The red and blue adepts continue their spat
This is the final book in the first trilogy of the Apprentice Adept series and is where the battle between the Blue Adept (Style) and the Red Adept comes to a conclusion. The final parts of the book are very action orientated as the battle rages across two interconnected worlds. Personally I have no idea why the Red Adept was so intent on killing Style, but it is a conflict, and it is a requirement of most literature that there be a conflict that needs to be resolved.
Both the Red and Blue Adepts are similar in that in Phase they are powerful entities that form a part of the magicians that rule the planet, while on Proton they are both serfs who are competing in the game to become citizens. I believe that it is in this book that Style wins the game and becomes a citizen, and despite now being allowed to clothe himself, discovers that despite being a citizen, he still sits at the bottom of the ladder and now faces new challenges to increase his status in the world.
This, and the first book, seem to work on the principle of sex-sells. Both of these books have a naked woman on the cover, though the first has a robot, and this one has a stone statue. I suspect in some places these versions of the books were banned, however I notice that it was these covers under which the Australian version was sold, so I suspect that this was also the British version. The reason I say this is because there was, and I believe still is, a restrictive trade deal between Australia and Britain. This deal pretty much says that Australia is only permitted to source its books from Britain, not America, which means that it makes books in Australia somewhat more expensive.
There has been a long running dispute regarding this, which once again surprises me since it could easily have been solved by the World Trade Organisation. Despite it being a very opaque organisation that seeks to strike down any treaty or law that restricts trade, in some cases it is beneficial. The concept is that if the WTO makes a ruling, and the country ignores it, then they are forced to pay a fine that is ongoing, and very expensive. The only way to get out of the fine is to drop the law or the treaty. If you do not then you could also find yourself on the wrong end of a trade embargo. However, Australia has some very tight quarantine laws, that would be considered a barrier to trade, but has been allowed to keep them. Yet, with a treaty such as this, I am surprised it has not been challenged. However, any matters that go to the WTO are in the strictest confidence, which means that pretty much nobody hears about it, and nobody knows the results of the decision (nor can they put their view points in as well).
That sort of went away from this book, but then again, I really don't care. I did enjoy these books when I did read them, however it was a long time ago, and much of the content I really cannot remember. I will probably consider writing about the next trilogy, though the problem is I really cannot remember the content, and am unsure if I actually read them. No, I think I won't write about them, because it is more likely than not that I did not read them, simply because Anthony decided to move to a second generation in these stories, though in a way I sort of do remember this. No, I'll write about them shortly (though I think I will interpose them with other books).
