On the Bookshelf

Picking up where Magic Study finished off, Yelena once again attempts to study magic only to be once more dragged away from her lessons to confront a major threat to herself and to both Sitia and Ixia.

When Moon Man, her Story Weaver, sends her one of his cryptic messages, Yelena leaves straight away for the Sandseed Clan's lands, hoping that he has found Cahil and Ferde. He greets her to reveal a desperate situation. A rogue group that has broken away from the Sanseed Clan and become the Daviian Clan has been practicing a gruesome ritual using ancient blood magic to gain power with the aid of a powerful Fire Warper. Despite having learned the truth about his heritage, Cahil has joined forces with the Vermin, as they have become known, so that he can have his war and claim the Ixian throne. Furthermore, Yelena is feared and faced with suspicion due to her being a Soulfinder and so lacks the support of the Sitian Council. With limited support Yelena must restore peace and order to Sitia, all the while being sought after by the Fire Warper.

Fire Study brings us to the end of the Snyder's Study Series. I really have loved this series. Despite not wanting it to end, I stayed up late to finish Fire Study even though my eyes ached and my body begged for sleep. I knew that I could not rest until I finally knew how it all came to a close.

Fire Study is far from being my favourite instalment in the series but I am still overall satisfied on the key issues. Although still enjoyable, I didn't feel that it was quite as up there as the previous two books. So, what dragged Fire Study down in comparison to the previous two instalments?

I found the continued use of Curare and Theobroma to become very repetitive. Considering Yelena's history as a food taster, ever since she crossed the borders into Sitia I have been waiting for her to be introduced to more new poisons. At times she still expresses paranoia left over from her food tasting days but we never see her take the time to learn about what poisonous substances are native on the Sitian side of the border. While she occasionally dwells on forgotten knowledge, I think that it is most certainly a shame that her potential with her knowledge of poisons was never follow explored.

If you have not read the book yet and want to remain spoiler free then skip to the next paragraph. For those who do not mind some spoilers I will not name the subject of this spoiler. When a certain character died I felt that it was very unconvincing. It's hard to pinpoint a single reason or perhaps it was a mix of several reasons. Perhaps Snyder had successfully instilled me with faith in this characters ability to survive; Yelena is such a strong person that considering all else that was going on she was able to hold herself together hence not producing as strong a reaction as I desired; or maybe in knowing herself that the character was not really dead, Snyder did not spend the time to convince her readers that they were. The characters absence was brief and it wasn't at all surprising when they stepped out and said "tada! I'm alive!" It is not that there was no grieving for the character at all - Yelena had her cry in private and made her plans in her head to find them again in the other worlds - but I wanted it to be an opportunity to explore a more vulnerable side of Yelena. A person can't be all firey strength all the time, right? On the other hand, especially when considering Yelena's history, it is understandable for her character to withhold her emotions. So maybe others will disagree with me on this. We'll see.

On the positive side of things, if you are a fan of action then Fire Study is full of it. Again, Snyder treats us to seeing some of our old favourites. We get to learn more about the nature of magic and Yelena's relationship with it takes an interesting course as she struggles to come to terms with her Soulfinder status. She is plagued by the concept that magic corrupts and by the realisation that she is becoming dependant on magic to survive, all the while trying to decipher her Story Weaver's cryptic advice and find her purpose as a Soulfinder. Her relationship with her new-found brother continues to evolve and we get some good insights into Valek's character. All the important ends that I can think of were all tied up to my satisfaction. We get a follow up on the lives of the Ixian characters, find out more on the nature of the Commander, why Valek has his immunity, and even a bit more talk on factories which I think helped a bit with my previous complaints about the technology level in this world.

The concluding novel was not as strong as I would have liked but still enjoyable. I am pretty atisfied with how loose ends came together and I think that in the near future I will try to find the time to re-read Fire Study and see how I feel better about it a second time around. I still highly recommend this series. I have seen some people label it as romance but it is first and foremost a fantasy series and the romance does not take the focus. Now that I am done with the Study Series, I hope that I can quickly get a hold of Snyder's Storm Glass and Sea Glass of the Glass Series which follows Opal, who we first met in Magic Study. Until then I shall have to be satisfied with reading the short stories on Snyder's website.

It's late and I am tired. Thought that it's about time that I post this but I may have to edit in the morning if I look back and this is all gibberish. Haha.

Terra

No longer able to stay in Ixia unless she wishes to be executed as a magician, Yelena leaves behind her life as Commander Ambrose's food taster and travels south to Sitia with Irys and the other orphans rescued from General Brazell's "orphanage", all of them now seeking to be reunited with their long lost families.

Getting away from Ixia and having to get stuck into studying how to harness her powers doesn't mean that Yelena's life will now be anything but eventful. While Yelena's parents greet her with open arms, not everyone in the Zaltana clan is happy to see Yelena returned to them. Even her own brother seems to want her dead. Her Ixian upbringing makes others regard her with suspicion and accuse her of being a spy. Although eager to begin her lessons in magic, she struggles to adjust to the Sitian way of life. As if that is not enough, she encounters the lost prince to the Ixian throne and becomes involved in the search for a magician trying to gain more power through the brutal murder of young girls.

