Fantasy authors must live in a world were no editors exist. They sit down in January and by December have written a 2000 page epic on the journey of a Noble Knight who travels across the sacred lands of Orian to aid the fair Elfin Princess who has been captured by Evil Lord Mirrodor. It's pretty all much nonsense, pretty much all the same and pretty much always too long. When they do write far too much do their publishers send them away with a guide of how to use the Windows Recycle Bin? No, they say lets make it a trilogy! So many fantasy novels come in the form of a triumvirate that it is the defacto way in which a reader expects their swords and magic. However, .  Read the complete review

Fantasy novels have a tendency to be set in a world always locked in the early middle ages in Europe, usually they are placed at an age where there is a bridge developing between the ancient technology of hand and arm and an age with an age where the human mind has developed more powerful agents such as gunpowder. These stories tend to have at the centre a young child with whom we can view the world through new eyes, the child tends to develop early on in the novel a power which is either encouraged and placed under a tutor or discouraged and the power has to be hidden. All these concepts have been well explored by such writers as Raymond Feist, David Gemmell and David ..  Read the complete review

I picked this up off my to~be~read pile recently because I had heard good things about the series and this author in general. Unfortunately, I was less than impressed and only managed to find the first few pages in any way engaging. Sonea and her aunt and uncle have just been made homeless and have been cast out on the street. Which is paticulary bad timing because in the city of Imardin it is that time of year again when The Magician's Guild begin their purge through the streets; forcing the beggars, ne'er~do~wells and homeless out of the c ity and into the slums in an attempt to cleanse the streets of filth. Hanging out with some of her young friends who ...  Read the complete review

The Magician's Guild. Note: I am trying not to give away too much of the storyline at the start, if it becomes too confusing or vague then please let me know and I'll edit as necessary. This a story of two separate cultures intertwining after the accidental discovery of young girl possessing the gift of magic. Once a year the King "cleans out" the city, where the lower classes are forced from their temporary homes of that year back into the slums. This is known as The Purge, and as a ritual, those who live in the Slums tend to throw things such as rocks and rotten fruit/veg at the Magicians who are there to make sure nobody gets hurt, ...  Read the complete review

Sonea is a slum girl, nothing special! She lives and works for her aunt and uncle and they are lucky enough to live in the North Quarter of the slums in a stayhouse. However, no longer are they lucky, the King has ordered the packed stay houses to be emptied as they are 'unsafe'! Now Sonea and her Aunt and Uncle have to find somewhere else to live! After being sent by her aunt to find a place sonea overhears a plan to trap a gang, the gang she used to belong to, the gang who try to move against the purge! The purge happens once a year when all so called thiefs get forced out of the city by the magicians. However ...  Read the complete review