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Library | Collection | Collection | Call Number | Status |
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Searching... Politi Branch Library (Fresno Co.) | Searching... Unknown | Science Fiction Area | CANAVAN TR Thiefs | Searching... Unknown |
Searching... Tulare Public Library | Searching... Unknown | Adult Fiction | Canavan, Trudi | Searching... Unknown |
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Summary
Summary
Forget what you know about the nature of magic.
In a world where an industrial revolution is powered by magic, Tyen, a student of archaeology, unearths a sentient book called Vella. Once a young sorcerer-bookbinder, Vella was transformed into a useful tool by one of the greatest sorcerers of history. Since then she has been collecting information, including a vital clue to the disaster Tyen's world faces.
Elsewhere, in an land ruled by the priests, Rielle the dyer's daughter has been taught that to use magic is to steal from the Angels. Yet she knows she has a talent for it, and that there is a corrupter in the city willing to teach her how to use it -- should she dare to risk the Angels' wrath.
But not everything is as Tyen and Rielle have been raised to believe. Not the nature of magic, nor the laws of their lands. . . and not even the people they trust.
AN EPIC NEW FANTASY ADVENTURE BEGINS.
Author Notes
Trudi Canavan was born on October 23, 1969. She is an Australian writer of fantasy novels. In 1995 Canavan started The Telltale Art, a freelance business specialising on graphical design services. In that same year she began working for Aurealis, a magazine of Australian Fantasy and Science Fiction. In 1999, Canavan's writing career took off when she won the Aurealis Award for Best Fantasy Short Story with Whispers of the Mist Children. In 2001, she further established herself with The Magicians' Guild, centring around Sonea, a slum child who is hunted for her rogue magic. The novel was the first of three books of The Black Magician Trilogy. It brought her wide acclaim. The second book of the trilogy is The Novice and the third book is The High Lord, which was nominated for the Best Novel Ditmar category.
Canavan's also penned her second trilogy , Age of the Five and a third trilogy The Traitor Spy Trilogy. In 2015 her title Thief's Magic won a Ditmar Award in the Best Novel category.
(Bowker Author Biography)
Reviews (4)
Bookseller Publisher Review
"This is the first in a new series set in a new world. While it is very much in the style of her previous books, Trudi Canavan has taken advantage of the new setting to create a very different fantasy world. For a start, she envisions a culture that has developed technology based on magic as a power source. It's a refreshing change from the somewhat stagnant feel of the medieval style of a lot of fantasy. The way magic works is also fascinating: a finite localised energy that is consumed by sorcerers to power their spells, leaving a black smoke-like residue in the magically depleted dead zone as the immediate environmental consequence. In this world (or possibly worlds, as the idea of moving between them is raised fairly early in the book), two young people struggle with very different magic-related problems. In Leratia, student sorcerer Tyen becomes a fugitive when he discovers an ancient book that is conscious, self-aware and has secrets that many would kill to have. In Fyre, Rielle learns forbidden magic to protect the young painter she is in love with. Both characters have also had a great potential for magic awakened in them. Is it a coincidence? Or are there forces with plans for Tyen and Rielle? This is recommended for fans of Robin Hobb, Glenda Larke, Jennifer Fallon and anyone who enjoys adventure fantasy. Stefen Brazulaitis is the owner of Stefen's Books in Perth"
Publisher's Weekly Review
Australian fantasy author Canavan (the Traitor Spy trilogy) introduces a restrictive magical culture to open the Millennium's Rule trilogy. Tyen, scholar and ambitious archaeologist, uncovers an ancient magic tome, a font of potentially dangerous information, forged from the body of an unwilling woman named Vella. Rielle struggles against the strictures of polite society, where inborn magical gifts can too easily lead to arrest and assault, and where women are expected to submit to loveless arranged marriages. Tyen's empathy for Vella, and his desire to protect her from the machinations of others, force him to flee. Rielle's desire for love and a self-directed life similarly sees her cast out from the ranks of the powerful, consigned to a fate few would seek. There is much to recommend in Canavan's new venture; Tyen is a bit dull, but Rielle's story entrances. This trilogy launch does not so much conclude as stop, leaving readers eager for the next two volumes. (May) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Kirkus Review
First of a new fantasy series from the Australian author of The Traitor Queen (2012, etc.).In one world, the use of magic results in black trails of depletion known as Soot, until eventually more magic seeps in to replace it. Student sorcerer-archaeologist Tyen Ironsmelter discovers a sentient book named Vella in an ancient tomb. A thousand years ago, Vella was a real woman until transformed by the era's greatest sorcerer. She still has her memories, and she can also absorb the knowledge of any person who holds her. She tells Tyen that magic can be generated by creativity; modern scholars disagree, though it's indisputable that their world's magic-powered industrial revolution is rapidly depleting the magic. Reluctant to give up such a powerful tool to professor Kilraker, his supervisor at the Academy (where, of course, no women are permitted), Tyen conceals Vellaand when Kilraker learns of her existence, he accuses Tyen of theft. Facing ruin as well as the loss of Vella, Tyen steals an aircart and flees. In another world, meanwhile, only (male) priests in the service of the Angels may wield magic. Here, using magic creates Stain, black blobs of depletion that fade only slowly. Dyer's daughter Rielle Lazuli can see Stain, but if she attempts to use magic, she'll be stealing from the Angels. Unwilling to accept a husband selected by her parents, she runs away to live with painter Izare Saffre. From a "tainted" woman, Rielle learns how to wield magic only to become the target of blackmail by corrupt young priest Sa-Gest. Canavan narrates in a pleasant tone of voice, the plotting is plausible and the backdrops reasonably persuasive. Characters, though, tend toward the bland.Despite the lack of sharp edges, Canavan's creation is intriguing enough to tempt patient readers back for more. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Library Journal Review
In Tyen's world, magic is used to power machines, and as a student of history and alchemy at the Academy he hopes to learn arcane lore. While on an archaeological dig, Tyen discovers an enchanted book that can read the mind of anyone holding it and communicate through writing on its pages. Possessing it will change Tyen's life forever. In Rielle's world, magic is rare and its use is limited to the priesthood. But Rielle has been able to sense the supernatural since she was a child, and when her happiness and love are threatened, she seeks out a woman who can show her how to use her talents. -VERDICT The two alternating stories are each engrossing in how they unfold and in the very different relationships each reality has with magic. The only frustration readers will have with this series launch is that -Rielle's and Tyen's universes don't yet intersect, although Canavan ("The Black Magician" trilogy) obviously has a plan. (c) Copyright 2014. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.