Customer Reviews

The Initiate (Time Master Trilogy)

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I first read this trilogy as a teenager, more than 10 years ago, and unlike other fantasy writers who shall remain nameless, these books have stood the test of time. My only regret is that Cooper's stuff, like that of other excellent UK fantasy writers, is difficult to find.

"The Initiate" is the first of the Time Master Trilogy, which also consists of "The Outcast" and "The Master," in that order. The series takes place in a nameless world, vaguely bronze-age, which is ruled by a triad of powers, two of which are religious and one of which is secular. The reason that religion is so powerful in this world becomes clear as the series progresses. Thar's gods in them thar hills, and they come into the world periodically to clash, wreak havoc, and overturn the very nature of human society. At the start of the series, this overturning has happened at least once that we know---when the gods of Chaos were overthrown by the gods of Order (related in a prologue, and in the later-published "Star Ascendant" trilogy). An unfathomable amount of time later, the world has been ruled by Order for so long that no one remembers anything of Chaos other than dark rumor and superstition.

The story focuses on a young boy, nameless at first, who through tragic circumstances reveals that he has a phenomenal amount of sorcerous power. He is miraculously transported to the Castle of the Star Peninsula, the ruling seat of the highest of the two religious organizations which govern the world: the Circle. There the boy, who names himself Tarod, seems to fit in perfectly, in an environment where his hunger for occult knowledge and magical power are encouraged---at first. But Tarod is different from the other initiates of the Circle. He's arrogant and hot-tempered and a bit cold and cruel, although he is also fiercely loyal and scrupulously honorable. He scorns their adherence to ritual and tradition, and experiments with magic in ways that no one else would dare. Yet the greatest difference between him and the other initiates only begins to make itself known gradually and insidiously, slipping into his dreams and darkening his personality yet further. His fellow initiates react to these changes with fear and suspicion, and gradually they begin to close ranks against the outsider. Matters come to a head when Tarod's best friend, the young High Inititate Keridil, discovers Tarod's true nature. Will he decide Tarod's fate according to his friendship with Tarod, or the tenets of tradition? Whatever he decides will affect Tarod's decision between the path of good and the path of... something else.

This is only the start of an extremely complex look at the old good/evil, order/chaos theme---an original one, which deliberately plays with the reader's conception of the two powers. The defenders of Order are not good; Keridil is motivated as much by jealousy and lust as he is by his duty as the High Initiate. The agents of Chaos are not evil; although their motives don't become clear until later books, most of them are driven by love and loyalty. There is order and chaos in *every* character, not just in the unseen gods. Which of the two powers will win? It's not clear until the end (of the series).

This book is slower-paced than the other two in the series, but that's in part because it's more of a character study than the other two, which are more event-driven. The tone of the next two is set, however, with a spectacular occult ritual in the climax that has unexpected results.

There are two other trilogies set in this world--- the "Chaos Gate" trilogy, and the "Star Ascendant" series. CG has been published in the US, but only the first volume of Star Ascendant made it over here. The Time Master trilogy, though, is the first, and the best.

if you've read the other reviews, this won't be much different, i'm afraid. Read these books, they are brilliant. i first came across them via a friend whose copies are now very battered due to the amount of times they have been read. The characters are well rounded, particularly the female ones: not your standard fantasy females, these actually have depth. Tarod still rates high on my favourite characters list; he is impressive, interesting and believable. The story is a nice play on the usual Good Vs Evil line and i promise you will read these books more than once.

In short, BUY THEM!

When I first stumbled across the Time Master Series I had reached a point where I was sick of fantasy. All the heroes were alike--supermen of virtue--and essentially undynamic. Tarod, the "hero" of this series was different, the most interesting character that I had read about in years. He got murderously angry, he caused havoc, he didn't follow the rules--he was sinister. For once, here was a series that didn't just fight a war or go on some long journey in order to protect the status quo. In these books the characters are real enough so that you cannot truly pick out the good guys--everyone is a mixture of good and evil, everyone is human (sort of).

My first experiance of Louise Cooper was "Lord Of No Time" a 1977 book that told the tale of the mage Tarod and how he fell foul of his one time friend Keridil Toln. I loved it and hoped that the characters would appear in additional volumes. They did but not in the way expected, Louise Cooper rewrote the whole thing, spreading it out over the three volumes of the Time Master trilogy. Fortunately at no time does it lose the sharp freshness of the original, it's well worth getting hold of as is the subsequent series The Chaos Gate trilogy, though I would only give that four stars.

I have to say this my second-favorite trilogy of all time, right after "The Lord of the Rings", which is incredible company. I have never understood why Louise Cooper isn't better known, because her characters are so well-written, perfectly drawn individuals, and the story here is an extremely original take on good vs evil. The idea that evil is easily seen and identified at first look is not encouraged here. This story shows that evil takes many faces and forms, even in those who are supposedly good. Tarod, the main person of the story, is very well-conceived and thought-out, and as a result is very easily the most sympathetic character. This first book of the trilogy is the most character-intensive of the trilogy, and so needs the most effort to get through. Really, though, it's no effort for this is a great read. My copy of this book is coming apart at the seams due to the many times it's been read. The ending leaves you wanting more, and more than ready for the second book in the trilogy, The Outcast. Truly, Louise Cooper has introduced an original, fresh, and extremely entertaining story, which is in itself something to be impressed with, as original stories are rare, and good ones even more rare.

