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Here, over time, you will see blogs appear... most commonly about the books I have read which I think are worth shouting about. If you wish to quote or use any of my Reviews/Bloggs, please contact me prior to the usage of said information. If you wish to have your book reviewed/send me a copy to review, please don't hesitate to send me a message. Happy reading!

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Sunday 29 May 2011

The Black Magicians Trilogy


Trilogy Description:

Book 1 – The Magicians Guild
Each year the magicians of Imardin gather to purge the city streets of beggars, urchins and miscreants.  Masters of the disciplines of magic, they know that no one can oppose them. But their protective shield is not as impenetrable as they believe.

As the mob is herded from the city, Sonea, a young street girl, furious at the authorities’ treatment of her family and friends, hurls a stone at the shield, putting all her rage behind it. To the amazement of all who watch, there is a flash of blue light as the stone passes through the barrier and cracks a magician on the temple, rendering him unconscious.

After five hundred years of order, the guild’s worst fear has been realized – an untrained magician is loose on the streets. She must be found, and quickly, before her uncontrolled powers unleash forces that will destroy both her and the city that is her home.
“If this young woman is a natural, we should expect her to be more powerful then the average novice, possible more powerful then the average magician… she will be a considerable danger to the city,”
“Then we must find her – and those who have taught her.”
“If she is a rogue, we are bound by the law to bring her and her teachers to the king.”
“She’s barely more then a child.”
“If she is a rogue, we will apply the law.”

Book 2 – The Novice
Sonea knew the other novices in the magicians guild came from noble families and that, as a former slum-dweller, she could expect to be treated as an outsider, but she little realised the level of animosity she would face from her fellow students.

The sons and daughters of the most powerful families in the realm, her classmates seem determined to see her fail – even if they have to engineer her failure themselves. Dannyl and Rothen offer Sonea what help they can, but when someone starts spreading malicious rumours about her, Akkarin, The High Lord, steps in to put a stop to it. Sonea may soon wish she was still enduring the taunts other peers, for in accepting the protection of the guild’s high lord she may have embraced a far bleaker fate. It seems that Akkarin harbours a secret that is far darker then his magician’s robes. Taken into his confidence, Sonea must keep the truth hidden. But by doing so, is she showing loyalty to the head of her guild, or making the worst mistake of her life?
     
Book 3 – The High Lord
Sonea has learned much at the Magicians’ Guild and the other novices now treat her with grudging respect. But she cannot forget what she has witnessed in the High Lord Akkarin’s underground chamber – or his warning that the realms ancient enemy is growing in power once more.
As Akkarin reveals more of his knowledge, Sonea does not know who to believe, or what she most fears. Could the truth really be as terrifying as the High Lord claims? Does an ancient power threaten them all? Or does the guild face a threat from a much closer source?
“Why are you showing me these books?” Akkarin’s eyes bored into her own, and she looked away.
 “You want to know the truth,” he said. He was right. Part of her wanted to ignore the books. But she did want to know.

Personal Appeal
I was given The Magicians Guild the year it was released as a Christmas present and with it having such a gripping blurb (hence its usage above as it speaks for itself) and quite frankly, a very eye catching cover design, I dropped my current reading material for it. As with all Canavan’s books, I was hooked right from the first few pages and I just could not put it down. I just had to finish it and even then I just could not wait for The Novice to be in my hands and the same subsequently for The High Lord. I even lost count with the amount of people I lent my copy too and all said they went out and purchased the next two in the trilogy.
This Trilogy I count among my top five favorite of all time and I don’t see it budging even though I consider Trudi Canavan’s The Age of the Five a close contender.

The Author – Trudi Canavan
Trudi Canavan is, in my opinion, one of the best Fantasy writers of our time. Along with the publications of The Black Magicians trilogy and The Age of the Five, her Prequel to BMT (The Magician’s Apprentice) and her new Trilogy set a generation on from that of BMT (The Traitor Spy), follow Canavan with such glee leaving her fans enchanted. I’m sure we will see many more novels in the years to come.  

Review Rating – 5 out of 5 Stars

Canavan’s other publications mentioned in this review will also be reviewed at a later date. 

Friday 27 May 2011

In God We Trust - Mike Wells


Short Description: (WARNING – MINOR PLOT SPOILERS!)
Elaine Brogan grew up in the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The story follows a stunning academic through her young life at school and then on to the days with her brutal training for the US Secret Service. Her work initially takes her to Great Falls, Montana but life if the Secret Service took her half way around the world to such places as Bulgaria, Russia and finally to Italy where money counterfeiting is at large and controlled by the most ruthless man in Europe. With heartfelt vengeance fueling her emotions, her actions are shown with determination but when Elaine is presented with designer luxuries, extreme amounts of money and the protection of her new employer, how could she ever give up her new found life? Will she ever find love or will the life of power and fraud take over?


Personal Appeal:
I’m usually a lover of fantasy adventure novels as not much else usually sparks much interest. I stumbled upon Mike Wells’ In God we Trust and at the time (as always) I was in the middle of reading an in-depth epic story written by a very well known author. As a fantasy book lover I find myself drawn to stories that I can really get my teeth into. These stories usually suck you into a whole new reality whereby you just become part of them in such a way that makes you want to keep reading more and more never wanting to leave the imaginations of the authors. Commonly, these stories are part of trilogies or part of a whole series of books so when I came across ‘In God We Trust’, I instantaneously said to myself, this isn’t a story for me. I thought to myself “It’s too small. How could I possibly get to know a whole group of characters and get to grips with each of their personalities if I can finish the book itself in less than a few days?!”  However I was ultimately mistaken. Each character in this novel has their own story to tell and Wells write them in such a way that makes you aspire to each character in their own right.  

Author – Mike Wells:
Wells style of writing is so laid-back and so easy to read. It’s refreshing to be able to read such a fast-paced book where you never miss a detail but also where you don’t become overwhelmed in mind-boggling information like some other thriller writers. This is what makes Mike Wells’ novel a great summer read, perfect for that pool side holiday where this gripping thriller would do wonders for entertainment levels.

Revenge, determination and love fuel this thoroughly enjoyable fast paced thriller. A definite summer read that’s worthy of the big screen.

Review Rating: 4 out of 5 Stars 

First up - Its Me! and what to look out for!

Just posing....
Right, I was going to introduce myself here but I now feel that maybe, you should get to know me through my reviews? In any case, here are the basics. 

My name is Samuel Fielder. I was born in Portsmouth (Hampshire, UK) but I now live just outside of Guildford (Surrey, UK)

I made this profile to share with others my opinions on the books I have read so I will review as many as I can. I will be creating these reviews along side my full time job so posts will be as frequent as I can make them.

Over the next few days/weeks, we have Stephen King, Trudi CanavanMike Wells, James Rollins and Sam Bourne reviews to look forward too. These authors have been chosen as these are the most recent of books that I have read (Easier for me to recall them). I will also post updates through twitter (Look to the right of this page) of which book I am currently reading and give my thoughts along the way.  If you have any suggestions on which book I should start next, just send me a message on here or via twitter.

Happy Reading!