Thursday, October 7, 2010

Fire Study by Maria V Snyder

January 2009, Mira
Paperback, Personal Copy
Fantasy, Young Adult

Summary from Mira

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.

Honour 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 and enemies. Yelena will have but one chance to prove herself – and save the land she holds dear.

Regular readers will know I love this series. I'm currently reading the Glass trilogy, which is supremely awesome! Anyway, back to Yelena's current dilemma. Wherever she goes, she isn't popular (apart from her friends, who always love her). I think trouble and suspicion have attached themselves to Yelena. I like her. The problem with having a rare skill, is that people only hear the bad parts about it from history, and never remember the positive aspects. It is the Council's duty to figure out whether Yelena's power as a Soulfinder is something that can be tolerated in the world. Poor Yelena. The executioner's noose follows her everywhere. That doesn't deter her from setting out to do what she feels is right, even if it will cost her everything.

She's already apart from Valek, and technically she can't ever see him again (for, if she goes back to him by law the Commander will have her killed. By Valek.) So she doesn't have him by her side. And yet he does end up helping her along the way. She has her family. Her mother's love is without question, but Leif - well he is still a tricky brother. Yelena learns to find a way to work with Leif (with a good teacher at her side). She learns that rushing headlong into danger leads to an interesting life. It's very hard to take one form of action when everyone around you feels it is wrong. But Yelena does it.

I liked the ending because Yelena bares mental and physical scars from her ordeals. They are tough, and life threatening. But she will do everything to protect the family she is only just beginning to know safe, and the other citizens who she cares for.

The good thing about Fire Study is that it isn't the end of Yelena's story. She appears briefly in the Glass trilogy, which produced cheers from me. It's a series that I rave about, that I read as my comfort books. Yelena rules! (And not just because of a pretty cover!)

Content is a bit violent, some romance, lots of danger and tension. Tissues are needed. And possibly a camera, because I was grinning at the end (while crying. They were happy tears!)

Be sure to check out book one Poison Study and book two Magic Study.

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