The Ambassador's Mission (The Traitor Spy Trilogy) - Hardcover

Trudi Canavan published her first story in 1999 and it received an Aurealis Award for Best Fantasy Short Story. Her debut series, The Black Magician Trilogy, made her an international success and her last five novels have been Sunday Times bestsellers in the UK. Trudi Canavan lives with her partner in Melbourne, Australia, and spends her time knitting, painting and writing. You can visit her website at www.trudicanavan.com.

Black magic is no longer forbidden in Kyralia, but only two practitioners are allowed in the magicians' guild at any time. Lower-class apprentices are now admitted, and more intra-guild conflict has tagged along. Meanwhile, in the thieves' guild there have been some mysterious deaths. Hoping to find additional historical sources, mage and historian Dannyl accepts a posting as ambassador to Sachaka, which Kyralia once invaded. Lorkin, son of heroes and black magicians, volunteers to be Dannyl's assistant. Lorkin's mother, Sonnea, thinks it unwise for the son of the mages principally responsible for defeating the invaders to so expose himself. She proves to be right, though for reasons no one in the magicians' guild would have guessed. Canavan is a good adventure writer, who keeps you turning pages, and she furnishes enough background to obviate reading the preceding Black Magician trilogy (The Magician's Guild, 2001; The Novice, 2002; The High Lord, 2003) to enjoy this book. She's good enough, in fact, to tilt you toward reading it, anyway, if you haven't already. --Frieda Murray