I was a little reluctant to give this 5/5, but I think it's easily an 85/100 book or above, so 5/5 is only fair.
I'd heard of Trudi many times over the years, and I'd always been intrigued by her books. I'd seen them in many stores, but never picked one up... Until this week. When I started this yesterday morning, I wasn't sure if it was what I wanted to read. It seemed like many books I'd read, and many that I hadn't. But my fears were unfounded, because as soon as I'd read the first page I was hooked.
The book revolves around a girl called Sonea (Well, she's more of a young woman) and how she discovers her magical powers. In a way, Trudi falls back on the Modesitt story in which someone's powers develop later but they're all the stronger for it, although instead of the usual richer or more well-off families, Trudi falls back on the other trope of the poorer person rising to greatness. But it works for Sonea, and brilliantly so. In fact, most of this book would not be possible without that background.
The novel does feel a little strained and stretched in places. It seems that just as it's about to move on to the next obvious section, Trudi pulls it back into that... Well, part of the story. It's like the first third of one novel stretched out to fill a whole one. The story never feels laboured and dull, but it seems to me that trimming sections like that down would have helped a little.
I did really root for Sonea, too. Whilst I started out and felt annoyed with her and how she acted, I had to remind myself why it was justified - and once that set in I was fine with her, especially in the last third of the book. There's a decision she has to make, and the way Trudi had written it and set it up, I was really invested in it and I had to see where it went. The way she acts is believable and realistic, and it works all the better as characters react to her in equally believable ways.
Overall, I was pleasantly surprised by this book. I was expecting a fairly average read, but was greeted by an excellent novel that drew me in right until the last page. I'm going to be very interested to see how this series plays out, which is pretty good as the next books should be arriving tomorrow.
