Magic Study by Maria V. Snyder

Magic Study picks up right where Poison Study leaves off. Yelena is on her way south to Sitia on a journey to learn how to control her magic, find her family, and try not to run screaming back to Ixia when, having been in country for only a few days, several rather largish men want to kill her. And one of them turns out to be her brother. Not much love lost between these long lost siblings.

Yelena manages to reach the Citadel alive and begin training with the governing council of mages there. But before long she's neck deep unraveling a plot to kill the Commander and recapture the throne of Ixia. Add to that a rogue mage who is systematically kidnapping and murdering young women across the country, stealing their souls to feed his power. At this point, Yelena and I are both thinking it would be just super to have Valek at her back once more. Where's a deadly assassin when you need him? Fortunately, Yelena's growing abilities come into play. Drawing on her own experiences as Reyad's captive, she is able to draw two of the young women back from the brink of death. Just when she thinks she's gotten her footing in Sitia, a delegation from Ixia comes to the capital. The Ixian entourage includes her old friends and combat trainers Ari and Janco as well as one or two other surprise visitors.

Though not quite as good as Poison Study, I enjoyed this second volume of the trilogy. It was nice to see Yelena holding her own, trusting her instincts, and using the training her friends had given her. I like how she continues to force her way right to the heart of the matter, doing what needs to be done no matter what high-ranking official tells her not to. And I liked how Ms. Snyder maintains Yelena and Valek's relationship, while still acknowledging the complications they face. They both thrive balancing on the knife-edge between life and death. Valek is loyal to the Commander above all. And Yelena won't give up an inch of the freedom she's earned. I'm anxious to read Fire Study which comes out in exactly two weeks.

Links
Bookshelves of Doom Review
The Dragon Page Review
The Story Siren Review

Comments

Angie's 2026 Must Be Mine

As ever, begin as you mean to go on. And so here are my most anticipated titles of 2026: And no covers on these yet, but I'm just as excited for each one: The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion, Volume 9 by Beth Brower Finest Kind of Fate by J.J. Mulder My Kind of Guy by Sarina Bowen Ravenous by Kresley Cole Mastermind by Sarah MacLean Game of Rogues by Julie Anne Long Grim Tidings by B.K. Borison Villain Edit by Rosie Danan What titles are on your list?

Retro Friday Review: Song of the Sparrow by Lisa Ann Sandell

Retro Friday is a weekly meme hosted here at Angieville and focuses on reviewing books from the past. This can be an old favorite, an under-the-radar book you think deserves more attention, something woefully out-of-print, etc. Everyone is welcome to join in at any time! So this is a book I've spent a lot of time talking about. Chances are, if you've hung around these parts, you've heard me push it. But I actually read it for the first time way back in the olden days before the blog was, well, what it is now. I read it shortly after it was first published, back in 2007, when I was writing monthly posts, mere collections of mini-reviews. So Song of the Sparrow got shortchanged. I decided to address that situation today. The fun thing is lots of friends have read (and reviewed) it since, and so I was able to trip through their lovely thoughts and remember my own. When I heard about a retelling of Tennyson's " Lady of Shalott ," I was so in. I mean, I'...

River Marked Cover Art

I've seen this pop up hither and yon for awhile and been waiting for the official word to go up over at Hurog.com . It just did and I'm excited to post the cover of the sixth Mercy Thompson novel-- River Marked . We knew this one was going to delve a little deeper into Mercy's past, particularly the walker heritage and abilities she inherited from her father. And my little Mercy-loving heart does its little dance of joy at the thought. The cover reflects the Native American ancestry, for sure, and I'm noticing lots of feathers in her tattoos as well. Interesting. Personally I like that cover artist Dan Dos Santos subtly changes her tattoos with each cover to match the tones and themes of the individual books themselves. So what do you think? And if you haven't read this article over at Tor, in which Dos Santos and the real-life Mercy cover model Jaime talk about the creation process, I highly recommend you do. I had no idea there was an actual cover model and th...

Angieville

Search This Blog