Rating: 
Summary: Darn Good Read
Review: As Bildungsromans go, this is a good one. Sonea grows a bit here and acquires more of a conscience. The other characters are expanded more and the tale is told from 4 separate viewpoints. There's some serious bullying, a good fight at the climax, a mystery or two, a red herring, tales of adventure as the story moves out of the confines of the city into the greater world and a little romance.All in all this is a good successor to the first book in the series. Also, as the middle book in a trilogy, it has a suprisingly satisfactory end, with just enough plot hooks to keep the reader interested without being too much of a cliffhanger.
Rating: 
Summary: The Novice
Review: At the end of Book 1 Sonea is still a slum girl whose place in society has been considerably elevated. Now in Book 2 we know her as a young woman striving to be accepted by her peers. But there is more than criticism from her fellow novices on Sonea's mind, for she conceals a dark secret in her mind. The High Lord is practicing black magic. Black magic is completely evil and banned. But although the High Lord knows this, he still practices it. But, at least for now, there is nothing Sonea can do, for even if the guild were to find out, the High Lord is stronger than all of them combined. But there is hope, a good friend's journey just might help them to solve all the riddles. All in all I thought this was a very well written and well thought out book. I highly enjoyed Book 1, and enjoyed Book 2 even more. I am anxiously anticipating Book 3.
Rating:
Summary: A good sequel
Review: Having read the first book, I was not dissapointed with the Novice, although it was slightly reminscent of Harry Potter. It was still a very enjoyable read, and I couldn't put it down. I am looking forward to the third installment.
Rating: 
Summary: Frustrating continuance of a promising series
Review: I do not know wether it's the author's own bias or not, but the pacifism of all of the main characters is grating. The protagonist resolutely accepts victimization by her peers and superiors, which is presented as a good thing. Of the three main magician professions, all Warriors are described in negative or at best neutral terms - while all Healers are presented as near-saints. I found it an unpleasant read.
Rating:
Summary: Better than the First
Review: I found the first book in the series to be a light, enjoyable read. The characters, however, were a bit flat and the plot too predictable.
In this book, we start getting some dimensionality to the characters: Sonea finds that passive resistance is not as effective as active response. Rothen begins to show some of his weaknesses, including the errors of believing "if you ignore it, it will go away." Sonea gains two new guides: one that encourages her to take control of her situation, and one that can control her.
The plot also is a bit more complicated in this book, and begins to show the ties and the weaknesses of the political world. The plot is still a bit predictable, but lends at least a few dark mysteries that probably won't be revealed until book 3.
Overall, an enjoyable read, and an improvement over book 1.
Rating:
Summary: Why isn't the third one out yet?!!!!!!!
Review: I have to admit that nothing much happened plot-wise, but I happen to be a wuss (right spelling?) when it comes to good characters and romance, and this book has both(action is just something I skim over). Therefore I loved this book better than the first one. Though I did nearly cry when they left so much unresolved, its ending was nearly as mean as the ending to K. Britain's latest.
So I have one warning; don't start reading this series until the third's out, otherwise for awhile your friends will have to suffer through your frustration.
Rating: 
Summary: This book was a little slow
Review: I like the premise of the series, but the author spends too much time moralizing on social issues.
Rating: 
Summary: Hope #3 is Better
Review: I really liked book #1, "The Magicians' Guild". It was somewhat typical of the genre but it moved along fairly well. The book had a few different elements and, I thought, really set the stage for books #2 and #3. That said, I was very disappointed in "The Novice". I know the middle book of a trilogy tends to be the "worst" -- or at least the slowest -- of the story but this book took this to the limit. At the end of book #1 we had a slum-girl who seemed pretty powerful magic-wise being convinced to join the Guild, and the High Lord practicing Black Magic in secret. At the end of book #2 we have a slum-girl who is now a novice and is pretty powerful magic-wise, and the High Lord practicing Black Magic mostly in secret. In other words, the plot has not advanced very much. And the story was riddled with "preaching". I HATE morality books. Half the story was "rich-vs-poor" -- how the poor are not accepted by the wealthy and powerful. Poor Sonea endured continual harassment by the rich novices. It got so bad that I thought for awhile I was reading a "young adult" book about high school. The details of the harassments went on for a huge chunk of the book but it was never made really clear as to WHY they hated Sonea so much -- other than she was from the slums. The other half of the book dealt with Dannyl discovering he was a "lad", i.e. gay. I don't mind stories with gay sub-plots when the story line fits. But in this case it was clear that this was just a forum for gay rights -- how, for instance, in one country this was a crime punishable by death. Dannyl spent most of the book deciding he was gay and the rest of it wondering how it would affect his career. It added absolutely nothing to the plot/story line whatsoever. In fact I started skipping any part about Dannyl about half-way through and didn't miss anything. It just didn't fit in. And it seemed like it was added just for this book since in the 1st book all we knew was that Fergun had started rumors about Dannyl. It said nothing about the rumors being about him being a "lad" until book #2. Obviously added on. I hope for greater things from book #3 -- why, for instance, does the High Lord practice Black Magic? He says he "can't tell" his reasons right now. Hopefully they'll be good reasons and not lame ones... Anyway, maybe the third book will be more like the first now that the author has spent enough (more than enough) time preaching and moralizing...
Rating:
Summary: Loved it!!
Review: I've read all three Black Magician Books, and this was probably my favorite. The Novice was a great book, though I agree with many of the other readers that Trudi Canavan made Sonea to placid. It irratated me how she was letting herself be pushed around so much. Still this was great read, and fitting book.
Rating:
Summary: Second in a Trilogy
Review: Keep in mind this is a trilogy, you need to have read Magician's Guild before you read this book. As the story progresses Sonea joins the upper class boys and girls in the guild to learn how to control and wield her magic. As you can imagine the cultural divide is the main focus of the book. The angst created in this book was delicately done and I found it very moving, annoying yes, but I was supposed to be annoyed. The magic system that the author has invented starts to become more apparent, it is both original and refreshing, I HIGHLY recommend this series to those who enjoy the Fantasy genre.
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