The Magicians' Guild by Trudi Canavan Review

""We should expect this young woman to be more powerful than our average novice, possibly even more powerful than the average magician."

This year, like every other, the magicians of Imardin gather to purge the city of undesirables. Cloaked in the protection of their sorcery, they move with no fear of the vagrants and miscreants who despise them and their work-—until one enraged girl, barely more than a child, hurls a stone at the hated invaders...and effortlessly penetrates their magical shield.

What the Magicians' Guild has long dreaded has finally come to pass. There is someone outside their ranks who possesses a raw power beyond imagining, an untrained mage who must be found and schooled before she destroys herself and her city with a force she cannot yet control."

I'm not impressed. I'm actually disappointed. The Magicians' Guild is a story of magic and mystery. There is darkness and great evil, but there is a interesting tale and a manhunt here, a sort of adventure. It has so much potential, but it is all wasted. All of it. Well, mostly wasted. Don't get my words wrong, but the book could have been better and it isn't. It isn't good enough. It isn't good as it is supposed to be, and it isn't as good as it could had been. Not. Good. Enough. 

The main character, Sonea, is majorly facing three, four choices for her bleak future. One is death. Two is being a magician. The third is running forever and ever. At least, forever until she dies. The fourth is for her magic to be removed permanently, but that won't be useful for her at all. So, I guess there isn't much of a choice. She is very powerful, with humble beginnings. Still, for someone who is supposed to be a street rat, she does have a hard time telling the difference between a good and bad person. Where are her instincts? No clue. 

For most of the book, there is a chase for Sonea. The magicians are smart, and the girl is a very small rat. The cat and mouse game drags on way too long to be bearable, and I'm not sure how I didn't give up. In some chapters, there are parts that could be cut out and it simply frustrates me how the author is stalling most of the time. There is a good beginning, but everything runs downhill from there. It is very hard not to bang my own head on the desk. 

The interchanging POVs are easy enough to grasp. But some of these characters mesh together, and I find it hard to tell the magicians apart. The rest of them are distinctive enough, and have their own voice. 

But still, I'm not impressed. 

Overall, The Magicians' Guild is not what I expected it to be. The synopsis makes the book sound greater than it really is, and the pacing is off. Parts of the plot and certain subplots drag on too long, and I certainly can't wait for the book to be over (or for my own mind to give up on it). Sure, there are some decent moments and scenes, but they don't really make up for the dull parts of the book. So this is not recommended for anyone.

Rating: One out of Five