Review: SCENT OF MAGIC

Scent Of Magic by Maria V. Snyder
Book 2 of the Healer trilogy
Genre: fantasy
Format: large paperback

About Scent Of Magic:

Hunted, Killed—Survived?

As the last Healer in the Fifteen Realms, Avery 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, Avery 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, Avery 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 Avery is alone. Unless she figures out how to do the impossible ... again.

Source: Info in the About Scent Of Magic was taken from http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/16082550-scent-of-magic on 14/12/12.

Review:

I've read this author's Yelena Zaltana trilogy and loved it! However I did not like the Opal Cowan trilogy. So this author has her ups and downs. But one thing remained consistent with her is the compellingness of her author's voice. No matter that the story has gone pear shaped or the character gone stupid, the book would still compel readers to continue reading until the very end. And I think that is where this author's strongest writing feature lies. The weakest is the plot build-up and at times the character development. In this book, the superb story telling quality is apparent. However, we also see a little bit of that character weakness. Additionally, Maria V. Snyder has now adopted the writing style where she goes back and forth between two threads which has the effect of breaking the continuity of the story and jarring me out of the "zone" and yanking me back to reality. And I have to reset my mind-set back to "reading mode" again and this made the pace quite slow. But despite the slower pace, I will still continue reading this series because of the wonderful world building that the world of Avry has! For one, it is simply beautiful! I really like the premise of sentient lilies! For another, Maria V. Snyder doesn't break her own rules. The magic and story line is consistent which I very much appreciated because I find authors who break their own magic rules really annoying! And another reason which makes me continue reading this series is because of the compellingness of the author's voice ... and let's keep our fingers crossed that this series would go more like the Yelena Zaltana way rather than the Opal Cowan way. At the end of it, I enjoyed this book and looking forward to reading the finale of this trilogy!

Empirical Evaluation:
Story telling quality = 5
Character development = 3.5
Story itself = 4
Ending = 4
World building = 5
Plot = 4
Cover art = 3.5
Pace = 3

Overall Rating: 4 out of 5 cherries


Book Trailer:

Author Links:
Maria V. Snyder
Maria V. Snyder at Facebook

Other Links:
www.touchofpowerbooks.com
GoodReads
Mira at Facebook

Thank you to Mira Books for the review copy of Scent Of Magic by Maria V. Snyder received.

Review: TOUCH OF POWER

Touch Of Power by Maria V. Snyder
Book 1 of the Healer trilogy

Genre: fantasy
Publication Date: 6th January 2012

About Touch Of Power:

The Fifteen Realms is in a state of turmoil, reeling from a ruthless plague that has ripped through the lands killing thousands. Now the realms are on the brink of war as potential leaders vie for power, using whatever horrific means possible.

At one time revered for her healing abilities, Avry of Kazan is in hiding from those who wish to manipulate her powers to further their own cause. But when Avry heals a sick child, she is captured, facing the guillotine for using her forbidden magic. That is until she is rescued by the mysterious Kerrick and his band of men, who need Avry to save their dying friend, Prince Ryne. Having heard of Ryne’s various atrocities, Avry is more than reluctant, but with a bounty on her head, she needs their protection. In a quest across the Nine Mountains, encountering man-eating ufas, armies of the undead and gangs of mercenaries, the group battles to reach Ryne before the armies of the power-hungry Tohon and the evil Estrid can capture any more land.

With Kerrick promising that Ryne is the answer to peace for the Fifteen Realms, Avry must make the ultimate decision. Either way she faces a certain death – but should she trust Kerrick and heal Ryne, or die a martyr to a lost cause

Source: Info in the About Touch Of Power was taken from the blog tour press release.

Review:

I thought that this would be another series in the Yelena Zaltana world just like the Opal Cowan trilogy was. But no, the Healer trilogy is a totally different world from the Yelena Zaltana one. Still of the fantasy genre though, but totally different worlds. Although I find the magic system is somewhat similar.

Having read the previous work of this author, I knew that she has a real weakness in the plot building, i.e., Opal Cowan trilogy (I blame it on the weak plot anyway). So even before I started reading this book, I was kinda dreading what kind of plot this book might have. But I worried for no reason! The plot is good and the story ended with a satisfying resolution. Although the ending also made room for more in the story, but we know already that this is gonna be a trilogy. However despite that, the ending did a good job of resolving the main dilemma in the story.

Maybe it's just me, but I seem to be developing a fixation for bad guys. Tohon is sounding like an anti-hero I could like... I think Alexander Skarsgard would make a good Tohon... for those of you who've read this book, don't you think so?

Another thing I can say about this book is that it retained the wonderful story telling quality that I've come to know with Maria V. Snyder. It made the reading time whiz pass and before I knew it, I was at the ending and I wanted to read more! Unfortunately I have to wait until next year for the next book. Next year!!

Empirical Evaluation:
Story telling quality = 5
Character development = 4
Story itself = 4
Ending = 4
World building = 5
Plot = 4
Cover art = 4
Pace = 4

Overall Rating: 4 out of 5 cherries

Author Link(s):
Maria V. Snyder

Book Link(s):
www.touchofpower.com
GoodReads

Publisher Link(s):
Mira Ink
Mira at Facebook

Thank you to the publisher/PR team for the review copy of Touch Of Power by Maria V. Snyder received.