History Literature / TheBlackMagicianTrilogy

* DeusSexMachina[=/=]IntimateHealing: The "Lover's Death" allows for a black magician to drain magic through coitus. It's originally shown solely for its use in DeathBySex, but it can also be used nonlethally, just like regular BlackMagic. In fact, it's far more pleasurable than regular sex or the regular means of transferring mana.
* [[DoesNotKnowHisOwnStrength Does Not Know Her Own Strength]]: Sonea really has no idea exactly how powerful she is until half way through the last book, and all her teachers, including Akkarin, deliberately keep her in the dark for two reasons: 1) so she doesn't get cocky and start relying on her brute strength without fine-tuning her skills, and 2) because they're all quite wary about what exactly she could be capable of if she really applied all her power (and for good reason). When she has ''Akkarin'' running to the wire on his mana reserves to try to keep her under control, you really start to get some idea of why all the High Magicians are on edge.

* [[FutureSlang Fantasy Slang]]: There's a second glossary in the back of each book with "Lord Dannyl's Guide to Slum Slang," detailing the particular cant used by dwellers in the Kyralian slums. By the time of the Traitor Spy trilogy, though, it's fallen way out of fashion and even Cery doesn't use it that much.

* AsskickingEqualsAuthority: The position of High Lord of the Magician's Guild is filled by the strongest magician, pretty much irrespective of other concerns; Akkarin got the job because he was as strong as ''twenty'' other magicians. Strength is also a sort of status marker in the Guild, which leads to trouble when Sonea is of low social status but is magically nearly a match for Akkarin on her own naked strength. [[spoiler: At the end of the Black Magician Trilogy, both of these examples are subverted. Sonea is by far the strongest magician in the Guild, but as the Black Magician, she is not permitted to hold other positions in the hierarchy, and the position goes to the former Head Warrior.]]

* RichIdiotWithNoDayJob: To some degree, many magicians (except Healers). Alchemists are often considered to waste their time on silly hobbies instead of useful innovations. However they do create things which help the lives of many, such as keeping the rivers clear of silt for trading. Warriors are only useful in times of war. If they aren't into teaching (like Fergun), there's little for them to do in the meantime. And as of ''High Lord'', we learn that [[spoiler: Warriors aren't even that useful against a magician invasion because they don't know black magic.]] So they literally are paid and housed to do nothing.

* ProudScholarRaceGuy: The Duna, who have important secret keepers of magic lore and history.
* ProudWarriorRaceGuy: The Lan tribes, though we see very little of them.

* [[DoesNotKnowHisOwnStrength Does Not Know Her Own Strength]]: Somea really has no idea exactly how powerful she is until half way through the last book, and all her teachers, including Akkarin, deliberately keep her in the dark for two reasons: 1) so she doesn't get cocky and start relying on her brute strength without fine-tuning her skills, and 2) because they're all quite wary about what exactly she could be capable of if she really applied all her power (and for good reason). When she has ''Akkarin'' running to the wire on his mana reserves to try to keep her under control, you really start to get some idea of why all the High Magicians are on edge.

** Sonea frequently limits her power when duelling against any other magician because she's so powerful that she can nearly ''break the Arena barrier'', and so she has to be careful that she doesn't inadvertently kill her duelling partner.

* MutantDraftBoard: Naturals ''must'' be trained by the Guild. This isn't a matter of social control, and more a recognition of the fact that an untrained natural will usually go off like a nuke when she loses control of her ability. In a variation, the Guild has pretty much forgotten this at the start of the trilogy - there hadn't been a known case of anyone manifesting magic on their own for centuries, enough that it wasn't really remembered that it was possible. This is a significant part of the drama in the first book, since not only does the Guild have to rediscover forgotten protocols, but it has also picked up a lot of noble prejudice since that last case (for historic and social reasons, magical ability is concentrated in the nobility), which goes about as well as one can expect when there suddenly turns up a very powerful natural from the poor underclasses.

* [[DoesNotKnowHisOwnStrength Does Not Know Her Own Strength]]: Somea really has no idea exactly how powerful she is until half way through the last book, and all her teachers, including Akkarin, deliberately keep her in the dark for two reasons: 1) so she doesn't get cocky and start relying on her brute strength without fine-tunning her skills, and 2) because they're all quite wary about what exactly she could be capable of if she really applied all her power (and for good reason). When she has ''Akkarin'' running to the wire on his mana reserves to try to keep her under control, you really start to get some idea of why all the High Magicians are on edge.

* YaoiGuys: Dannyl and Tayend. The relationship that develops between them is not sexually explicit and took until the end of the first trilogy, however.

* ManipulativeBitch: [[spoiler:Naki.]] Oh so much. To whit: [[spoiler: she befriends the resident NaiveEverygirl, plays SchoolgirlLesbians with her despite never once returning the feelings, gets her hooked on a FantasticDrug and manipulates her into learning [[TheDarkArts Black Magic]] (the mere knowledge of which is forbidden; and which, incidentally, she herself learned, quite deliberately years before). Why? So that she can frame said everygirl when she murders her step-father and runs away to go spend her life working with criminals. And why did she want to do that? Because she couldn't live with the rules imposed on her by her father and the Guild. Oh, and when her unwitting lover desperately breaks out of imprisonment to find her, thinking her to be in mortal danger, she casually and without remorse tries to kill her. Yeah.]]

