The Rogue

It has only been a few short months since Lorkin is in Sanctuary but he has made a friend but still people looked at him differently and was usually amused by the Kyralian manners. As Lorkin hurries to the Care Room which is the city's version of hospice hopefully reaching on time. He fears the scolding from Speaker Kalia who is the head of the place and often kept him busy. Lorkin has been stationed to work in the Care Room after he reached Sanctuary and usually he was asked to do unpleasant and unnecessary things and not tasks which are important such as making cures. Putting him there was probably a way to test his resolve to not teach the Traitors how to Heal with magic as people were healed using cures only. Since winter is approaching people are getting sick easier.

Tonight was an exciting night as Lorkin's new friend Evar was going to show him the Stonemaker's Cave. Both of them went to the caves that night through the back ways. Inside there were many kinds of stones being made and Lorkin managed to ask more about the different type of stones there from Evar. They used the main way to leave the cave and when they were nearing the exit a woman named Chava appeared and ask why was Lorkin there. Even though there was no rule saying that Lorkin could not enter she would still report it since permission was not asked. Lorkin hoped that he hadn't gone too far to jeopardize the chance for him to go home or have the Traitors trade with the guild.

Meanwhile in the Kyralia Guild House in Sachaka, Dannyl was bored of having nothing to do. When he arrived he spent lots of time visiting important and powerful Sachakans but since returning from chasing Lorkin and his abductors, all visits had died down. He stood up and paced the Guild House and it somehow irritated the slaves. While Dannyl was recalling all that had happened a slave came to him and announced a carriage has arrived with two people in it. Dannyl went to the main entrance and saw a young Healer woman following the slave in and when he was going to welcome her he was surprised to see behind her was Tayend his former lover. Lady Merria was the replacement for Lorkin's job and Tayend arrived as Elyne's Ambassador to Sachaka. 

Sonea was still in charge with searching for the rogue Skellin in Imardin. The safest place to met Cery was in the northside storeroom of the hospice as it could be reached by a hidden door from the neighbouring house that Cery had bought. Cery had not heard any news about Skellin's whereabouts but he was still in operation as when Cery shut one brazier down another opens. Sonea could not gain any information from Skellin's captured mother Lorandra as she refused to speak at all. A soft sound came from behind the door and the handle was turned slowly. Sonea kept the door closed with magic to allowed Cery to leave unnoticed. After Cery left she allowed the door to be opened and a short thin man took a step forward. He was slightly afraid after seeing Sonea's robe colour but then he asked her for some roet and got all hysteria for it. Then he was seized by two Healers and they dragged him away. A third Healer remained and as she looked up she was surprised as it was Dorrien. Dorrien is Lord Rothen's son who moved to the country and got married there. Sonea and Dorrien had a friendship that could become a romance but she fell in love with Akkarin instead. He came back for a short visit to get advice on how to treat people with roet addiction.

Lilia was considered a lowie as she is a novice from the lower class origins. Her parents work as servants for Houses and she grew up as a servant girl too. Since she was discovered having magical abilities she was offered to learn in the Guild. Snootie was a slang term used by the lowie to call the novices that are from Houses. Lilia was sitting in the Foodhall eating and not bothering anything. She always prefer to listen to her friend's conversation than joining. As she gaze fell upon a novice named Naki who was one year ahead of her and also a snootie who was really popular among the Boys. Naki had shown no interest in any boys where perhaps she thought herself too good for them or choosy in friends. As Lilia watched Naki, Naki was sitting with a girl whose mouth was moving constantly and Naki merely gave a thinned smile. Suddenly Naki looked directly at Lilia and Lilia was embarassed till she forced herself to look away. Naki moved and then she was walking towards Lilia and sat at the empty space on the bench beside Lilia. Naki said she was bored and came over to see what Lilia was doing.

"The Rogue" by Trudi Canavan is truly a great second book for the Traitor Spy Trilogy. If I was asked to write a summary I think it would be really long because there were so many good parts in the book worth mentioning. Every line written is important in contributing in the movement of the story. Even though many characters are featured in different places, they are all covered  and you would not feel that when the focus is on one, the rest is left out. The timeline for all the characters are basically parallel and moving at the same pace. I really love how the writer can bring in new characters and made them important to the plots. After reading so many books regarding Sonea and other magicians, you would think that some new characters would not be necessarily but they all play a crucial part. As always character development is excellent for me whereby slowly you'll find out the attitudes of the characters, why they act that way and how they connect to the main story.

I also love that new places are introduced by the writer as with the illustrations of the lands, there are more places that can be explored. The way how plot after plot transitions are just wonderful. There isn't a moment where a chapter is only half important or half exciting to a reader. I absolutely enjoyed this book and was entertained by small climax within the chapters and hope that the book didn't end. I was even more excited after reading the last few chapters and the epilogue. I thought that this book ended really well and had so much room for readers to imagine themselves what is next in the third book. I'm sure I will be wowed by it as I don't know what to expect next. Trudi Canavan is a fantasy writer that keeps me on my toes as most of the book is unpredictable to me. I would definitely read again in a few years time to recall the wonderful journey with Sonea.