Customer Reviews

Last of the Wilds

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

After reading this book, I thought, finally! This is Trudi Canavan as I remember her from her first trilogy.

"Last of the Wilds" is a middle book, but in many ways is stronger than its predecessor, "Priestess of the White." In this book, the storylines for all the main character groups (the White, especially Auraya, the Pentadrians, the Wilds, the Elai and the Siyee) get more interesting. There is depth to each of the individual plots and the author sets up a complex and intriguing political scene for the third book.

One of Canavan's strengths is her ability to show all sides of the story, much like another favorite author of mine, Hilari Bell. By this I mean, the "bad guys" aren't necessarily bad, and the "good guys" may have questionable motives and actions too.

Whereas "Priestess" felt very linear (all Pentadrians are evil, all Circlians are good and just being vicitmized by the bad Pentadrians), "Last of the Wilds" delves deeper into the motives and thoughts behind the character groups' behavior. Both sides feel that they are "correct" and are trying to spread their influence, either through war, alliances, or whatever. I actually liked the Pentadrians in this book, because the author showed why and what they were trying to do. Meanwhile, I found myself not feeling kindly toward the Whites, because they seemed to lack compassion and fairness.

Then you've got the other major group, the Wilds, which are literally a wild card in the book. Emerahl runs off to find other people like her - with an unclear goal in mind, but it is fascinating to speculate what the author might do with this group in the third book. With their knowledge of what used to be, they might upset the balance and cause a completely different society to emerge. They already do upset the balance when Auraya discovers something shocking about one of them - forcing her to make a hard and surprising decision that makes you anxious to read the conclusion in the third book.

Overall, a MUCH BETTER book than the first one and well worth the time to read. I am definitely looking forward to the last book in the trilogy.

This book's not bad - much like the first, it's very slow, not a lot of action, but with the bones of a good story. However, there is one glaring error that i can't believe made it through the editing process. At one point the author introduces a pair of conjoined twins who have since seperated themselves using magic... but one of the twins is male, and the other female. Oops! Conjoined twins are imperfectly seperated IDENTICAL twins.

Nitpicking aside, the characters are a bit bland, but the ideas behind them are interesting. It's an undemanding, gentle read. I think that Trudi Canavan has the potential to be a really good author, but so far this series lacks the conflict, the pacing and the excitement to achieve that potential.

"Last of the Wilds" is the second book of Trudi Canavan's second trilogy, the first being The Black Magician Trilogy. Although all of the living characters are still present in this book, the focus shifts from the Dreamweavers and the White to some of the other characters and characters sets. The Siyee are once again used as a culture bridge. Added to the mix are the Siyee's water bound cousin's the Elai (met briefly by Auraya in the first book). The Wilds, or unpredictable sorcerers, are of much interest. These long-lived or immortal characters (like Mirar and Emerahl), remember the history of the five Circlian Gods. Additionally, focus shifts to give the reader a better view of the foes from "Priestess of the White," the Pentadrians. We get a better look into the religion of the Pentadrians, their social structure, their mysterious five gods who rarely show themselves, and their continuing plans to spread their religion. I recommend this book. Be warned that it is Canavan's heftiest book yet, 555 pages and might not appeal to some readers because of this. I hope the conclusion of the series doesn't disapoint like the final epilogue of Black Magician.

I'm a great fan of Trudi Canavan books,and series is one of the best. I love the strong females she writes about.Once again you can follow the heroine as she grows into a woman of great power.

After reading the first book in the series, I was excited to see it all the way through... but I got stuck halfway through this book. I had just lost interest and didn't really care anymore. Finally, after about a week, I decided that I was already halfway through the series and maybe it got better. So I picked it back up and finished it and I was right, it really picked back up. All in all a decent fantasy book, if you can get through the middle.

I did not like this series. a big disappointment compared to the black magician series. I felt like I was reading a religious novel.

Book probably better than the first one and very similar to other books from same author. It is strange always to read a fantasy book written by a woman because the characters are viewed in a different way a man would describe. Interesting though.

I read Trudi Canavon's Triolgies as printed books and loved them. I would very much like to acquire the Kindle editions to be able to re-read them, but am somewhat mystified about the fact that, to begin with, only the prequel and the sequel of the Age Of The Five Trilogy were available and now the last volume is being published before book one and two?! What's up with that?

I'm still waiting on this product. Can't believe it's taken so long. Wouldn't order from this person again.

The Black Magician trilogy was very enjoyable, if a bit simplistic, but it was high literature compared to this latest effort. The series seems to be going nowhere.

It's agonizingly slow, the heroine is almost identical to Sonea of the BMT, right down to her being in love with a much older man who also happens to be the most powerful magician around, it's preachy about anything off the straight and narrow (as BMT was in places about homosexuality), many of the characters that made Priestess of the White bearable don't even rate a mention and it's riddled with plot holes.

This is one series I won't be waiting for book 3.