The Initiate by Louise Cooper

A while ago I bought several books from a charity shop, two of which were books 4 and 6 of a seven book series by Louise Cooper. All well and good, they were cheap after all, but I didn't really want to read them until I'd got the others, and I'd never read a Louise Cooper book before. So when I saw this, I bought it to find out what she's like.

The book is the first in a trilogy, and tells the story of an ongoing war between Order and Chaos. During the prologue, it is established that Chaos has been destroyed from the world, and Order reigns true; the authorties of the land, in particular in religion, worship the gods of Order. As is the way of things, all seems well. The main character is a man named Tarod, bought up at the bottom end of society, with a rebellious streak. He dreams of the power of an Initiate, a wielder of magic forces, and a sworn protector of Order. And so, through a freak turn of events, he becomes the Initiate of the title; and as to be expected in books of this type, the most powerful member of his order (although not the leader).

I suppose I should stop here before I tell the story. I have to say, I thought Tarod was an interesting character. He's dragged around by his belief and his legacy, and soon realises that he's decending into madness. The book tells the story of how he tries to deal with his impending doom, from before he realises what it is to the end where he knows exactly what his problem is. I liked him, in a way, and his relationships with others are interesting, although there are a few characters that are clearly introduced to be more important in later books, and they seem premature; one character has her birthplace marked on the map at the start, yet only appears in two chapters.

I'd also say I'm not very convinced by the subject matter of the plot. Order is displayed as good, chaos as evil, but there seems to be no real development of this; chaos is simply portrayed as evil and there seems to be no difference. I'd really prefer a book that builds on it more, and while it might do later on in the series, it seemed a bit out of place at the time.

I would say, though, that I enjoyed the book. It was a good story, and I liked the working of the ending; I really do want to know what happens next. I thought the characters were interesting, mostly. So, to answer my original question as to would I buy the other books in the series; yes. I probably won't particularly go out of my way, but it'll be a set of books I will look for when I'm searching shops. All in all, this was an enjoyable book, and I'd read more by Louise Cooper.

7/10