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Ice is in her blood.
Eighteen-year-old Waterrunner Eira Landan lives her life in the shadows — the shadow of her older brother, of her magic’s whispers, and of the person she accidentally killed. She’s the most unwanted apprentice in the Tower of Sorcerers until the day she decides to step out and compete for a spot in the Tournament of Five Kingdoms.
Pitted against the best sorcerers in the Empire, Eira fights to be one of four champions. Excelling in the trials has its rewards. She's invited to the royal court with the “Prince of the Tower,” discovers her rare talent for forbidden magic, and at midnight, Eira meets with a handsome elfin ambassador.
But, Eira soon learns, no reward is without risk. As she comes into the spotlight, so too do the skeletons of a past she hadn't even realized was haunting her.
Eira went into the trials ready for a fight. Ready to win. She wasn't ready for what it would cost her. No one expected the candidates might not make it out with their lives.
MY THOUGHTS
I’ve been wanting to read A Trial of Sorcerers since it first came out, but because it's part of the Air Awakens World I held off. I read the first Air Awakens book recently which was great and I thought I had enough knowledge of the world to attempt A Trial of Sorcerers. With that said, while it's not necessary to read the Air Awaken or Vortex chronicles (a spin-off of Air Awakens) first, I would recommend reading them in order. There were a lot of spoilers and I kind of wished I did.
A Trial of Sorcerers was a mash-up of The Last Air Bender and Harry Potter. The story is centered around a Waterrunner sorcerer, which in its name is a person with an affinity for the water element. Eira reminded me a lot of Elsa from Frozen, even the cover illustration was eerily similar in its depiction. Eira was very similar to Val, the FMC of Air Awakens. A young unassuming girl who turns out to be all-power, the best elemental user in her group. Like Val, Eira was always seen as the book smart underdog that no one notices…well except the most handsome, most popular boy in the school/kingdom. It was a very special snowflake vibe which I’m kind of getting tired of.
And as I mentioned before, Eira was depicted to be super intelligent but yet she made a foolish mistake one after another. She had incredibly poor judgment or lack thereof which resulted in harming not only herself but those around her. It wasn’t only reckless or selfish but just plain stupid. Like the title, the book mainly revolves around trials that’d help determine which four sorcerers will represent the Solaris Kingdom in the Tournament of Crowns. It’s not a surprise that Eira is a contender but of the four trials, only one she truly utilized her skills (history/book smarts). The rest was either due to dumb luck or cheating.
I had high expectations going into A Trial of Sorcerers but was disappointed at the lack of substance and variety in the characters, plot, and backstory. I honestly feel as if the author recycled the characters and storylines and resorted to the same formula and tropes of her first novel/series. I mean, she does have four series all part of the same world. Despite all of this, I’m a tiny bit curious about what will happen when they reach Meru. Still debating if I should continue with the series or not. All in all, would I recommend this book? Perhaps if you’re new to the author and haven’t read any of the other Air Awakens World novels, then sure, why not.
