Priestess of the White by Trudi Canavan

Priestess of the White, by Trudi Canavan, follows the story of Auraya, a young woman whose heroism saved her village from destruction and bought her the favour of the gods. In return for her bravery, she is chosen to be the fifth and final representative of The Five (the five surviving gods). As a White, she is given special abilities so as to obey the wishes of the gods; abilities that are immediately put to the test with the appearance of a black-clad sorcerer, with powers that are seen only once every century, claiming to be the servant of the real gods. In a world where gods take mortal lovers, experiment on humans to make new species, and threaten the loss of one’s soul for obedience, nothing is truly impossible.

In all fantasy stories, there are certain pillars on which intrigue are founded, most notably: magic, romance, and conspiracy, among many others. In Priestess of the White, magic is portrayed as various gifts; most people have a couple gifts, while a handful of people have many. Magic plays a very important role in the story and is explained well, yet in my opinion falls short. It just doesn’t have anything that really makes it feel magical, perhaps due to how common it is, or because of its power.

The romance in Priestess of the White isn't entirely captivating, but there is still enough to create emotional attachment, and I really have no right to ask for more.

The conspiracy, however, is amazingly well constructed, pushing the reader from trusting everyone to no one and back again, although impossible to completely understand until later in the series.

I like to base my opinion on a book by how much I enjoyed the story in contrast to how much I enjoyed the writing. For example, I heartily dislike Terry Brooks’ writing, but love his stories, while I am absolutely in love with Jacqueline Carey’s writing, but sometimes ask myself how I just read another 900 page book when I was only interested in it for the first 400. Priestess of the White, in my very humble opinion, has an excellent story that is a joy to complete; the story is written admirably, however is not without its sore spots.