The Magicians' Guild

Infobox Book |
name = The Magicians' Guild


image_caption = First edition cover
author = Trudi Canavan
cover_artist = Steve Stone
country = Australia
language = English
series = The Black Magician series
genre = Fantasy novel
publisher = Orbit Books
pub_date = 2001
media_type = Print (Hardback & Paperback)
pages = 469 pp (UK edition)
isbn = ISBN 1-84149-313-9 (first edition, paperback) & ISBN 1-904233-66-X (hardback edition)
followed_by = The Novice

"The Magicians' Guild" is the first fantasy novel in the The Black Magician series by Trudi Canavan. Published in 2001, it is followed by "The Novice" (2002) and "The High Lord" (2003). The book tells the story of Sonea, a young "dwell" from the slums, as she discovers her magical potential. When she hurls a stone through a magical barrier, accidentally injuring a magician behind it, Sonea finds herself on the run from the powerful Magicians' Guild. The magicians must find her before her uncontrolled and untrained powers kill her and destroy the city, as well as overcome Sonea's distrust and fear of the magicians and their Guild as they try to convince her to join their ranks.

Plot summary

Each winter in Imardin, the capital city of Kyralia, the streets are purged of the "dwells", the city's poor under-class, by magicians who drive away the inhabitants of the city's slums. Although young gang members gather to throw rocks at them, the magicians are protected by a magical shield—until Sonea, a young dwell, hurls a rock through their barrier and injures the magician Lord Fergun.

Fearing a rogue magician, the Guild begins searching for Sonea. Benign Lords Dannyl and Rothen lead the search into the slums, worried that Sonea's increasingly-uncontrolled magic will harm her and those around her. But Sonea both distrusts the Guild for their apparent lack of compassion for the poor dwells and fears their reprisal for her accidental injury of Lord Fergun. She flees with her friend Cery, eventually seeking the aid of the shady Thieves, who see the value of having their own magician and take her under their care. With Cery, she sneaks into the Magician's Guild in an attempt to gain knowledge of how to control her magic, and observes a black-robed magician covered in blood performing a strange rite on a servant. However, her attempt is unsuccessful, and Sonea continues to lose control of her powers, setting fire to her surroundings repeatedly, before Lord Rothen at last locates her.

Lord Rothen and the sinister Fergun fight for her mentorship, though Sonea herself is uninterested in training and only wants to return home to her friends and family. Lord Fergun attempts to sway Sonea to betray the Guild and thus "prove" that dwells are not fit to enter the Guild and goes so far as to kidnap and threaten Sonea's friend Cery, but Fergun's plans are discovered and he will have to stand trial. In order to prove Fergun's guilt, Sonea submits to a mental examination, or 'truthreading' by Administrator Lorlen, who, finding the memory of the black-robed magician, reveal it to be Lord Akkarin, head of the guild, practising black magic - which is forbidden in Kyralia. Sonea decides then to join the Guild and train her magical potential.

Main characters

*Sonea - A "dwell" (someone who lives in the slums) with the undiscovered potential to become an extremely powerful magician.
*Lord Rothen - An alchemist (purple robes) and teacher, and Sonea's mentor.
*Lord Dannyl - An alchemist (purple robes) and former pupil of Lord Rothen, who is willing to use unorthodox methods to find Sonea and who has her best interests at heart.
*Lord Fergun - A warrior magician (red robes) who disapproves of dwells being taught magic. Also, from House Maron which earns him the support of a couple of magicians.
*Lord Lorlen - Administrator (blue robes) for the Guild.
*High Lord Akkarin - Leader (black robes) of the Guild, and secretly a black magician.
*Cery - Friend of Sonea's whose full name, Ceryni, is that of a type of small rodent. His father was once a Thief, and Cery uses his connection to the Thieves to help hide Sonea from the magicians.

