The Traitor Queen by Trudi Canavan
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I'm really glad I persevered through to the end of this trilogy. The first two books set up the world as it has been for centuries, which was a bit tedious because we'd already had that history lesson in a much more compelling way. But finally in this book, things change. I'm not sure it needed a whole trilogy to tell this story, but I am satisfied with how it ended both plot-wise and character-wise.
The conflicts in Sachaka come to a head, and the Guild is forced to adapt beyond their narrow-mindedness. Finally! Cool magic stuff and fighting actually happen, even though I do wish the action was more immediate instead of mostly being observed from a distance. The focus was more on the emotional state of the observers than on what was actually happening, and although I found myself caught up in those emotions, I still wished to be down on the ground.
Most importantly, I like the future that is in store for most of the characters. I feel like Sonea is in a good place - she is finally able to move on from the pain of the past and to build a new life. It's a life that I can accept, and that's about all I really needed out of this continuation of her story. I ultimately still miss the brilliance of the original Black Magician Trilogy, but this gave me a measure of closure that I needed, and I actually ended up enjoying it enough that I'm sad it's over again.
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