This been a long time since I was this frustrated with a book. There were so many moments of, "Why doesn't Sonea shield? Why doesn't she call for help? Why the f**k is she allowing this to keep happening?! And why ffs are the adults not doing a damn thing about all of this!?!" For a strong character, in this story she does the most illogical things, but then, how dare logical progression interfere with the plot the author wanted. >.< Seriously, Sonea gets into a huge amount of trouble because she was framed for stealing a pen. A pen. That's it. Other students sabotaging her, attacking her, torturing her, and nothing. At most a slap on the wrist that's quickly dismissed for the lead aggressor, but nothing for the others. Even when the teachers know this abuse is going on, they do nothing. Really? Ah, but this is a magical guild where the logical progression of events is subverted by the 'i-wanna-write-it-this-way' spell because reasons. True, bullying in real life is an issue; however, it's one that flourishes with secrecy, but that's not the issue here. The adults know what's going on for the majority of the book. In rl, any teacher worth their credential would escort a student and provide safe harbor, and with current media pressure, administrators don't dismiss these issues. Certainly the parents are called in. In any school, Regin would be expelled. Regin is one of the most one dimensional villains I've ever seen. We don't get anything other than he's arrogant and has a cruel smile, and that's the extent of his character. Oh, and he is obsessed with Sonea for reasons unknown. Even if his family felt slighted by Sonea's presence at the school, that doesn't explain the extent this character goes through to ruin her life. And how in the hell is one little first year novice able to spread rumors that any adult would take seriously? The whole thing with Rothem being a letch was so beyond ridiculous. Where are the adults here? We have older people, but no actual adults acting like adults.Lord Rothem, who I initially liked in the first novel, is just as helpless as Sonea in that he should have the ability and intelligence to act but doesn't. This is a book of willing victims, and that's no fun to read. The story line I actually liked was Dannyl's. The way homosexuality is treated in the novel is old fashioned by this age, but I enjoyed the slowly developing romance. While it may end in scandal and tears, I'm hoping for a hea. The characters are well matched and quite cute together. Last but not least of many issues, this novel could use a lot of trimming. Thanks to Harry Potter and no thanks to crapfests like Divergent or (shudders) Twilight, young adult novels are topping over 500 pages. Just because you can write this much doesn't mean you should. Tighten your plot. At least then I have to suffer less from the ridiculousness.
The Novice was a good book but frustratingly slow. Like its predecessor, with this one as well, there were times when I was seriously tempted to put it aside, but I managed to finish it (with a good deal of will power involved) It's not frustrating because it is dull or badly written but because of certain characters or arcs that I simply did not care for. The Novice was also written from several characters' points of view and while this makes sure that we know what it happening with the various key players (especially when some of them are not even in the same country) it also breaks the narrative flow which can be exceedingly annoying. There were some characters who didn't interest me on any level so it was a chore going through those chapters.I still like Sonea, the main protagonist (although judging by how many characters' POV there are, sometimes it isn't very obvious) She's still got grit and is determined to improve and be better than the other novices. Though this time she was a little more beaten down. Rothen genuinely cared for her and for a little while it seemed that in this respect, at least, Sonea would face no hurdles, but sadly, I was wrong, as her guardianship was wrenched from Rothen by the High Lord, Akkarin. The way in which Lorlen decided to deal with the revelation of Akkarin's secret always seemed very inefficient to me, this was the High Lord we are talking about, the guy who is extremely gifted with reading another's thoughts and Lorlen genuinely thought he could keep Akkarin from finding out? Not very smart... Dannyl seemed to enjoying his new role as the new Guild Ambassador and part-time spy for Lorlen. Dorrien, Rothen's son was like a breath of fresh air and I was sad to see him leave. He was a fun character in a sea of serious and dour ones. Regin was absolutely abhorrent and I still think he got too easy. The Novice is a good book, it just takes some time to get into the flow of the story. But it has a cast of compelling characters who should keep you hooked.
What do You think about The Novice (2004)?
Think of this book as what a Harry Potter novel would look like if it was only about Harry vs. Draco struggle. Except here it's Sonea vs Entire School all-out war with the protagonist being 1) a total victim, 2) accepting everything they throw at her, 3) not fighting back, 4) barely protecting herself, 5) barely accepting help from third parties. Antagonists consist of nearly all the students, most of the teachers, staff and a kitchen sink. Rare people who are on Sonea's side try to help her a little, but it doesn't really work because she's the Ultimate Victim and not cooperating. She doesn't even use all the resources available to her.It was all very funny. I don't doubt it appeals a lot to young readers. There's also a second thread, which contributes exactly nothing. A mage... magician is sent on a quest to find Important Stuff. Instead, he finds himself a lover. I was extremely curious as to how m/m slash looks in young-adult version, but was sorely disappointed. That part of the book was insanely, mind-numbingly boring and consisted of rambling and preaching about tolerance etc. Yawn. Primary school stuff.Ah, the mage... magician found something Strange. Don't get your hopes high though, it's irrelevant to the story and not explained at all, either in the trilogy or in its prequel.
—Dhuaine
I found this second book in the Black Magician Trilogy to be much more compelling than the first. I had a hard time putting The Novice down. We see some character development here for Sonea and Dannyl and are left to continue wondering what exactly is going on with the High Lord, although by the end of the book there are some clues. He isn't a very well developed character at this point at all, and as the third book is titled The High Lord I am pretty sure we will get a lot more of him there.I have to say that the two separate themes of bullying and sexual identity almost completely took over the whole book and overshadowed the plot, but despite that this book still kept me reading and wanting to know what would happen next. The bullying that Sonea faced was so excessive, and don't get me started on the fact that no one was ever really punished by those in authority for the bullying. I mean what the heck? Regin was like an annoying gnat that you couldn't kill or a bad dream that wouldn't end, and there was no real reason given for the lengths he went to to torment her other than he hated her because she was from the slums. He was not developed beyond that. If he had been I think it would have done a lot more to enhance the story.I did really like the addition of Rothen's son Dorrian, he had a nice easy banter with Sonea and reading their scenes together was one of the nicest parts of the book. It brought some relief from the bullying but we do not get nearly enough of him. As far as Dannyl goes, I didn't find his journey all that interesting and it did nothing to really help the plot along, except for maybe showing us more of the world. It felt like it was mostly there so that he could finally confront his past and his sexuality. I would have liked if his character had had more impact on the main plot line, which is what it seemed would happen in the beginning.So overall a really enjoyable read with a couple of things that could have been improved upon. I'm looking forward to reading the last book in the trilogy. I do need to include another cover rant here. What is that black Pegasus creature doing on the cover? It doesn't appear in the book at all. The rest of the cover is ok. It looks like the scene in the arena with Sonea and Regin and they look the right age.
—Tammie
There is something missing for me with these books. They are 'good' but not as engaging as I would like them to be, or more accurately I think they should have elicited more enthusiasm from me what with all that's going on. There is/was a serial killer on the loose, more problems for Sonea took place, Lorlen, Dannyl and Rothen encountered their own issues, and yet, it was kinds of blah. I think it's the same problem as the last book. The pacing. Everything is just moving SO SLOWLY. The thing is I usually don't mind the slow pacing as long as it can keep my interest, but these books are cutting it close. Whenever I stopped reading I would keep putting off getting back to the book, but it just wasn't that interesting. Yes there were problems but I never felt that sense of urgency or danger. (view spoiler)[I don't know if this might be because I simply have never thought the High Lord to be the evil villain everyone keeps thinking he is, so I just don't see the danger. Sure their situation sucks but, that's it. Nothing more to it. (hide spoiler)]
—Ornella (Nyx)
