The Ambassador's Mission

Traitor Spy Trilogy, Book 1

By: Trudi Canavan

Narrated by: Richard Aspel

Sonea, former street urchin, now a Black Magician, is horrified when her son, Lorkin, volunteers to assist Dannyl in his new role as Guild Ambassador to Sachaka, a land still ruled by cruel black magicians. When word comes that Lorkin has gone missing Sonea is desperate to find him, but if she leaves the city she will be exiled forever, and besides, her old friend Cery needs her help. Most of his family has been murdered - the latest in a long line of assassinations to plague the leading Thieves. There has always been rivalry, but for the last decade the Thieves have been waging a deadly underworld war, and now it appears they have been doing so with magical assistance.

©2010 © Trudi Canavan 2010. (P)2011 Bolinda Publishing Pty Ltd

Good story, but bad reader

Would you try another book from Trudi Canavan and/or Richard Aspel?

Overall, I liked the story, but I really disliked the reader. In the beginning chapters of the book the reader would pause for a long time after each sentence/paragraph. Perhaps he was patting himself on the back for getting through the previous paragraph. I found it to be extremely irritating and almost stopped listening to the book. Luckily, the reader got better as the book progressed. I liked the story so much that I will be buying the next book in this trilogy and giving it a chance. I will not wait 20 chapters for the reader to quit pausing so long after each paragraph.

Good Sequel

A very good continuation of the Black M. trilogy. However a little slow in plot development.

Very So-So, Ultimately Mediocre

So, we're back and following the continuing adventures of Sonea in this follow-up to Canavan's Black Magician Trilogy. Got it. But the story seems to rely too much on the previous trilogy. Anyone picking this series up without having read it will probably feel lost about exactly why Sonea is feared as a Black Magician. The reader is simply, bluntly, told that she is feared and distrusted and then thrown right into this new tale.

The story, as my title for this review states, is pretty much average. It feels, I am sad to say, like the author understood that she had to fill three (sizable) books for this trilogy and took to that task with eagerness. Unfortunately, the story tends to drag because of the vast amounts of stuff (for lack of a better word) included. It's one big pacing fiasco in my opinion.

The problems really arise from the fact that out of all the POV characters we are treated to (Sonea, her son Lorkin, Ambassador Dannyl, or Cery) none of them have a truly compelling narrative and make a play for the story's lead protagonist. At the same time, this muddles the story's antagonist to the point where, when it ends, leaving us hanging for book two, you really are left wondering who (or what) was the overall force driving the story. There are sub plots galore, and they all seem to be possibly intertwined, but the antagonist is just simply ill-defined.

I also felt like the story was simply flat from start to finish. There really did not seem to be a true rise in the action towards a climax of any significance. And once we were treated to what I guess was the climax, it was short and almost not even a real test for the character(s) involved.

I had been prepared, going in, to read the entire trilogy. Now I am not so sure. I will have to let it sit and stew for a little while and ponder if the slowly developing plot is really something I am interested in moving forward.

Not sure if its stories or me...

This trilogy starts out very weak, although the next book gets a little better. The characters are difficult to believe, being very transparent and untroubled with 'darker' thoughts. It's also a bit of a 'journey' story, which I love, but this one is not particularly engaging.

the magic continues

If you could sum up The Ambassador's Mission in three words, what would they be?

Discovery, Betrayal, adventure

Have you listened to any of Richard Aspel’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

The only books of Aspel i have heard are the books by Canavan, but like all his other books this one is of the same level of work, you can tell the caracters apart, he puts emotion into them, and he is clear