This book is the first in the 'Time master' trilogy, that takes place after (although having been written before) the 'Star shadow' trilogy (only the first book 'Star Ascendant' was published in the US, the others are 'Eclipse' and 'Moonset'). In this books the gods of the order rule. Our hero is Tarod, a very interesting character, who becomes a very powerful mage at the service of Order. But, Tarod has dreams, very unsettling ones and starts having behaviours that are not acceptable at the eyes of the council. This book introduces us to the characters and the plot, and as the first book in the series gives us a unique insight into the war between chaos and order, and the role that Tarod will play in it.

I searched long and hard for an amazing fantasy series I hadn't read, and with a whopping eleven five star reviews from different people, I thought the Time Master Trilogy would be one of the great ones. No, overrated. I did enjoy the opening three chapters of Tarod's 'recruitment' in a harbor town where he was wreaking havoc, but overall I didn't like it.

It's chick lit.

The main hero starts out as a bad boy with uncontrollable wizardly powers which are activated by anger, and ends up recruited by the ruling Council of magicians. A few chapters later there's a time skip and Tarod is an archmage of the seventh circle. But his immense powers don't work like the rest of the wizards. The jealous establishment is the remnants of the lawful side that drove off the great chaos in the legendary past, and has stagnated the world. Tarod is the rebirthing of the chaos side, and he goes through so much angst and inner conflict over this because he was taught to believe in the prominence of 'law'.

As a side plot, he and his best friend on the council fall in love with the same woman, who is motivated by her political status. Terribly romantic if you are a teenage girl; terribly boring if you are a thirty year old guy and don't see any chemistry.

Tarod's anti-law powers keep manifesting, and he is constantly apologizing and despairing while frantically trying to keep everything a secret from his friends. As you'd expect, it does not end well. Author goes with a 'fighting destiny' theme which perhaps was supposed to have grandeur, but I found tedious. As a rational scientist, I found Tarod's behavior regarding his abilities idiotic.

To be honest, it really reminded me of Meyer's "Twilight", though I haven't actually read "Twilight" I've been forced into discussing it so much that I find a lot of parallels between the reviews here and various conversational analysis of "Twilight" I've been through. The 'he really needs someone to love him' projection that is typical of Cullen is applicable to Tarod, and 'Best-friend, Worst-enemy' Keridil is applicable to Jacob. The 'shallow stupid love interest girl' is definitely applicable to the noble woman (can't remember her name) that the guys fight over. The 275 page book has about 175 pages regarding this indecisive, angsty triangle. Some might think it slow build-up and characterization, but for me it was extreme tedium where the author tells more than shows.

Anyway, it took me a long time to plow through the middle novel, and I'm unsure if I'll read the rest of the trilogy (bought the entire thing in one go... I don't recommend this). As always, your mileage may vary, but this saga is not comparable to Tolkien, as other reviewers might have you believe.

I just recently got a copy of this book and ever since I've been glued to it! It's a really good book. Definitely worth the time it takes to read. The only problem is the ending, and there are 2 more to help with that. I have no complaints about this book. The confrontations especially are superbly well done, if you have any inclination toward fantasy or science fiction (especially both) this is one book you should look up.

If you are young, romantic, impressionable, warning! You are about to have a hero (Tarod) for life! This book is so melodic and finely balanced I never read it without hearing a silent wail of the perfect background music: U2's Achtung baby album... probably Mysterious Ways, Y Love is blindness.. And wasn't that just the best album they produced? I believe this series is LC's most outstanding trilogy.. it is achingly beautiful and impossibly tragic...
Okay I hope I'm not putting you off it here, but honestly, this is still one of the best books I have ever read, and I've read more than a few. For similarly smashing books, see my so you want to list...
Read the book and then write you can write your own overly gushy & cringe worthy descriptions trying to capture it's essence, and convince others to read it. Until then...

First, my hats off to Louise Cooper for one of my all time favorite fantasy trilogy's, many thanks.

I have read the entire story more than 10 times to date. its _that_ great every time.

And its a good bit more than the old good vs. evil and good wins b-s. This is about a spiritual quest that we all face in life. The depth of the characters and thier interactions blows me away every time, they could be real people you meet on the street.

This is the best blend of magic, society, govt, and human emotion I have ever seen. reading the tales of friendship, enimity, love, and betrayel amongst the characters sort of feels like a history of another time.

I attribute this story more than anything for my own ideals and expectations for true love.

It has also set me on a vision quest of sorts to lead a more moral life and fight against injustice and prejudice in our world.

If you read one book this year, let this be it.

-NI-

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