one of my biggest fears is that "booktok" gets its grubby little hands on any books written by trudi canavan. i know its very pretentious blah blah blah but if a book has the word tiktok anywhere near it i wont touch it.

The Black Magician trilogy, by Trudi Canavan (January 2023)

sorry you're getting the kinda ugly French covers because the other covers are worse

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.

Would I recommend it to anyone? I've already had two of my friends read it, hehe. So yes, it's a good ol' fantasy series like we like them.

Level of (dis)satisfaction based on the summary and my expectations? It was a reread, this series is one I grew up with so it's one of my favorites. Since it had been a while since I'd last read it, I wanted to see if it stood the test of time in a way.

My thoughts on it? Some elements have aged and I think some of the romances we see are pretty awkward. But I'm still in love with the world and the story as a whole.

French version under the cut

Comme chaque année, les magiciens d'Imardin se réunissent pour nettoyer la ville des indésirables. Protégés par un bouclier magique, ils avancent sans crainte au milieu des vagabonds, des orphelins et autres malandrins qui les haïssent. Soudain, une jeune fille ivre de colère leur jette une pierre... qui traverse sans effort le bouclier magique dans un éclair bleu et assomme l'un des mages.

Ce que la Guilde des magiciens redoutait depuis si longtemps est arrivé : une magicienne inexpérimentée est en liberté dans les rues ! Il faut la retrouver avant que son pouvoir incontrôlé la détruise elle-même, et toute la ville avec elle. La traque commence...

Est-ce que tu le conseillerais à quelqu’un ? J'ai déjà fait lire la série à deux amis, héhé. Du coup oui, c'est une bonne série de fantasy comme on les aime.

Niveau de déception/satisfaction par rapport au résumé et tes attentes ? C’était une relecture, cette série fait partie de celles qui ont bercé mon adolescence et c’est donc une de mes préférées. Comme ça faisait des années que je l’avais pas lue, je voulais voir si elle était à l’épreuve du temps en quelque sorte.

Avis sans spoiler ? Certains éléments ont vieilli et je trouve que les différentes romances qu’on a au fil des tomes sont assez maladroites. Mais je suis toujours aussi fan de l’univers et de l’histoire de manière générale.

Character, book, and author names under the cut

Alucard Emery- Shades of Magic series by VE Schwab

Pacer Wicks- Check, Please! By Ngozi Ukazu

Ballister Blackheart- Nimona by N.D. Stevenson

Tayend of Tremmelin- Magician’s Guild series by Trudi Canavan

━━━✥◈ Mylae the Magician ◈✥━━━

Commission for a dear guildmate, from 2020! Mylae discovers that Astralaria can amplify his magic powers and decides to perform a magic trick...

Correspondences for thieves-

Pyrite, malachite, and cinnamon for attracting money

Sunstone, basil, and citrine for good luck and looking confident

Peppercorns, mint, and tourmaline to ward bad luck

Sodalite, cordierite, thyme, mussel shell, and dandelion seeds to be invisible in the shadows or hide in plain sight

Sand in your pocket to throw at pursuers make your footsteps silent.

Rope for enhancing climbing proficiency

Tigers eye for quick hands and sharp senses

A lookout to warn of guards

Goldstone, fire opal, rosemary, or cilantro to draw attention where you want or misdirect.

I took my niece to AR Comic Con to meet Felicia Day! She was incredibly sweet and exceeded expectations. We tried to give her room in the photo op to respect her boundaries and she was like “COME IN, ENVELOP ME!” And pulled us in close. This is my face being pulled in close by a woman I’ve had a crush on since 2012. No big. At the meet and greet she was complimenting our hair, outfits, and smiles. She just sat there and told us how beautiful we were and I was like “ma’am with all due respect, I love you.” Felicia Day called me a model, I can die happy now.

Also got a pic w Scott Steiner for the new family Christmas card - my brothers request.

Lucy found the Fairy Tail manga

The Magicians' Guild Audiobook Review

Watch on TikTok

hello I just dug out the OG concept sketch sheet from back when I thought I was gonna build Idri as a halfling and when I found it I said out loud 'SHE HAD AUBREE HAIR'

Gd, The Martian is such a good book and the movie is such a good movie I fucking love both, I've reread the book like 5 times at least, this is my third(?) time watching the movie, I could easily read and/or watch it again immediately without being bored, I think I could not get tired of this story and the humor and the just. Aaaaa

‘There’s something Lorlen said I had to tell you.’

Trudi Canavan, from The Magicians’ Guild

🌻 Sunny Reading Tag 🌻

Thank you for the tag @yourneighborhoodbibliophile

🔥 favourite book

Since I always say Le Pacte des Marchombre, I'm gonna change it up a bit and say: The Black Magician Trilogy. I need to read them again, it's been ages but they had a bit impact on me.

🌾 tropes that make you go "asfgrthgj"

I like the "opposite attract" trope but I might be biased because of my favorite ship (though I like it outside of romance too). And I like it when a villain goes good and vice versa.

🍂 comfort book

The Lightning Thief, I think. It's a quick read and I just love Percy so much, the beginning of his journey just warms my heart.

⚡ death in a book you would take back

I don't know if I actually would because all the deaths I remember served a very specific purpose in the story... Except for that death at the end of Crooked Kingdom. That one was just unnecessary. But if we're talking feelings, there are some deaths in Le Pacte des Marchombres that hit me hard every time.

