'~WoNdErFuL 2 ThOuSaNd 6..

Monday, March 28, 2005
The Novice (Book 2 of Black Magician Trilogy)

Oh my..
It was so exciting till the last part..
If only i can get the third book of it: The high lord..
Wonder if Kinokuniya still have it..??

Well, i managed to finish this book by yesterday afternoon..
Was completely absorbed into this book that i only put away the book to eat my lunch at close to 1.30pm..
It really is an exciting fantasy book..Lots of twist and turns here and there..
But the story is gonna end in book 3..Don't think she got any other fantasy books written so far..
But i'm definitely hoping she would write more...

One of the most interesting part would have to be
the formal battle between Sonea and Regin in the Arena:

To cut the story short,
Sonea and Regin won 2 rounds each..
For the last round (excerpt from the book):
She closed her eyes, seeking the source of her power. It was a little dimished, but in no danger of depletion.
Yikmo has counselled against defeating Regin with sheer strength. "If you want respect, you must show both skill and honor."
I've shown them enough skill and honor, she thought. Whatever happened in this last bout, she was not going to risk losing again by trying to conserve her strength. If she won this bout, it would only be by lasting longer than Regin.
Which meant she would not win it by strength anyway, so why not end it quickly with one ferocious attack?
"Are you ready to begin the fifth bout?" Balkan called.
"Yes, my lord,"she answered, Regin echoing her reply.
"Begin."
She began by attacking with powerful strikes, hoping to gauge Regin's stamina. Regin nearly sidestepped all, her strikes flashing harmlessly into the Arena's barrier.
Sonea stared at Regin, who returned her look with feigned innocence. Dodging and ducking were considered bad form in battle, but no rules existed against them. She was surprised that he would resort to either, but that was what he'd anticipated. He had done it simply so that she used up her power in a useless attack. Regin smiled. The sand around his feet stirred.
A murmuring began in the crowd as the sand begin to rise from the floor of the Arena. Sonea watched, wondering what Regin was doing--and why. Yikmo hadn't mentioned any tactic that involved this. In fact, he'd said that projection was irrelevant in a formal battle.
Sand was whipping around the Arena now. It thickened rapidly, filling air with a thin wailing. Sonea frowned as Regin disappeared from sight. Soon she sould see nothing but white.
Then something more potent buffeted her shield. Judging the direction, she threw out a strike, but another attack hit her from behind, then a third from above.
He's blinded me, she realized. Somewhere beyond the sand, he was moving around the Arena, or directing his strikes to curve and hit from different directions. She couldn't fight back when she didn't know where he was.
But that wouldn't matter, if she aimed in all directions at once.
Drawing on her power, she sent out a spray of potent strikes. The sand abruptly dropped around her, forming a ring on the ground. Regin had centered the sandstorm on her. So that was how he knew where I was.
He stood on the other side of the Arena, watching her cafefully. Seeing him, she knew he was trying to judge how tired she was.
I'm not.
As she attacked, he dodged again. She felt a smile pull at her lips. If Regin wanted to waste her power, she would have him running all over the Arena like a frightened rassook. Eventually she would catch him.
Or she could curve her stikes around the Arena so he had nowhere to run.
Yes. Let's finish this.
She half-closed her eyes and focused on the source of her power. Drwaing on all but little of the magic she had left, she formed in her mind a pattern both beautiful and deadly. Then she lifted her arms. It didn't matter if she let her intentions show now. As she released the magic, she knew it was the most potent force she had ever let loose. She sent it outward in three waves of forcestikes, each more powerful than the previous.
She heard a low sound from the audience as the strikes rayed out like a bright, dangerous flower, then curved down toward Regin.
Regin's eyes widened. He backed away, but there was nowhere to go. As the first strikes hit, his shield shattered.
A hearbeat later the second wave hit the inner shield. Regin's expression changed from surprise to terror. He glanced at Lord Garrel, then threw up his arms as the third wave of strikes hit.
As they did, Sonea heard an exclamation. She recognized the voice as Garrel's. The inner shield around Regin wavered...
...but remained in place.
Turning to stare at Regin's guardian, Sonea saw him press his hands to his temples and sway. Akkarin's hand rested on the magician's shoulder.
Then a soft thump drew her attention back to the Arena. Sonea felt her heart skip as she saw Regin lying on the sand. All was silent. Surely he was just exhausted. He couldn't be...dead.
She took a step toward him.
"Halt!"
Frozen by the command, she looked up at Balkan questiongly. The warrior frowned as if in warning.
Then Regin groaned and the watching magicians let out a collective sigh. Closing her eyes, Sonea felt relief rush over her.
"Sonea has won the challenge," Balkan announced.
Slowly, then with more enthusiasm, the watching magicians and novice began to cheer. Surprised, Sonea looked around.
I've won, she thought. I've actually won!
She surveyed the cheering magicians, novices, and non-magicians: perhaps more than just the fight. But she wouldn't be certain of that until later, when she walked down the University corridor and heard what the novices were muttering, or when she encountered Regin and his friends in one of the passages late at night.
"I declared this formal contest concluded," Balkan announced. Stepping down from the portal, he joined Garrel and akkarin. Garrel nodded at something the warrior said, and began to walk around the Arena toward the entrance, his eyes on the still-proned figure of Regin.
Sonea regarded Regin thoughtfully. Moving closer, she saw his face was white and he appeared to be asleep. Clearly he was exhausted, and she knew how awful that felt. But never in all times she had been exhausted had she fallen unconscious.
Hesitantly, in case he was faking, she crouched beside him and gingerly touched his forehead. His exhaustion was so extreme, his body was in shock from it. She let out a little Healing energy flow from her hand into his body to strengthen it.
"Sonea!"
She looked up to find Garrel staring down at her disapprovingly.
"What are--?"
"Ngh..." the boy groaned.
Ignoring Garrel, she looked down to see Regin's eyes fluttering open. He stared at her, then his brow creased into a frown.
"You? "
Sonea smiled wryly and rose. She bowed to Garrel, then walked past him and into the cool of the Arena's portal.

(extracted from The novice by Trudi Canavan)

Well..that's one of the most interesing part I enjoyed..Hope you enjoyed too..

=WiN=

WiNter's FirsT Snowflake.. @ 12:12:00 PM