* StuffedIntoTheFridge: [[spoiler: Cery's]] sub plot in the traitor spy trilogy is kicked off when his wife and kids are murdered, providing angst and motivation for him.

[[quoteright:289:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/the_magicians_guild.png]]
''The Black Magician Trilogy'' is the debut series of Creator/TrudiCanavan, and is centred around the country Kyralia where only the rich and powerful are allowed to learn and use magic, and the poor are more or less ignored, unless they're being trodden under foot. This age old system has something of a spanner jammed in its works when Sonea, a girl born and raised in the slums of the capital city Imardin, discovers that she has natural magical abilities. Since she learns this by throwing a stone through a magical barrier and knocking out a magician, it doesn't exactly stay a secret for long.

* DeusSexMachina[=/=]IntimateHealing: The "Lover's Death" allows for a black magician to drain magic through coitus. It's originally shown solely for its use in DeathBySex, but it can also be used nonlethally, just like regular BlackMagic. In fact, it's far more pleasurable than regular sex or the regular means of transferring mana.

* Determinator: Tessia in ''The Magician's Apprentice'' was a chirurgeon's apprentice when her latent magical talent awakens. Upon being told that she would have to give up medicine to become a magician, she refuses to accept this, and ends up single-handedly inventing the entire field of magical Healing.

'''''LateArrivalSpoiler Warning:''''' NothingIsTheSameAnymore after the end of the original trilogy. Entries regarding the ''Traitor Spy'' trilogy may have unmarked spoilers.

* SquishyWizard: Although a lot of magicians (read: most) fall into this category, this trope is played with a bit: magicians are made physically stronger and more healthy than normal people by the constant flow of magical energy through their bodies. Magicians also have a stronger "inner shield" and can survive drowning and being buried underground by using a shield to protect their bodies and supply them with a limited amount of oxygen. They're just completely unused to fighting or dealing without their magic.

Tayend is a pretty classic example of this. The very first thing the reader learns about Tayend is that he's beautiful. His long blond hair and form-fitting clothes are described constantly, and all from [[ArmouredClosetGay Dannyl]]'s point of view. Dannyl's open-mindedness does make the situation a little easier. This is actually a pretty unusual example, as Dannyl was once aware that he was gay, he'd simply started subconsciously used magic to suppress it to the point where he "forgets" and Tayend was on hand to remind him again.

* [[spoiler: MayDecemberRomance]]: [[spoiler: Akkarin is thirteen years older than Sonea, and also used to be her guardian. She doesn't let that bother her, though.]]

* [[spoiler: SomeoneToRememberHimBy]]: [[spoiler: Sonea is pregnant with Akkarin's child at the end of the first trilogy after his death.]]

* ColorCodedWizardry: There's colour coding for the three different disciplines of magic (Warriors wear red robes, Alchemists wear purple robes, and Healers wear green robes) as well as for rank (the heads of each discipline wears a black sash, the King's Advisors wear gold sashes, the Administrators wear blue robes, and the High Lord wears black robes.) [[spoiler: The High Lord wears white robes after the Trilogy's end, and black robes are reserved for the Black Magician.]] Novices wear shorter brown robes and by the second book of the ''Traitor Spy'' trilogy [[spoiler:Lilia wears brown robes with a black armband in her role as the "black novice".]]

* BlackMagic: An important element in the series, but also semi-subverted. In this series, BlackMagic comes from taking a person's LifeEnergy, which is replenished with each sleep, but can be completely depleted. While many users of BlackMagic are portrayed as evil, some LifeEnergy can be taken without harming the person, so the morality of using it is based on whether the LifeEnergy was given willingly or not. Originally, it was called "higher magic," and practiced by all magicians, but during the Trilogy it's only practiced by [[spoiler: Akkarin, the Sachakans and Sonea]]. So the term Black Magic originates from basically propaganda. After the Trilogy, the Guild appoints two and only two magicians to know the secrets of BlackMagic, and hedges them about with heavy restrictions; while they aren't at all comfortable with the practice, they know that the Sachakans use it, and they recognize the need to fight fire with fire.

** In the Traitor Spy trilogy, this is averted. Dannyl's relationship with Tayend is seriously on the rocks, but he strikes up a FriendsWithBenefits relationship with a Sachakan man and it's made very clear that sex is happening. Lilia doesn't get as much sex in, but she does get to kiss her girlfriend on a regular basis.

** When Dannyl first meets Tayend, he thinks him beautiful. This is a clue (along with Dannyl almost being kicked out of school for being that way inclined). Dannyl's obliviousness to his own sexuality makes the whole situation more ambiguous. He might just be more open-minded than his peers.