🥠 book you wish you could read again for the first time

Iron Widow, just for the rush of absolute glee I felt seeing Zetian's rage and general unhinged-ness. A friend is reading it and sending me her reactions live and it's the best, I'm almost jealous of her for reading it for the first time...

Tagging @profiterole-reads, @agardenandlibrary, and @therefugeofbooks, sorry you've probably been tagged already but anyways.

Officially diagnosing Akkarin with Blorbo from my shows (books) disease. He's had it forever but being forcefully reminded of it as I reread them.

for no apparent reason, steps away from sleep, my brain hit me with a ‘hey, remember that fantasy world you started building years ago and then did nothing with? you remember that???’

partially? bits and pieces. because i don’t write things down. why are you bringing it up now, brain?

Book Ask game:

8, 20, 32, 44, 48, 54, 133, 135

8 a book you finished in one sitting

Crown of Wishes by Roshani Chokshi, I think I devoured it in like 10 hours. Got a wicked sunburn but I couldn't put it down. It's the (mostly) stand-alone sequel to The Star-Touched Queen following her younger sister and her adventures as she ends up in the underworld. It has a much faster pace but just as beautiful writing and I'm very grateful to @imaginarydragonling for buying it for me when the library took to long to get it here <3

20 a book that got you out of a reading slump

The Dark Days Club by Alison Goodman kicked me out of my novel paralysis when I finally picked it up after having left it on my shelf for like a year. Don't judge me, we all do it. But it was so easygoing and full of life and joy for the world of demons and corseted demon fighting they were telling us about and I think I read the first two in like a week and was then bouncing off the walls waiting for the last one to be released so I could know if my theories were correct. (They were, it's YA not rocket science. But that's still rewarding too)

32 your favourite nonfiction novel

Prins Solsken (Prince Sunlight) by Ebba L Levenhaupt, it's the published diary of Sophie von Fersen from when she was 17 to about 19, documenting her romance with Prince Fredrik Adolf. My grandmother had it and I would always read it when I came over so when I was in like 8th grade she gave it to me and I still think about certain diary entries from time to time

44 your favourite fantasy novel

Fuck this is so much harder than the next question since that's like 98% of the stuff I read, the selection pool is way too big lol. Since a certain boy wizards memory got tainted I don't have any one book that I'm quite as .. obsessed with .. so I'll just take something I really really enjoyed reading and haven't already talked about in this ask game. I really liked The Belgariad Series by David Eddings when I was growing up. I haven't actually read it in years now so I'm sorry for not going on as long a rant as it deserves, but I have a huge fondness for Garion and his Aunt Pol and one of these days I really should pick them up again.

48 your favourite sci-fi novel

I haven't read much sci-fi but I really did enjoy Neuromancer by William Gibson. My old DM lent it to me when we were going to start playing Neotech to get me in the right headspace for space adventures. Not really a genre I pick for myself but it's not bad, just something I'm unused to so it takes more brain-power to get what's happening than in fantasy where I'm more familiar with the tropes going on.

54 a book with the best opening line

Ok so like it's not the opening-opening line. But it's the last line of the prologue so I'm still saying it counts since it's how the story starts. It's from Elantris by Brandon Sanderson and it goes

Elantris was beautiful, once. It was called the city of the gods: a place of power, radiance and magic. Visitors say that the very stones glowed with an inner light, and that the city contained wondrous arcane marvels. At night, Elantris shone like a great silvery fire, visible even from a great distance. Yet, as magnificent as Elantris was, its inhabitants were more so. Their hair a brilliant white, their skin an almost metallic silver, the Elantrians seemed to shine like the city itself. Legends claim that they were immortal, or at least nearly so. Their bodies healed quickly, and they were blessed with great strength, insight, and speed. They could perform magics with a bare wave of the hand; men visited Elantris from all across Opelon to recieve Elantrian healings, food, or wisdom. They were divinities. And anyone could become one. The Shaod, it was called. The Transformation. It struck randomly - usually at night, during the mysterious hours when life slowed to rest. The Shaod could take beggar, craftsman, nobleman, or warrior. When it came, the fortunate person´s life ended and began anew; he would discard his old, munndane existence, and move to Elantris. Elantris, where he could live in bliss, rule in wisdom, and be worshipped for eternity. Eternity ended ten years ago.

That line, "Eternity ended ten years ago", lives in my head rent-free ever since I read it over a decade ago. I don't know, it just comes with such a gut punch but also intrigue, don't you just want to Know More? OwO

133 a book that you came across randomly and fell in love with

Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern, I needed something to read while waiting for the bus and this was the only pocketbock I could afford that sounded somewhat cool. I've never picked a better bus-book in my life! Every line is perfect, the way it just flows and every line is more gorgeous than the one before? The way it builds up all the characters and environments and both breaks and heals your heart? Amazing, absolutely breathtaking.

135 recommend any book you like!

I had a good time reading old school fantasy when I was gifted The Magicians' Guild by Trudi Canavan a few years ago. Very classic story of a poor girl being taken in and showing them all that she's the best. And of course plenty of politics in the wizard tower, as it should be.

Thank you for indulging me in this!