In this second instalment in the Study Series, we are given the opportunity to learn more about the nature of magic in Synder's world. I really like the subtle nature of how she has portrayed magic. It is not all flashy or over the top and I think that this subtlety very well suits the overall tone of the series. I also like that Snyder has not made Yelena all powerful. She has abilities that make others wary of her but she is unusually limited in other areas which other magicians might think to be basic. I think that Snyder has struck a great balance in term of Yelena's abilities.

Yelena seems to has grown from the events that took place in Poison Study and I cannot help but to like her even more. She is strong and independent and tends to take the approach of "rush into a situation and hope for the best", a method that is frowned upon in Sitian and although no longer a prisoner to anyone, she is not truely free in Sitia. Her struggle to find her place in Sitia and her isolation felt real. While Valek features little as he is not welcome in Sitia, Yelena misses him. He is rarely far from her thoughts and despite the distance between them, Snyder manages to believably maintain their relationship.

Despite her struggles, Yelena does makes some new friends but do not worry, Snyder still finds a way to bring back characters that we came to love in Poison Study. Among them being Irys, who is mentoring Yelena in magic at the Magician's Keep. After seeing Irys in the previous book as a Sitian magician having crossed the border to deal with the threat of Yelena's building powers and attempting to kill her, it was interesting to see a different side of her as a mentor and teacher to Yelena. Ari and Janco fans will also be happy to see the duo make a return. (I know that I was!) Then there the new characters such as the spiteful Master Magician, Roze, and also Cahil, who claims to be the rightful heir to the throne of Ixia. The interaction between Cahil and Yelena is a great addition to the book and I even found myself groaning out load when at one point it seemed that things between them could potentially turn romantic. There is just no way Cahil could outdo Valek.

In my review of Poison Study my only complaint was about Snyder occasionally using words that seemed too modern for the world she had created. I am very pleased to say that I did not pick up on this issue in Magic Study. This time around my only complaint is that it was over all too soon! Expect a Fire Study review in the very near future.

Terra

After spending almost a year in prison for the murder of the son of one of Ixia's generals, the day of Yelena's execution is finally upon her. But instead of being sent straight to the noose she is made an offer. Either she can go straight to her execution or she can delay her death by taking up the job as the Commander Ambrose's food taster. Yelena accepts the chance to extend her life, even if it means that she is awaiting death by some horrible poison instead of the noose. She begins training to identify deadly poisons under the guidance of Valek who poisons her with Butterfly Dust, ensuring that she does not attempt escape as she must report to him daily for the antidote. However, poison is not the only threat that Yelena is faced with. General Brazell still wants her dead for the murder of his son, a powerful magician from Sitia is after her, and she and Valek are sure that there is a conspiracy brewing within Ixia's government.

From very early into the book I could tell that I was going to like Poison Study. For Snyder's first publication, she has carefully crafted a world and it's political climate for me to imagine without making it over complicated. I found the novel to be very well paced overall, from the spacing of events, the release of information, to the development of characters relationships. I don't really like it when an author does an "information dump". I remember when I was kid and reading books such as, say, The Baby Sitters Club novels, I would always skip the chapter in every book where we were told that "this is this character and that is that character and we are all here because..." Boring. I much prefer exploring a world alongside the characters and learning about these characters as we go and I thought that Snyder did this well.

Poison Study hosts a diverse range of characters. Yelena, haunted by Reyad's ghost yet determined to survive, often irritating Margg, Rand prone to mood swings but sweet regardless, and of course Ari and Janco - "the power team". I found myself becoming particularly fond of Valek, subtle but powerful, and it was easy to find myself rooting for a romantic relationship between him and Yelena but with Snyder still able to keep me guessing where their relationship would develop.

If I were to nitpick at anything, there were a few instances where I felt that some of her words of choice were a bit too modern day for her setting and seemed out of place. The other thing is that I would have liked a clearer description of the factory. Snyder's world doesn't seem very high tech but the word factory, in my mind at least, again conjures an image of something more modern which is only enhanced by the description of items being "conveyored" over to their next destination in the factory and there are "steel rollers crushing" things. "Conveyored" of course makes me think of conveyor belts although I know it doesn't have to mean that and I suppose that the rollers could be man operated but I would have liked some better word choice for clarity here.

Overall I thouroughly enjoyed Poison Study and have already picked up the sequels, Magic Study and Fire Study, from the library to get stuck into. Go to Snyder's website to check out some of her short stories as well. The short story Powder Study, about Ari and Janco, is already available and Assassin Study, about Valek, is listed as coming soon. You can also sign up for Snyder's free e-mail newsletter for news and updates, deleted scenes, short stories, story previews, author interviews and more.

Terra