Showing posts with label Yelena Zaltana trilogy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Yelena Zaltana trilogy. Show all posts

Tuesday 21 February 2012

Review: FIRE STUDY

Fire Study by Maria V. Snyder
Book 3 of the Yelena Zaltana trilogy

Genre: fantasy

About Fire Study:
The apprenticeship is over—now the real test has begun.

When word that Yelena is a Soulfinder—able to capture and release souls—spreads like wildfire, people grow uneasy. Already Yelena's unusual abilities and past have set her apart. As the Council debates Yelena's fate, she receives a disturbing message: a plot is rising against her homeland, led by a murderous sorcerer she has defeated before....

Honor sets Yelena on a path that will test the limits of her skills, and the hope of reuniting with her beloved spurs her onward. Her journey is fraught with allies, enemies, lovers and would-be assassins, each of questionable loyalty. Yelena will have but one chance to prove herself—and save the land she holds dear.
Source: Info in the About Fire Study was taken from GoodReads at http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1966969.Fire_Study on 16/04/2011.

Review:
Stunning conclusion to the Study trilogy. I like this author’s “voice”. It “feels” easy to read and the story flows smoothly. The only thing I find a bit annoying is the plot. The author has the tendency to make her characters act stupid in a blatant effort to add a bit more drama to the story. I blame that more to the weak plot rather than a character development flaw. And that is the only reason that this book got a less than 5, otherwise this book is a really great read!!

Emperical Evaluation:
Story Telling Quality = 5
Character Development = 4
World Building = 5
Plot = 3
Pace = 4.5
Cover Art = 5
Ending = 5

Overall Rating: 4.5 out of 5 cherries


Books In The Yelena Zaltana Trilogy:

Saturday 30 July 2011

Review: MAGIC STUDY

Magic Study by Maria V. Snyder
Book 2 of the Yelena Zaltana trilogy

Genre: fantasy

About Magic Study:
You know your life is bad when you miss your days as a poison taster...

With her greatest enemy dead, and on her way to be reunited with the family she'd been stolen from long ago, Yelena should be pleased. But though she has gained her freedom, she can't help feeling isolated in Sitia. Her Ixian background has changed her in many ways—and her newfound friends and relatives don't think it's for the better....

Despite the turmoil, she's eager to start her magic training—especially as she's been given one year to harness her power or be put to death. But her plans take a radical turn when she becomes involved with a plot to reclaim Ixia's throne for a lost prince—and gets entangled in powerful rivalries with her fellow magicians.

If that wasn't bad enough, it appears her brother would love to see her dead. Luckily, Yelena has some old friends to help her with all her new enemies..
Source: Info in the About Magic Study was taken from GoodReads at http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/46202.Magic_Study on 15/04/2011.

Review:
This being book 2, the character development and world building was done already in book 1, Poison Study, and continued with the same masterful flair in Magic Study. I also love the author's "voice" but I do not like the way the protagonist constantly act stupid in the author's blatant effort to give the story more drama. Good read none the less. Great follow-up to Poison Study.

Empirical Evaluation:
World Building = 5
Character Development = 4
Story Telling Quality = 5
Plot = 3
Pace = 4
Ending = 4.5
Cover Art = 5

Overall Rating: 4 out of 5 cherries


Other Books In The Yelena Zaltana Trilogy:

My review of Poison Study is here.

Monday 2 November 2009

POISON STUDY

Poison Study by Maria V. Snyder
Book 1 of the Yelena Zaltana trilogy.

Verdict: Good start to a series.

My Take On This Book:
I've read this book sometime ago so this is a retrospective review. I'm reviewing this book now because I have chosen this book to give away this month!

I enjoyed reading this book and thought that the rest of the books in this series would be good too. But I've been coming across a not-so-brilliant reviews about the other books in this series. So I stopped buying Maria Snyder then. However this book is actually good. The world building is quite convincing and I would give it a 4.5 out of 5. The characters stays with you long after you've read the book. They felt like old friends. The cover of the one I've read was different to the pic on the left. The version I've read was an older release, I think. But this is the cover on the giveaway. I liked the older cover(don't have a pic) better than this one. I would give the cover art a 5 out of 5. I find the story telling quality quite good too. It's not grab-you-and-take-you-along-for-the-ride but it kept my attention for long periods of time. I gave the story telling quality a 4 out of 5. The story itself while still good, isn't that substantial from my point of view and gave it a 3. The story ended well with a good climax but it is also the start of the next book which therefore had a cliffhanger effect and I would rate it a 3. Over all this book garnered a 4 out of 5.

Cherry's Rating: 4 out of 5 cherries


Genre: fantasy

About This Book:
About to be executed for murder, Yelena is offered a 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 dilemma, disasters keep mounting. Rebels plot to seize Ixia and she develops magical powers she can't control. Her life’s at stake again and choices must be made. But this time the outcomes aren’t so clear.
Source: Info in the About This Book was taken from the author's website at http://www.mariavsnyder.com/books.php on 01/11/09.

**Contest Closed**
Because I enjoyed reading this book I thought I would share the reading happiness with someone else. This November I have decided to give away a new(never been read) copy of Poison Study by Maria V. Snyder.

How To Enter:
Post in a comment that you are a follower. To gain extra chances of winning:
  • +1 entry credit - post a comment about the book, ask a question, talk about the author and/or anything related to the book, the Study series, this contest, the author, etc.
  • +1 entry credit - re-post this contest and tell me the url in a comment here
Open to international readers. You have to be a follower to enter the contest. If this contest is not in concordance to your local legislations, then it is up to you to abide by your rules. Will mail to any valid address in the world as long as the postman can get to you. No hand deliveries folks! Contest ends on November 30, 2009. Winner to be announced on December 1, 2009. And please, please make it easy for me to contact you just in case you win, and leave an email add. But if you do not want to leave an email add, please make sure that you come back on Dec 1 to check if you won. Good luck ppl!
CherryMischievous