of religion and oppression upon.

This was good enough to make me want to read the next in the trilogy.