Magic Study is the second book in the study-series by Maria V. Snyder. It continues the story of Yelena, who discovers she has magical powers in the first book, Poison Study. It takes us to the exotic land of Sitia, where Yelena reunites with her family after being separated for fourteen years, and starts apprenticeship with Irys, Sitia's fourth master magician. I really enjoyed the first book, Poison Study, and have to say that though the second book is good, it's not Poison Study-good.
The plot itself and characters had great potential but I don't think Snyder really took advantage of that. I honestly felt as though she tried to rush through the book, only shortly mentioning parts that should have taken more space. The whole Yelena-coming-back-home-thing, for instance. One would think that it would be a great place to explore the character, but, as many other parts, and other characters, it felt rushed and two dimensional. I feel as though we know a lot about Valek, for example, but still don't know him. Leif, Yelena's newly found brother, is another character I think Snyder could have explored a bit more. I think maybe Snyder should have done a bit more research into the whole reuniting-with-your-family-after-thinking-you-were-an-orphan-for-fourteen-years-thing.
I'm not saying that this book was bad and that you shouldn't read it, I'm just saying that it had a lot more potential, which, if taken advantage of, could have made this book a heck of a better read. Don't misunderstand me, though! I still read it in a day and thought it was entertaining. I guess it's just hard to write the sequel to a fantastic book. That's just my humble opinion. It is still packed with action and suspense, just the way I like it.
PS: Here you can read the short stories set between the books. We'll call Assassin Study #1.5 and Power Study #2.5 for easiness' sake.
Read: Dec 25, 2010
No comments:
Post a Comment