Blog Tour and give away: Thief's Magic

I am so pleased to be part of the Blog Tour to celebrate the paperback release of Thief's Magic by Trudi Canavan. I'm not quite sure why Australia produces such great, female fantasy writers, but Trudi is certainly one of them.

The lovely people at Hachette sent me a copy to review, and having loved the Black Magician trilogy, the Traitor Spy trilogy and The Magician's Apprentice, I was more than happy to give this one a go.

The format for this review is a little different, but make sure you scroll to the end for the give away link and to see the other stops on the tour.

Teaser:

Review:

The story is told from the alternating viewpoints of Tyen Ironsmelter and Rielle Lazuli.

Tyen lives in a world where the industrial revolution is fuelled by magic. The Leratian Empire dominates and progress at all costs is the name of the game. When the Academy, where he studies Sorcery and Archaeology, decide to destroy the magical book he discovered, Tyen knows he must do something about it. What he didn't count on was becoming the most wanted fugitive in the land in the process and having to leave behind all he knows and believes.

Rielle's parents want nothing more for her than a good marriage, but she has other ideas. When she is taken hostage by, and then helps the Priests capture, a Tainted - an illegal magic user - she must face the fact that she too has the potential to do magic. But magic belongs to the Angels, and only their Priests may use it. To use magic would result in banishment and possible execution. In love with a local artist, desperation leads her to use just the smallest amount of magic. Will she get away with it, or will she lose everything?


The two stories run in parallel and don't connect at all in this book, although there are hints as to where they might interact in the future. That might frustrate some readers, and books without proper conclusions normally infuriate me, but with fantasy series I tend to be more tolerant and accept that I'm in it for the long haul.

In the beginning I found Tyen's story the more compelling of the two, but as Rielle's story developed, I looked forward to her sections more and more. The transition between the two characters stories was, at first, jarring given the vast differences between the characters and settings, but once I got into the flow of the book that became less of an issue for me.

There were some great supporting characters, and some great villains. There is a bit of everything here, Jules Verne like creations and adventures, forbidden romance, magic and mystery. I thoroughly enjoyed it and am looking forward to the next instalment and seeing if my theories play out.

Blog Tour links and Give Away

If you would like to read Thief's Magic for yourself, Hachette are holding a Rafflecopter giveaway which you can enter by clicking the link.

Be sure to check out the other stops along the tour here:

June 10th: Booknerdigans
June 11th: Selections from my tower of shame
June 12th: Speculating on specfic
June 13th: Confessions from Romaholics
June 14th: Duffy the Writer
June 15th: Me!
June 16th: Words Read and Written
June 17th: Otherworldly Tales
June 18th: Connect with Chicklit
June 19th: Bookarahma