Priestess of the White by Trudi Canavan

Age of the Five: Book One 

----------
In a land on the brink of peace—watched jealously by a ruthless cult from across the sea and beset by hidden enemies—five extraordinary humans must serve as sword and shield of the Gods.
Auraya is one.
Her heroism saved a village from destruction; now Auraya has been named Priestess of the White. The limits of her unique talents must be tested in order to prove her worthy of the honor and grave responsibility awarded to her. But a perilous road lies ahead, fraught with pitfalls that will challenge the newest servant of the gods. An enduring friendship with a Dreamweaver—a member of an ancient outcast sect of sorcerer-healers—could destroy Auraya's future. And her destiny has set her in conflict with a powerful and mysterious, black-clad sorcerer with but a single purpose: the total annihilation of the White. And he is not alone . . .
----------

Long but good.


Priestess of the White is a good book no doubt, I just ended up feeling like it was a little too long. Although the plot moved constantly and it was by no means boring it was just also very easy to put down.

For a book so focused on Gods, I think Canavan avoids the subject a bit. Auraya is one of the 5 chosen by the Gods, a high priestess, yet there's barely anything theological, which I suppose is both good and bad. There are no long boring parts about religion and worship, but for the reader there is just no real understanding of their faith either. It's just something that's there and so be it. I would like to know more about their magic too. The world it's set in though and it's inhabitants, both human and not-so-human, are all well-made and feels whole and real.

Canavan is very skilled at keeping a numerous amount of balls in the air at once. I think there were some 6-7 main point-of-views and some extras beyond that and each and everyone is an interesting read and you don't feel let down when it's time to hear what the other characters have to say or do. However, the main character, Auraya, actually to me feels like less of a major character. I'm far more interested in Emerahl, Leiard, Mirar and Tryss. All of their stories just seem more interesting than hers.

I'm not going to *not* recommend it to anyone, I definitely think it's worth a read. I just also think that her other series are better and should be prioritized as such. It's the first of a trilogy and I must admit it ended in such a way that I was very tempted to pick up the second book immediately to read on.

659 pages / published in 2006
Review by Iben Jakobsen, BoB, 2011