Having been told multiple times that I need to read these I finally picked up the first novel in the Black Magician trilogy. I was not disappointed. The world is so well developed and, if you forget about the magic, believable. Sonea is such a great character. I've heard a few people say that they aren't fond of her which admittedly I can see why. She's very naive in this first novel but you need to remember, she is a child. 
 Rothen. The most awesome Magician ever. The way he looks after Sonea is adorable, she's like the daughter he never had. I like how he interacts with the other Magicians too, you can see the respect they have for him. 
 I felt the start of this novel was awfully slow. Sonea's hiding phase seemed to go on and on but once the story actually picked up pace I really liked how it played out. The emphasis on the hierarchy within Imardin was done very well too, if it annoyed me to no end how Reign managed to get away with so much. 
 I went straight out to get the rest of the books in this series. 
 More reviews over at an0velidea.blogspot.com