Touch of Power (Healer) [Paperback]

Maria V. Snyder (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 20, 2011 | Series: Healer

Laying hands upon the injured and dying, Avry of Kazan absorbs their wounds and diseases into herself. But rather than being honored for her skills, she is hunted. Healers like Avry are accused of spreading the plague that has decimated the Fifteen Realms, leaving the survivors in a state of chaos.

Stressed and tired from hiding, Avry is abducted by a band of rogues who, shockingly, value her gift above the golden bounty offered for her capture. Their leader, an enigmatic captor-protector with powers of his own, is unequivocal in his demands: Avry must heal a plague-stricken prince—leader of a campaign against her people. As they traverse the daunting Nine Mountains, beset by mercenaries and magical dangers, Avry must decide who is worth healing and what is worth dying for. Because the price of peace may well be her life….

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Fans of high-spirited adventure, intrigue and romance will celebrate."

-Publishers Weekly on Fire Study

"This is one of those rare books that will keep readers dreaming long after they've read it."

-Publishers Weekly Starred Review on Poison Study

"The rare sequel to live up to the promise of its predecessor, Magic Study is a wonderful combination of romance and fantasy."

-Audible.com (Editor's Pick: Best of 2006-Romance)

"Snyder delivers another excellent adventure."

-Publishers Weekly on Fire Study

"...a compelling new fantasy series."

-SFX Magazine on Sea Glass

About the Author

Maria V. Snyder has been writing since 1995 and has published numerous articles in magazines and newspapers. She lives with her family in Pennsylvania. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 400 pages
• Publisher: Mira; Original edition (December 20, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 9780778313076
• ISBN-13: 978-0778313076
• ASIN: 0778313077
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.3 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (240 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #197,973 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

When I was in sixth grade, I learned about meteorologists and decided I wanted to be one. My visions of chasing tornados throughout the Midwest and flying through hurricanes didn't pan out. Mostly because I wasn't good at forecasting, and my grades weren't exactly stellar. Let's face it, I'm a daydreamer--always have been, always will be.

I did graduate from Penn State University and was hired as an environmental meteorologist--try and say that five times fast ;) and I started writing when bored at work. It's never a good idea to get caught just staring out the window, so I wrote my daydreams down. After fooling around with short stories, I wrote my first novel, Poison Study. It was published sixteen years later. A lesson in patience and persistence! I had caught the writing bug and Magic Study and Fire Study soon followed.

Even though I went on to earn a Masters degree in writing from Seton Hill University, I never lost my fascination with storms, which is evident in my Glass Series (Storm Glass, Sea Glass and Spy Glass), and I still consider myself an environmentalist. The green part of me comes out in both Inside Out and Outside In. Trella's world is contained inside a big metal cube and they must reuse and recycle everything. One thing they got right in one otherwise messed-up world!

My latest series is about a healer and I happily let my nurturing side take over. Touch of Power starts the series with Avry on the run in a world recovering from a devastating plague. Scent of Magic is the second book and the third, Taste of Death will be out December 2013.

Aside from a writer, I'm also a teacher and mentor for students enrolled in Seton Hill University's MFA program in Writing Popular Fiction. I enjoy working with aspiring writers and helping them complete their novels. I've won a half dozen awards and been on the New York Times bestseller list, but nothing compares to being the proud mentor come graduation day!

Other things I enjoy are playing volleyball, photography and traveling. I'll go anywhere at anytime - much to my mother's dismay since my husband and I frequently bring along our son and daughter on our adventures.

I love my job. Where else can you take fencing lessons, learn how to ride a horse, study martial arts, learn how to pick a lock, take glass blowing classes and get a personal tour of a maximum security prison and call it all research? I'll give you a hint--not working as a meteorologist.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

51 of 58 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Touch of Enthrallment December 13, 2011

By anne-marie

Format:Paperback

Touch of Power is a terribly romantic political thriller set in a fantasy world filled with warfare, intrigue, and the kind of weak in the knees passionate romance that has one saying, I hate you because I love you to a point that unhinges my soul..... I just haven't realized it yet.

Avery has been on the run for years. The once revered healers of The Fifteen Realms have been slaughtered to near extinction. One mistake and Avery will surely join her fallen brethren. But that one mistake will fling her into the political underbelly of warring realms each posturing for power. And Avery's particular talents have become a much desired asset to the various factions. But only Avery has the right to decide who's worth saving, and her choices could determine the future of the realms.

Fans of Maria Snyder's Study Series and it's spin off spawn of Glass books will be extremely happy about her return to fantasy with Touch of Power. The first in what I hope will be a long series, runs along the same lines as the author's Study trilogy with it's similar tone, magical abilities, and world building. There were lots of wonderful personalities, set in an interesting world, and an amazing romance within an attention consuming plot.

Touch of Power is quite possibly my favorite MVS book yet. And I'm pretty much a slave to her words already. So look out fellow fangirls and boys because this one has a touch of enthrallment about it, compelling you to keep reading until the very end and even then it's just not enough. This is stalker worthy writing that will have you constantly checking for future releases.

