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22 of 23 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Reasonable effort... (A Book Swede Review), 16 Aug 2007
Voice of the Gods is the final installment in Canavan's more adult trilogy, Age of the Five. Her earlier, and internationally bestselling series, The Black Magician trilogy was OK, but I found this trilogy much more fun, and to be better written.
War, temporarily averted in Book two, Last of the Wilds, returns. Auraya, extraordinarily Gifted, and one-time Priestess of the White (the high priesthood that personally serve the Gods) has been expelled from the White for refusing to murder the Immortal, Mirar, with whom she has fallen in love. Instead, she returns to Siyee to protects the people she has taken as her own.
It's nice to see strong, clever female characters in fantasy. They often tend to be neglected, or forced into stereotypical roles... I was therefore, slightly disappointed that Auraya seemed to take a bit of a step back from the action in this book. She plays a large part, but doesn't seem to actually do much. Though undoubtedly necessary for the plotline, I would still have liked her to be more directly involved.
It was interesting to see the Points Of View, equally, of both sides in the war. As in many conflicts, both sides' causes for war were much the same; manipulation by their leaders (in this case, the Gods of both sides) was responsible for the hatred and religious fervour fueling the bloodshed.
Much more of Canavan's own views of religion came across in this book than any of her others, I felt. Particularly in the epilogue at the end, which was brilliant and unexpected. The whole scene was reminiscent to me of the Roman acceptance of Christianity, this time with the Emperor of Sennon deciding to stop all the bloodshed by accepting, though not necessarily believing, in the belief of One God.
Mirar, the Dreamweaver, didn't get to maximise his full potential in this book; he seemed to be almost overlooked. It was nice though, to see some of the other Immortals play a large and crucial part in the story.
The revelations about the Gods were also interesting, and explained a lot that had come before in Priestess of the White and Last of the Wilds. However, the huge revelation to Auraya & co. came as little surprise to me. By the end of Book 1, I had guessed the true nature of the Gods, and I was rather disappointed when it actually came about. As a result, the ending felt a bit rushed and anti-climatic. Nevertheless, Voice of the Gods was a good read, slightly below par on the rest of the series but still a worthy conclusion to Trudi Canavan's second trilogy.
7 out of 10. It wouldn't have taken much to make this 8. I'll be interested to see more of Canavan's future work. She will be returning to the world of her first series The Black Magician Trilogy, for some more books, I believe.
For more reviews, amazing and regular competitions, and author interviews visit: www.thebookswede.blogspot.com
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10 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Great finale to a trilogy that grew on me, 27 Feb 2007
I was very disappointed by the first in Trudi Canavan's new series, but things picked up in 'Last of the Wilds', possibly because a new range of interesting characters were added. 'Voice of the Gods' is a worthy ending to the series, although I am still not sure who the Voice is? Is it Nekaun or the fact that Auraya can hear the gods voices. Some solid character development for many - Auraya, Mirar and Emerahl in particular, let down by the interesting character of Reivan being dumped into the role of woman-pining-after-her-man. As ever, the female characters are much better drawn and developed than the male. The development of the gods probably meant that the Siyee and Elai became more secondary but that did not detract from its merits. The twist in the tail was good and done very subtly - I could see it coming, but the confirmation was worth waiting for.
Main detraction is the appalling art-work on the US paperback editions - unfortunately having spent money on buying them, I won't buy the UK ones in paperback although they are much more preferable. But, I decided I couldn't wait - and I am glad that I didn't. Trudi Canavan's writing is maturing gracefully and I look forward to what comes next.
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11 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
I don't need to other now..?, 13 Jul 2007
Well here I was having read Priestess of the white and starting Last of the Wilds when I made the mistake of reading some of these reviews - I now know the endings. Damn! - Could reviewers please limit the review to opinions on the book itself - and style - rather than actually spelling out the end. I'll not buy now as I don't really see the point.
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