Written by: Trudi Canavan
Published by: Orbit
£12.99
The final volume of the Age of Five series, Voice of the Gods is set in a place where two countries each have five gods that their religion and people thrive on, the Circle and the Five. Only the gods can make a mortal immortal and only the gods can provide extra magical powers they pick their priests (Voices or Whites depending on which side you’re on) and rule through them.
In the first two books we follow the story of Auraya who becomes a White, wars with invaders and kills their First Voice, eventually she leaves the White as they wanted to kill her ex-lover Mirar. Mirar is one of the most dangerous men on the plane, who has evaded the gods for decades, who they fear and who the gods and White alike want to keep Auraya away from as he holds many secrets, the most threatening to the gods – how to become immortal.
The final book takes us through Auraya’s choices, belief in her gods or believe Mirar and the rest of the immortals (also known as Wilds), to become immortal or not and whether to use the information disclosed against her own gods and those of others.
After the Black Magician’s trilogy Trudi’s first books, the Age of Five is not a step upwards for her writing. Unfortunately she has fallen into the normal fantasy trap of writing about too many characters. This means her main characters suffer and the lack of focus shows immensely. Most of the book is filler to make a trilogy but the last few chapters almost make it worth reading.
If you want a light fantasy trilogy to read then pick up the Black Magician’s trilogy if however you enjoy books from the likes of George RR Martin then the Age of Five will be perfect for you.
Sabrina Peyton- Newly migrated to the UK to be with her husband. After working for Diamond Comics for a short time she ended up immersed in a few comic book forums and ended up moderating two of the largest, the Warren Ellis Forum (WEF) and Mark Millar’s forum Millarworld).
She’s written for Sequential Tart, The Vampirella Magazine, and is Editor in Chief of Fractal Matter.