50 in '08: 11

[sakon76]

Title: Fire Study
Author: Maria V. Snyder

Okay, this is a fantasy novel published by a romance publisher. Yes, there is romance in there, but it's primarily a fantasy novel. The author, in fact, manages to keep nearly the perfect balance between the two in this series. That said, I do have to issue a caveat to the readers: the main character is a Mary Sue. She's a subtle Mary Sue, and I like her, but it's there.

The first book in this series, Poison Study, caught me with its intriguing, unique premise: a condemned prisoner is given a second chance at life... as the ruler's food taster/poison tester. The second novel, Magic Study, shifted the focus into her study of magic, with equal amounts of intrigue. The third... mm, goes into more magic and... theology, I'd have to call it. The problem is, most of the novel felt blurry to me. This may be due to authorial intent, as the character was wandering lost of her theoretical metaphysical center, but having to wonder what the hell is going on and if you can even trust the main character... it's annoying. At points I was wondering if Yelena was under a spell or something, her thought processes made so little sense. Also, the book very much assumes you read Magic Study, and thus fails to give enough setup for who the characters are and why their relationships with one another are what they are. I can appreciate the "sweep all the emotional supports out from underneath Our Hero" technique (ala HP5), but given that Our Hero does most of it herself... I end up thinking her stupid. But fortunately the haze of this book manages to snap clear in the last fifth or so of the book.

My other main problem is that the author notes she took a glassblowing class in preparation for this novel... and it shows. When you get to the relevant section, it's not subtle. It's blatant "ooh, ooh, look! let me show you what I learned!". Granted, she's taking the glassblowing character for the central character of the novel she's working on now, but I think it could have been handled with more finesse. Also, in reading the glass stuff, I ended up thinking she's borrowing from Tamora Pierce's "Shatterglass." I'm all for taking inspiration from others, but, again, it needs to be done subtly. The serial numbers should be filed off and made into one's own.

In conclusion: I've read worse. Far worse. And I like the series. But this is the weakest and least self-supported entry thus far, so only read it if you've gotten through books one and two and want more.

Comments

[hakkyounotenshi.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the review. I've read the first two books in the series, and was wondering what to expect for the third.