book reviews

Thief’s Magic is one of Canavan’s best books to date. Here’s what Thief’s Magic is about according to the Press Release: 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 a 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 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. Not even the people they trust.

The book is split into two stories, Tyen’s and Rielle’s.

Tyen’s character and storyline were brilliant. His tale is a classic adventure story and grips the readers attention. The reader will like the concept of many different worlds and the concept of the millennium rule. Tyen’s story is compelling and will leave the reader with a hankering for more. More conversations between Tyen and Vella, more exploration of different worlds and more learning of magic.

Rielle’s character felt two dimensional and underdeveloped. Other characters in Rielle’s chapters were much more interesting than her. Canavan had well researched dyes, paints and artistic skill, which she put into the novel as required. There are some imaginative ideas and interesting plot points in Rielle’s story. But as the book continued, I sighed every time I saw Rielle’s name as the chapter title. The problem with Rielle’s character is that I didn’t care about her. This was in part because she lacked depth.

As always Canavan’s writers voice engages the reader. She showed the transition of time really well and the show/tell balance was perfect. The pacing was a little slow at times and the reader will question if some chapters are necessary or important to the story. However Canavan may have been laying the foundations for the two other books in the trilogy. Towards the end of the advanced copy I received, the editing could have been better. There were a number of typos that interrupted the flow of the story, however it is likely these were fixed prior to the printing of the general release.

Overall Thief’s Magic is a great read. Tyen’s story makes the reader excited about the next book and impatient for it to be published.

Thief’s Magic is available to buy on Amazon.

Review soon,

Antony

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