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Yet another fantastic book by Maria V. Snyder. I have fallen in love with this world that she has created. It is so unique and interesting. The way that she weaves every detail in the book together is beautiful. I highly recommend!
Yet another fantastic book by Maria V. Snyder. I have fallen in love with this world that she has created. It is so unique and interesting. The way that she weaves every detail in the book together is beautiful. I highly recommend!
Dit is een van mijn favoriete series allertijden geworden <3<br/>Zoveel actie, en de wereld die Snyder heeft bedacht is zo fantastisch!
*Book source ~ Purchased from Audible
Guest Reviewers
A ~ My 17-yr-old daughter
T ~ My 15-yr-old son
K ~ My 14-yr-old son
Yelena has vanquished her enemies and is on her way to Sitia to meet the family she doesn’t remember and learn how to control her magic. But growing up in Ixia and being the Commander’s food taster has made her ways strange and suspicious to the people of Sitia. Still, she perseveres. However, soon she is embroiled in a bad situation and must use her newfound abilities, her new friends and the unexpected arrival of old friends to get ahead of the game. And stay alive. Will her life ever be simple?
While not as rousing as the first book, this story has a decent plot with a new world, new enemies, new friends and an appearance of old friends. Everyone still likes Yelena and Valek is still a favorite. Though T said Yelena and Valek having sex all the time is bad. I had to laugh because they aren’t doing it like bunnies. In fact, it’s closed door, not described at all and it’s only a few times. It’s just the fact that when Valek is around they do what couples in love do especially since they’ve been separated for months, but it’s not to the detriment of the plot. LOL Anyway, the magic is fascinating and the Sitia world is interesting. We all loved having the Power Twins back for a bit and the addition of horses is cool. T & K love that the horses call Valek “Ghost.” An apt name indeed. No one likes Yelena’s brother Leif. I agree that he’s an ass though by the end of the book he’s a bit better. T likes Yelena’s dad Esau because he knows so much cool stuff about the jungle. And everyone wants Cahil to die. That would be nice. We’re looking forward to book 3, Fire Study.
Favorite quotes:
“Pushing magic toward the candle, I willed it to light. Nothing happened.
Irys made a strangled sound and the candle burned. “Are you directing your magic to the candle?”
“Yes. Why?”
“You just ordered me to light the candle for you,” Irys said in exasperation. “And I did it.”
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“I gave him a bored look. I had been threatened many times before and had learned that the men who didn’t make verbal threats were the most dangerous.”
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“Of course, you didn't want our help. Now I have to go beat up some soldier just to keep my ego intact.”
Yelena has arrived in Sitia and is immediately swept into family politics, magician politics, and a serial killer plot as she reconnects with her parents, learns to control her magic, and tries to keep the peace between the factions bristling for war.
I love Snyder’s world, although I did miss the order and regulation of Ixia. Ixia’s a military-run dictatorship, for lack of a better understanding, having overthrown the monarchy some years before. Sitia, in contrast, is like a wild jungle, and run by a Council advised by the powerful magicians. It was a blast getting to know Sitia, and through Snyder’s writing I really felt the onset of the seasons and the pull of the jungle and the plains.
Yelena, as always, was totally awesome. She’s headstrong and likes to take action, which goes against Sitian tradition. This caused plenty of conflict as she tried to solve all of the world’s problems while also managing hers and learning to control her magic. Valek showed up as and when he was needed, and sometimes when he wasn’t, which was a bit strange. Irys, of course, gets a starring role as Yelena’s mentor, and she has to overcome certain prejudices before she can recognise Yelena’s greatness. I really liked where Yelena ended up and was quite happy to follow her increasingly complex life as she strived to be the best she could be.
Like I said, Valek showed up as and when he was needed. It certainly didn’t feel like a romance book, and truth be told, I don’t think I actually ship them. Valek completely transforms around Yelena, and I like him when he’s a badass. The relationship does nothing to enhance the book and only served as a plot point for Valek’s rival for Yelena’s affections. Yelena also cultivated a deep relationship with Irys, which I liked, considering Irys tried to kill her once or twice, and attempted to slot back into her family, whom I did like – well except for the older brother, but seriously who likes their older brothers? Pains in the butt.
Was it similar to Poison Study? Not at all. I really missed Ixia, and I wasn’t prepared for the entire story to shift locations to the magic-friendly realm of Sitia. But Snyder is a master storyteller and her pacing is spot on. She knows how to enhance the conflict until you wonder how anyone’s going to solve any problems. I feel that Magic Study was a very worthy second novel, absent of any of that uaul ‘second novel syndrome’ filler stuff, and it contained an excellent journey for Yelena to embark on, and grow, and change as a character. I really look forward to her net set of adventures in Fire Study.
*2015 Reading Challenge* A trilogy
