I would like to say I loved this book, but there is part of me resisting that solely because I didn't feel satisfied by its ending. It felt to me that it wasn't tied up properly. It kind of felt there should have been a couple more pages. I also thought that seeing as Tessia is the title and main character of the book that it was a shame the final scene (though mentioning her) doesn't feature her. I have picked up copies of Trudi Canavan's books in shops a number of times over the years, but I never bought one because I didn't want to invest in a trilogy if I wasn't completely "with it". So when I realised that this book was a stand-alone novel, but was set in the world (albeit a few hundred years before!) some of her other books I jumped at the chance of reading it. From my first paragraph you'll probably think I ended up disappointed, but you'd be wrong. Until the very end I really really enjoyed this. The characters were well formed and it was lovely to have a story of war where you see both sides of said war, and the juxtaposition of Stara and Tessia's stories was intriguing but perhaps not played to its full potential. The two different cultures were very well constructed, and by having the Stara strand meant you never fully demonised the Sachakans, making them a more fully constructed culture - one that is eerily familiar. My mind keeps wondering while I felt disappointed, and I guess I felt I needed more, and maybe this is because Canavan is more used to writing trilogies, maybe this is what is needed, I'd love to read a story of Tessia and Jayan as they built the Guild with the others. I feel there could be a whole book in that alone. It would have been nice to have at least got a glimpse of it. Given that it is a central part of the Black Magician trilogy I feel that could have been nice. Maybe all these niggles I'm feeling will be sorted when I read said trilogy, and I certainly will do, and maybe I'd have felt more satisfied if I'd read this in publication order. Who knows I may come back one day and re- review this book after re-reading it following reading the other six book set in this world. I'm glad to have read this book, and I am excited to read more Trudi Canavan. I guess me saying that when I don't have the butterflies in the stomach I get at the end of reading a book is something in itself.