Hmm. This was extremley hard to rate. This is the final book in a series I have been reading on and off since school. I am very sentimental about these books and even now, over a decade after reading the first novel, I feel a strong sense of loyalty and fondness for these characters.Unfortunately the four stars I gave to this novel are more of a representation of this loyalty than a reflection of the quality of the book.The novel continued its predecessor's habit of focusing on the new batch of

Buddy read with Deborah from Hills of Books.I was so excited about finishing up this series, but also worried because I didn't realise how much I'd fall in love with the characters and the world. I feel like each book, with the first trilogy and then this trilogy, has added a lot of depth to the landscaping and character arcs and I've felt fully immersed for the whole journey.I love how much Sonea is respected in this book and how much she doesn't realise it. Its like she's stuck in this headspa...

It was a great to read about Trudi's magic world again. I recommend for those who loved the previous series. Albeit, not being up to par, it still answers a lot of questions left behind on the anterior series and closes some chapters while leaving others open to new ones. I was quite happy to see how some characters evolved from one series to the other, especially Regin, obviously ;)Read it!

SpoilersI wasn't impressed with this. It was slow paced, the majority of the characters were bland and I wasn't interested in the central plot. The conflict/war between Sachaka and the Traitors made for tedious reading. Sonea, Cery, Anyi, Tayend and Regin were the only decent characters. The others were all boring, especially Lorkin, Tyvara, Dannyl and Lillia. The arc I most enjoyed was Sonea's, probably because she was the only character I really cared about. Her interactions with Regin were in...

Not as good as predecessors. Rounds up story though. Wanted to like it more but something just didn't click.

German review on GosuReviewsMediocre finish to the Traitor Spy Trilogy and (finally) an end to the Black Magician universe. I just felt the series dragged on for too long. The storyline was flat and nothing really new in the worldbulding. The new characters introduced in the series didn't work for me. They felt very one dimensional and I had a hard time cheering for them.Fans of the series should read it, even if it's just to get closure. Hopefully this was the last time we heard of Sonea.I kno

Reviewed on my blog - Books by Proxy 3.5 StarsIf you’re a reader of my Top Ten Tuesday posts, then you might have noticed that Trudi Canavan’s The Traitor Queen has been appearing on rather a regular basis. This is one of those books that I intended to read as soon as I bought it but managed to neglect until oh… you know, several years later! The Traitor Queen is the closing chapter in the Traitor Spy Trilogy, and while it doesn’t reach the exciting, dizzying heights of The Black Magician Trilog...

***Spoilers may follow!!***Hmmm...Hard to rate this book, I REALLY wanted to like it as I loved the magicians guild trilogy, but I have to say this book was pretty unremarkable, the plot struggled along at a snail’s pace, nothing happens in the first half and then ALL the action is crammed into the second making it rushed and awkward, no middle ground or easing into it.Most of the POV characters are very difficult to get to know, I tried hard to like Lorkin but I find his character cardboard and...

Yes, it's true, it doesn't live up to the Black Magician trilogy or The Age of Five, and, let's be honest, the big, Akkarin-shaped hole was never going to be filled, but there's no point going on about it - one just has to take this trilogy for what it is.It did feel a bit unplanned (far too many ideas started or hinted at, but then not explored), a bit unstructured and a bit directionless. The duller characters, like Lorkin and Lilia, hogged most of the attention, while (to me) more intriguing

So here we are. After years of patience the Traitor Spy trilogy has come to a close. Was it everything that I hoped it would be? Well, mostly. Like other books in the series, the strong dialogue and character development continues, as does a reduction in the level of action scenes that one would normally expect from a fantasy novel. In other words, it is a trademark Trudi Canavan novel, and one that I did enjoy. There is one problem, though, and it is a problem that I suspect has resulted in the...

Good read this one but it this book can not compare to the "High Lord" as an end book of a trilogy. I almost feel a bit disappointed but that has to do with my maybe unrealistically high expectations. It keeps the same level as the previous 2 books but it feels a bit flat( like the other two). The feeling of "questing" and "Learning" from the black magician trilogy never occurs. We get to see gemstones in action but in my opinion it felt kinda boring. We do not get to "explore" or learn more abo...

**SPOILER ALERT**I did enjoy reading this book, though possibly not as much as it's predecessor, 'The Rogue'. It was typical Canavan - fast-paced, full of action and a nice splash of romance thrown in, plus a good dollop of tragedy that made me cry, as per usual. Once again, the Black Magician Trilogy will always be my true love out of all of Canavan's work, but I have enjoyed the Traitor Spy Trilogy and liked catching up with the characters. And seeing how like his father Lorkin is :)But I can

A perfect ending to the trilogy. And it was just vague enough to allow another book/series to follow years later.Damn, now I want more from this world!Definitely 4.5 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-mi...

Trudi Canavan is one of my favourite authors and for good reason. The worlds she makes are compelling and different from the vast majority of fantasy out there.This book is the third and final book in the Traitor Spy series which picks up about 20 years or so after the events of the Black Magician Trilogy. When I first found out that there was a continuation of that series I was worried it would be a bit of a money grabber, but this series and the prequel are each well written and really add to

The Traitor Queen (Traitor Spy Trilogy, #3), Trudi CanavanThe Traitor Queen is a fantasy novel that was released on August 2, 2012 by author Trudi Canavan. It forms part of her Kyralia series and acts as a sequel to The Black Magician Trilogy and is the third and final novel of The Traitor Spy Trilogy. The Traitor Queen returns to the themes of the Black Magician Series, and features Sonea and Lorkin (Sonea and Akkarin's son) as main characters.Lorkin, Sonea's son, returns from his exile from Sa...

** Spoilers and opinions follow.Not good. I can stomach an anti-drug campaign in a book, but only if it isn't pointlessly thrown in like it is here. The drug 'Roet' had a distinct subplot, but it never amounted to anything or affected the main plot, I was expecting some kind of twist, or meaning. Nor did the addition of Lilia, and her relationship to Anyi and Cery. The whole book could have happened without them, and should have, considering they were completely undeveloped characters (Even Cery...

This review was originally published on Blogs of a Bookaholic.FEELS. SO MANY FEELS. AHHHHHHH! Finished this at 2am last night and couldn't stop smiling.As with all of Canavan’s novels, her writing really impressed me. It is so detailed and specific that it feels as if Kyralia could be a real place, that it may exist just over the next horizon. I love her word choices and sentence structures although some may call her style a little meandering, to which I would agree. She’s not a fast paced write...

I loved the Black Magician Trilogy but as much as I try to, I can't bring myself to like Traitor Spy. I can't emphasise how annoyed I was with Lorkin. He seems very much like a male-version of Bella who falls for a girl at first sight and all of a sudden, it's I'will-do-anything-for-her. Okay, that's a little over-exaggerating because Lorkin is slightly more sensible but I was seriously annoyed with how stupid he was.Also, I don't get how we were supposed to root for the Traitors and hate the Sa...

Trudi Canavan is one of my favourite authors. She creates worlds that are so well thought out, but logical in their own way. They have a set of rules about how things work, and never breaks your belief in that world. However this novel and as a result, the trilogy felt flat. There were so many threads that looked to lead somewhere and Canavan does a masterful job of making sure all these threads are tied up. However, there seems to be a bit of a tiny ending, instead of the epic ones penned in th...