Minor Characters

*University Director Jerrik

Heads of Disciplines

“Most discussion in the Guild Meets was dominated by the three Heads of Disciplines …” (p. 30 "The Magician’s Guild")
*Lord Balkan – Head of Warriors, “robust” and “observant”, examining all sides of an issue, but tends to be quite calm with respect to complex and hurried situations.
*Lady Vinara – Head of Healers, described as “practical” and “stern”, yet can be “surprisingly compassionate” – not that this isn’t surprising, considering she’s a Healer.
*Lord Sarrin – Head of Alchemists, the oldest of the three, and though he is apparently “harsh” he always accepts other arguments.

Other Magicians

*Lord Kerrin – wanted Sonea punished for harming “his friend” Lord Fergun, from House Maron
*Lord Elben – teacher of Alchemy, of the “powerful” House of Maron
*Lord Solend – an old historian (magician) who explains to the magicians of the natural development of magical ability
*Lord Yaldin – an elderly magician, friend of Rothen

Non Magicians

*Ezrille – Lord Yaldin’s wife
*Tania – Rothen’s servant
*Takan – Akkarin’s servant

Thieves

*Torrin – Cery’s father
*Ravi – the thief Cery runs across when he attempts to use the Thieves’ Road, who allows Cery to use the road if he needs in exchange for services
*Gorin – a bulky, muscly thief who Dannyl meets with to make a deal in an attempt to find Sonea
*Faren – a Lonmar (member of the desert race north west of Kyralia, rare in Imardin), which is strange to Sonea as thievery is evil to Lonmar people; helps Sonea due to Cery’s contacts. Turns Sonea over to the Guild in the end due to the other Thieves becoming worried about her uncontrolled powers.

Dwells

*Harrin – the “undisputed leader” of a gang of youths Sonea used to belong to, who are responsible for causing “mischief” during the Purge, tall and bulky since Sonea saw him last (prior to The Magician’s Guild). Carries Sonea to Donia’s father’s bolhouse after the incident of the Purge; protects and defends Sonea while she’s being sought by the Magician’s, proving his loyalty and fairness.
*Burril – a boy in Harrin’s gang who argues with him about whether or not they can trust Sonea, and who attempts to take Sonea to the magicians
*Evin – another youth who attempts to take Sonea for the reward
*Donia – a girl who Harrin and his gang would bribe to get bol for them, and in whose father’s bolhouse the gang takes Sonea after the Purge. She and Harrin have also been in a relationship for a year, at the beginning of The Magician’s Guild – though whether this is for love or because Harrin simply wants Gellin’s inn is unspecified. She also takes care of Sonea, attempting to change her appearance (without much success).
*Gellin – Donia’s father, described as a “large man”, who is quite good-natured about the fact that Sonea and the others used to steal bol from him
*Jonna and Ranel – Sonea’s aunt and uncle, respectively, who look after Sonea. Jonna does not approve of Harrin’s gang. The three had been staying in a ‘stayhouse’, until the king started evicting people from stayhouses, apparently because he didn’t want so many people in one building.

Robes

In the book, magicians wear different coloured robes according to their chosen discipline.The colours are:
*Red, for warriors
*Green, for healers
*Purple, for alchemists
*Brown, for novices who have not yet chosen a disciplineThere are also colours denoting rank:
*Black sashes, for Heads of Discipline.
*Blue, for the administrator
*Black, for the High Lord
*Gold, for the King's advisors.

Writing the book

On her webpage, Canavan describes that the main inspiration for the first chapter came from a watching a documentary of the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona:

Awards and nominations

* Aurealis Award Nomination: Shortlist for Best Fantasy Novel of 2002 [http://www.trudicanavan.com/abouttrudi.php?pg=about2 Trudi Canavan :: About Trudi ] ]

Release details

*2004, UK, Orbit ISBN 1-84149-313-9, Pub date 5 February 2004, paperback (First edition)
*2005, UK, Orbit ISBN 1-904233-66-X, Pub date 1 September 2005, hardback

Footnotes

ources, references, external links, quotations

http://www.trudicanavan.com/aboutbooks.php
http://www.sennep.com/blackmagician/main.html
http://themagiciansguild.proboards55.com/index.cgi - a roleplay website related to the book