Thief's Magic by Trudi Canavan

I am a fan of Trudi Canavan's Black Magician trilogy and was hoping this would be in the same vein. Unfortunately, this one did not grip me the way the books in that trilogy did. I think my disappointed is linked more to the fact that neither character ended where I wanted them to by the end of the book. A book that manages to surprise me is always a welcome change.
It is hard to talk about this book without spoilers so I'll have to be vague. Tyen, a student of magic unearths a magical book - similar to Tom Riddle's diary. His decision to protect the book leads him into more danger and an adventure then he had bargained for. Rielle, beautiful and talented attracts the wrong kind of attention and becomes a victim of the corrupted and powerful religious faction of her society. These two characters are tied together with their discoveries of magic and how it functions in their world.
This is very much a first book of a series, meaning most of the book is dedicated to world building. The first half is quite slow but the pay off at the end is totally worth it. That said, I loved the idea of magic being a by-product of creativity. It is a beautiful way to set up a world. I really enjoyed seeing both Rielle and Tyen grow as characters as they are pushed past their limits. There are some good twists near the end and I can sort of see where Canavan plans to take the next two books in the series. Can't wait!

The Undead Pool by Kim Harrison

There are very few books that I read more than once and almost none that I want to read again as soon as I finish it. The undead pool is the exception to that rule. I read it twice in a two week period and then I read it again a week later. I loved it that much.

Very few authors end up writing stories that can span twelve books and still have a coherent arc that you can reflect back on from book one. In Undead Pool we find Rachel's ley line - that we thought was fixed - causing problems for vampires. Rachel feeling responsible for this delves into the mystery and in doing so we discover more about the history of the elves and demons. Anything to do with elves of course leads to a ton of Trent (thank god for that!) The threesome of Ivy, Jenks and Rachel goes through some major changes and you can see some of how Kim Harrison is planning to bring it to a close. With one more book to go I was very sad to see this one end.

This is a fast paced novel with a lot going on. I do kind of wish she didn't throw so much elf/demon history at us in one book cause it is a lot to take in and anytime Newt is involved there are some annoying magical ambiguities. I am hoping most of them will be resolved in the last one but even if they aren't, I still love this book. It is my new favourite of the series. Trent fans especially, will love this book. I am feeling this urge to read it again for a fourth time just cause...