* CoversAlwaysLie: The UK versions feature the main character posing with a staff in a martial-arts esque stance, while the US versions are even worse; one of them has a ''flaming pegasus'' on the cover, for no reason whatsoever!

* BuryYourGays: Surprisingly this is averted depending on where you are in the world. In Elyne they're fairly tolerant of it, in Kyralia anyone accused of it can be dishonoured but is not formally punished, and in Sachaka, they just ignore it and pretend it doesn't happen. Played straight in Lonmar, where homosexuals are executed.

* ClosetKey: When Dannyl first meets Tayend, he thinks him beautiful. This is a clue (along with Dannyl almost being kicked out of school for being that way inclined). Dannyl's obliviousness to his own sexuality makes the whole situation more ambiguous. He might just be more open-minded than his peers.

* CureYourGays: Dannyl has struggled against rumours about being gay which have ruined his reputation (in his home country at least -- others are more open). Eventually, when he is completely out of mana it turns out that he was gay, but he blocked out the memories and has been reflexively using Healing magic to block any sexual impulse for years. Tayend, the gay man he had been travelling with had already figured it out but didn't want to say anything, and they end up becoming a couple.

* EveryoneCanSeeIt: 2 examples

* EvilCannotComprehendGood: throughout the series, the Sachakans are a threat because of their practise of black magic, but they have a major flaw in being unable to heal or strenghen each others' magic.

* LawOfInverseFertility: Sonea falls under this trope from the virgin side of things. And manages to get pregnant while in the very stressful situation of [[spoiler: travelling into exile into a hostile land filled with ruthless stronger magicians, who are hunting them (her and the father) as a prelude to the invasion the country they've just been exiled from.]] High stress isn't usually conducive to fertility.
* LoveConfession: We get a good, if rather odd, one. [[spoiler: Akkarin confesses that he began to fall for Sonea after he watched her kill someone with BlackMagic. O...kay.]] It sounds more romantic when you read it.

* MundaneUtility: Healing magic can be used to save someone's life after their throat is slit, purge poison or cure deadly diseases. But you can also use it to keep that pesky seasickness at bay.

* NoWomansLand: Sachaka and Lonmar. Both societies are incredibly strict about letting their women out in public, don't teach them magic and generally treat them much worse than their male counterparts. In Lonmar, a woman is publically punished for having an affair.
* NotEvilJustMisunderstood: [[spoiler: Akkarin. Who knew that he was actually trying to ''save'' everyone?]]

* OutsideContextProblem: [[spoiler:So there's an army of Black Magic users coming to attack us? Too bad most of us have no idea what Black Magic even is, much less how to fight it.]]

* [[spoiler: SomeoneToRememberHimBy]]: [[spoiler: Sonea is pregnant with Akkarin's child at the end of the first trilogy.]]

* ThievesGuild: The appropriately named ''Thieves''. By the time of the sequel trilogy however, the Thives have stopped working with each other.

* JerkassFacade: Akkarin is [[spoiler: the only person standing between the Ichani and literal annihilation of Kyralia and puts his life on the line more than once to do so]], but there is a very good reason why nearly everyone is convinced that he's a cold, heartless bastard, and why Sonea is convinced that he's the BigBad for quite a while. ... Actually, however near he does come to JerkWithAHeartOfGold territory, even crossing into it, YMMV on whether the "cold, heartless bastard" bit is a facade or not. As Sonea put it:

** The author renames everything to the point of needing a glossary in the back of each book. She justifies this in an interview by saying that coming across the word 'sheep' during a fantasy novel can kinda spoil things.
** It's handled kind of well as there's a group of criminals who tend to take on the names of animals, and these names are usually appropriate. For example, Faren (spider) is very cunning and employs poisons, Ceryni and Ravi (mouse and rat) are physically small but very quick, etc. Naming them Spider, Mouse and Rat wouldn't really sound good - compare it.
** And yet they still have horses...
*** Wine also retains its name, even though beer is renamed to "bol".

* CureYourGays: Dannyl has struggled against rumours about being gay which have ruined his reputation (in his home country at least - others are more open). Eventually, when he is completely out of mana it turns out that he was gay, but he blocked out the memories and has been reflexively using Healing magic to block any sexual impulse for years. Tayend, the gay man he had been travelling with had already figured it out but didn't want to say anything, and they end up becoming a couple.

* Determinator: Tessia in ''The Magician's Apprentice'' was a chirurgeon's apprentice when her latent magical talent awakens. Upon being told that she would have to give up medicine to become a magician, she refuses to accept this, and ends up single-handedly inventing the entire field of magical Healing.

* IDidWhatIHadToDo: Akkarin, we know, but did you have to be such a jerk about it?

* [[spoiler: SomeoneToRememberHimBy]]

* IAmNotLeftHanded: Somea frequently limits her power when duelling against any other magician because she's so powerful that she can nearly ''break the Arena barrier'', and so she has to be careful that she doesn't inadvertently kill her duelling partner.