July 9, 2011

Review : The Ambassador's Mission by Trudi Canavan

Title : The Ambassador's Mission
Author : Trudi Canavan
Reading Dates : 1 Jun - 4 June 2011
The Ambassador's Mission (The Traitor Spy Trilogy)
The Traitor Spy Trilogy
Books in the series
  • The Ambassador's Mission
  • The Rogue
  • The Traitor Queen
From goodreads :
Sonea, a Black Magician of Kyralia, is horrified when her son, Lorkin, volunteers to assist the new Guild Ambassador to Sachaka. When word comes that Lorkin has gone missing, Sonea is desperate to find him, but if she leaves the city she will be exiled forever. And besides, an old friend is in need of her help.

Most of her friend's family has been murdered - the latest in a long line of assassinations to plague the leading Thieves of the city. There has always been rivalry, but now the Thieves are waging a deadly underworld war, and it appears they have been doing so with magical assistance.

With over one million copies in print, Trudi Canavan has taken the fantasy world by storm. If you haven't done so already, THE AMBASSADOR'S MISSION is the perfect opportunity to discover the magic of Trudi Canavan.


Book Review of The Ambassador's Mission.
The Ambassador’s Mission has 2 main plot elements in it. The first focuses on Lorkin, his venturing into Sachaka and subsequent contact with the group of rebels known as The Traitors. The other tells of the prejudices Sonea still faces from the Guild and how it limits the actions she can take especially when faced with corruption and incompetence amongst the Guild of magicians. Both of which had me puzzling over the title for a bit.

In any case, since The Traitor Spy trilogy is set in the same world as The Black Magician Trilogy and The Magician’s Apprentice, comparisons are inevitable. In terms of pacing, The Ambassador’s Mission is definitely much slower than the other books by Trudi Canavan set in the same world.

And character-wise, Lorkin is not as interesting as either of his parents; being neither as likable or admirable as Sonea nor as intriguing as the High Lord Akkarin. Of course, this could be because Lorkin still seems unsure of what he wants to do with his life and is simply grabbing at whatever exciting opportunity presenting itself to him. Hopefully, he will come into his own in the next 2 books.

On the plus side, it does look as if The Traitor Spy trilogy is set to answer some of those mysteries raised in The Black Magician trilogy regarding Kyralia’s past. This is definitely something I’m looking forward to. Aside from that, I’m also interested to see how Sonea intends to stop the continuing decay of the Guild as well as get ungrateful magicians from noble houses to finally acknowledge and trust her.

So, right now, The Ambassador’s Mission is not bad for the first book in a trilogy. There are definitely interesting possibilities in what comes next.

My conclusions :
  • Would I re-read the book ? Maybe. It will probably depend on the rest of the series.
  • Would I want to read the next book in the series ? Yes.
  • Would I want to own my personal copy if I didn’t already own it ? I'm reserving judgement until I read the next books.
  • Who would I recommend this too? Fans of the Black Magician Trilogy.
  • For those looking to read the book, would I recommend buying or borrowing the book? I'm still reserving judgement on this.

No comments:

Post a Comment

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...