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Mon, February 4, 2013

Maria V. Snyder’s Healer Series Review

Touch of Power
By Maria V. Snyder
Publication date: Dec. 20, 2011
Mira, 390 pages
Source: Purchased for my Kindle

Laying hands upon the injured and dying, Avry of Kazan assumes their wounds and diseases into herself. But rather than being honored for her skills, she is hunted. Healers like Avry are accused of spreading the plague that has decimated the Territories, leaving the survivors in a state of chaos.

Stressed and tired from hiding, Avry is abducted by a band of rogues who, shockingly, value her gift above the golden bounty offered for her capture. Their leader, an enigmatic captor-protector with powers of his own, is unequivocal in his demands: Avry must heal a plague-stricken prince—leader of a campaign against her people. As they traverse the daunting Nine Mountains, beset by mercenaries and magical dangers, Avry must decide who is worth healing and what is worth dying for. Because the price of peace may well be her life…

— Goodreads.com description

Scent of Magic
By Maria V. Snyder
Publication date: Dec. 18, 2012
Harlequin MIRA, 414 pages
Source: Publisher via NetGalley

As the last Healer in the Fifteen Realms, Avry of Kazan is in a unique position: in the minds of her friends and foes alike, she no longer exists. Despite her need to prevent the megalomanical King Tohon from winning control of the Realms, Avry is also determined to find her sister and repair their estrangement. And she must do it alone, as Kerrick, her partner and sole confident, returns to Alga to summon his country into battle.

Though she should be in hiding, Avry will do whatever she can to support Tohon’s opponents. Including infiltrating a holy army, evading magic sniffers, teaching forest skills to soldiers and figuring out how to stop Tohon’s most horrible creations yet; an army of the walking dead—human and animal alike and nearly impossible to defeat.

War is coming and Avry is alone. Unless she figures out how to do the impossible … again.

— Goodreads.com description

I absolutely adored Maria V. Snyder’s Healer (Poison Study) series, so I had high hopes for the Healer series. And wooooo it lived up to my expectations.

Snyder’s writing style is very simple and reserved, which isn’t my usual preference. But her fantasy stories are so well realized in terms of plot and setting and adventure that I, frankly, don’t really care that it’s not as flowery or emotional as the books I typically go for.

Respecting that, I’ll keep this short and simple, too: Anyone who loves fantasy, adventure and kick-ass female leads in their book should check this one out. War! Magic! What’s not to love?

Fri, April 27, 2012

Poison Study by Maria V. Snyder Book Review

Poison Study
By Maria V. Snyder
Publication date: March 1, 2007
Mira Books, 409 pages
Source: Purchased for my Kindle

Choose: A quick death…Or slow poison…

About to be executed for murder, Yelena is offered an extraordinary reprieve. She’ll eat the best meals, have rooms in the palace—and risk assassination by anyone trying to kill the Commander of Ixia.

And so Yelena chooses to become a food taster. But the chief of security, leaving nothing to chance, deliberately feeds her Butterfly’s Dust—and only by appearing for her daily antidote will she delay an agonizing death from the poison.

As Yelena tries to escape her new dilemma, disasters keep mounting. Rebels plot to seize Ixia and Yelena develops magical powers she can’t control. Her life is threatened again and choices must be made. But this time the outcomes aren’t so clear…

— Goodreads.com description

Thank goodness for my friend April because she told me to read Poison Study by Maria V. Snyder and I did and I LOVED IT.*

And then I read its sequels, Magic Study and Fire Study, and…guess what? Loved those, too! Go April.

If you’re in a mood for a fantasy-esque book series filled with castles, murder, intrigue, kissing (OF COURSE), horse riding, magic and everything else you’d want from this type of book, this is for you.

It is worth noting, though, that I read all three books in one fell swoop as a “bundle” on my Kindle. So instead of three separate stories, it seemed like one giant book to me. If I’d had to wait between books, I think I would have been more irked when my favorite characters were out of the picture for a while.

Speaking of favorite characters: VALEK. Oh, Valek. Love. Ben Barnes? Anyone?**

Poison Study by Maria V. Snyder is the perfect book for fans of Graceling by Kristin Cashore or Grave Mercy by R.L. LaFevers. All three of these books have a female main character who kicks ass, a romance that’s all sorts of “I hate you I hate you I hate you, okay now let’s make out,” and plenty of intrigue. Give it a try for sure.

*Well, actually thank goodness for April for many reasons, chief among them being general awesomeness, great taste in books and her willingness to listen to me freak out about things day after day.

**Yeah. I’m aware I picture about a zillion characters as Ben Barnes (Ash, for example). So what?! Look at him! You’re welcome!

Tue, February 15, 2011

Inside Out & Outside In by Maria V. Snyder

Inside Out
By Maria V. Snyder
April 1, 2010
Harlequin, 384 pages

I’m Trella. I’m a scrub. A nobody. One of thousands who work the lower levels, keeping Inside clean for the Uppers. I’ve got one friend, do my job and try to avoid the Pop Cops. So what if I occasionally use the pipes to sneak around the Upper levels? The only neck at risk is my own…until I accidentally start a rebellion and become the go-to girl to lead a revolution.

— Amazon.com description

This book really took me back to a time (what up, ’90s!) when I adored books like Sphere by Michael Crichton. I suppose you could call this dystopian, but to me Inside Out is a perfect example of science fiction.

It’s been so long since I read a book like this that it took a bit of getting used to. Most of the books I read are very emotion heavy, and this just isn’t. It’s all about the suspense and the technicalities and science of Trella’s world. The emotion and the romance seem like a bit of an afterthought.

But that’s okay—I’m happy I tried something different, because, in the end, this book was completely gratifying. I’d definitely recommend it to anyone who feels like a little sci-fi to shake things up.

Outside In
By Maria V. Snyder
February 15, 2011
Harlequin, 336 pages

Me? A leader? Okay, I did prove that there’s more to Inside than we knew.

That a whole world exists beyond this cube we live in. And finding that led to a major rebellion—between worker scrubs like me and the snobby uppers who rule our world. Make that ruled. Because of me, we’re free. I thought that meant I was off the hook, and could go off on my own again—while still touching base with Riley, of course. He’s the one upper I think I can trust. But then we learned that there’s outside and then there is Outside.

And something from Outside wants In.

— Amazon.com description

So after I devoured the first book, I immediately picked up the sequel, which comes out today!

I didn’t love it as much as the first book, but it really succeeded in terms of suspense. Reading this is like creeping down a dark hallway and not knowing what’s around the corner. Maria V. Snyder knows her plot. She keeps you breathless, frightened of what’s going to happen when you turn the page.

But I started to get overly frustrated with the adults in Trella’s world, and that distracted me. They played a larger part in this novel than in the first, and while I realize this is an alternative reality, I still feel like the adults should have stepped in and done SOMETHING. Anything! Who leaves the fate of an entire society in the hands of a reluctant teenager?

Then again, without the adults and their ignorance and helplessness, there would be no plot! So, overall, this is a captivating, thrilling series. Glad I tried something different!

You might also like: Sphere by Michael Crichton (Old school!)