20 of 22 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars My favorite Snyder book so far! February 8, 2012

By Nori

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

The book starts with immediate action (my kind of beginning). It begins with Avry healing a little girl (with her special healer abilities), and knowing immediately that she must run away. In her world, there aren't many healers left. They've all been rounded up and killed for their supposed reluctance to heal plague victims. What the populace doesn't know is that healers couldn't help plague victims without dying themselves. One letter was misinterpreted and the whole world thinks healers banned together and just decided not save plague victims. People always need someone to blame.

The mother of the saved little girl catches on to what happened and helps to turn Avry in. Avry has been running for years, always having to leave town when she slips and saves someone (usually a child). Parents of these children are never as grateful as they should be. But more than the town's government (which will be rewarded in gold for the capture of a healer), others take notice of Avry's arrest. And soon everything is reversed. Avry turns from running away, hoping no one will notice her abilities, to running away from people who want to use her for her abilities.

She might be the last healer alive, and all the major kingdoms are soon to be at war for dominance of the post-plague world. They could all use Avry's help. She's resuced from her prison cell by a group of men (she soon starts to call monkeys), who want her to heal someone for them. She agrees, but soon learns they want her to heal a royal who has the plague. She doesn't say what that healing will do to her, but refuses to heal the royal because of his involvement in the destruction of all healers.

She goes along with the men any way, partially because when she tries to escape, Kerrick and his earth magic and can track her down faster than she can get away. She also kind of loves the guys. She teaches them about finding plants for medicine, about cooking with spices, and even how to juggle. They in turn teach her to throw knives and how to walk quietly in the forrest. There's a lot of hiding, fighting, healing, and laughter on this journey. Avry saves their lives and they save hers. And they all try to persuade her to save the king.

It becomes almost painfully apparent to readers how much Avry and Kerrick love each other, though they are both so stubborn that nothing happens till the end. And that's the best romance, the kind that builds and begins with friendship. Though, technically theirs started with hatred. There's hidden archives, underground prison cells, plenty of magic, zombies, economic downfall, family hardships, society dinners, man-eating flowers, plotting royals, and the only awesome fantasy element that was missing I think was dragons (and elves).

I loved Avry. She was just enough martyr, and just enough selfish to be truly believable. Her weakness was children because of the little sister she left behind to become a healer. She had to make a lot of decisions about who was worth saving (and running for), and who was worth giving up her life for. And the healing was awesome! She would take whatever anyone was suffering from and transfer it to herself. She would then take half as long to heal as the original person would have. And I like that it wasn't all magic. During one of her captures, she takes charge of the enemy's infirmary, and it's clear that a lot of her training was also in plants, medicines, and hygiene. It's not just about magic and the power of her touch.

Though, I wish I got more description for the magic part. It was always very brief, sometimes too brief. When she heals a friend toward the end, she just touches him for a second and that's it...I feel like that was almost too easy and anti-climatic. I want to know what it feels like to heal someone like that. I see how Avry suffers every time she heals someone, but I'm more interested in the healing itself. I also wish I got to know some of the monkeys better. I got to know about two of them, but the others were sort of just names, and I wanted more character development for them.

I loved the politics, all the double-crossing, the strategy, etc. And I really love the death lilies and learning about the plague that killed so many people. I found the story very believable. A sequel is in the works and I'm glad because I want to learn more about the plague, about what happened to Avry at the end, about the death lilies, and about the future of Avry's people (aka: who will win this war?).

35 of 43 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars Left Disappointed March 21, 2012

By Cassie Lynn

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

It's been a while since I finished the book so I don't remember all of the details of what I didn't like about it. But I do remember finishing the book and being very disappointed. Some main points:

1. This author doesn't know how to world build. 95% of the book is spent wandering wilderness. The other 5% consists of 3 towns, 1 soldier camp, and a castle. Nothing else. You would think since one of the characters has a special connection with nature that the 95% in wilderness would contain better descriptions of it. There is no imagery. Additionally, a lot of the plot revolves around competing nations... Yet these nations do not have distinct cultures, except that one of them is more religious. They are very generic fantasy realms with nothing memorable about them.

2. The dialogue is BAD. There were so many times when a character would say something where I would stop and be confused -- Am I reading about a fantasy world where the characters are in dire situations, or am I now reading about a group of 15 year olds still in high school? Idioms from today seems to slip in which made it very confusing in a pseudo historical setting. (I can't remember exactly but it was things like 'You're kidding me! No way! That sucks!')

3. The prince and princess high school? Really? It's like she wanted to add in Hogwarts as a back story 4/5 the way through the novel. Weird.

4. The relationships weren't very believable, particularly between family members. I found the whole sub plot about the main character and her sister to be very strange and out of place.

These were the main things, but I feel like there were others... The idea of the story (the healers and the stuff about the lilies and the plague) I thought were very interesting, but the writing style just wasn't refined enough. Needs some serious editing. It was still an entertaining read... Yet I have no interest in reading the sequel, even though it was a cliffhanger.