Fire Study (Study, Book 3) (Paperback)

by Maria V. Snyder (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
Fans of high-spirited adventure, intrigue and romance will celebrate the third book (after 2007's Magic Study) in the saga of reluctant mage and diplomat Yelena Zaltana. The news that Yelena is a Soulfinder, able to manipulate the spirits of the dead and the living, hasn't made her popular with the inhabitants of Sitia's Magician's Keep, since the last Soulfinder turned people into mindless slaves. First Magician Roze Featherstone's hostility toward Yelena increases until the Sitian Council decides to send Yelena north as diplomatic liaison to the rival nation of Ixia. When Roze takes over the council, imprisoning her rivals and driving the nation to the brink of war with Ixia, Yelena is caught between her duties as liaison, her love for Ixian intelligence officer Valek and her fear of her own power, which she must embrace fully to defeat Roze and restore the council. Snyder delivers another excellent adventure, deftly balancing international and local hostilities against Yelena's personal struggles. (Mar.)
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Product Description
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.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 448 pages
• Publisher: Mira (March 1, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0778325342
• ISBN-13: 978-0778325345
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.1 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (50 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #8,361 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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• This is item 3 in The Study Series.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

46 of 51 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars too much going on, not enough really happening, March 14, 2008

By	mlle. x (Boston) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)

From an author like Snyder, who showed us all in POISON STUDY that she has a true gift for subtle, ingenious plotting FIRE STUDY is a tragedy.

It careens at a breakneck pace from one crisis to the next, and nothing is developed fully. Endless summaries of earlier events drag FIRE STUDY down like concrete shoes. The plot is full of holes (Leif, for example, can detect lies...yet his ability is conveniently forgotten when it would be most useful).

Snyder makes a serious mistake by changing all the rules of magic we have come to know in previous books. In POISON STUDY magic is a power blanket lying over the earth, and magicians manipulate its "threads". In MAGIC STUDY, we find out about the Shadow World and the strange magic of the Sandseeds. In FIRE STUDY, we learn about the "Fire World," although it's never quite clear why or how this world exists, and about blood magic.

It's just too much.

The sad thing is, FIRE STUDY could have been great, if Snyder had just gotten rid of all the clutter and focused on the important things. We do find out exactly what the purpose of a Soulfinder is at the end, and it's an incredibly elegant and satisfying answer. Too bad this key storyline gets so little attention. The question of Yelena's dual loyalty is a key dilemma in FIRE STUDY, but it is never adequately resolved.

The language of FIRE STUDY really shocked me. It's written in the sassy, snippy bantering tone found in contemporary-set urban fantasy novels. There's a lot of modern day slang, and characters have become flippant in a way that rings very false.

There's also an odd kind of writerly indulgence in FIRE STUDY. In POISON STUDY and MAGIC STUDY, Snyder's characters were more complex - all done in shades of grey - and she held their competing motives in dynamic tension. There's very little grey in FIRE STUDY. Characters are black or white, and Snyder coddles Yelena - protecting her from harm and leeching dramatic tension from the story.

I think Snyder is just not the kind of person who can crank out a novel a year.

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars May contain spoilers , March 9, 2008

By	Sara P. "Sara" (Arizona) - See all my reviews

Fire Study the final book in Snyder's trilogy was the weakest link of all three books. The series began very strongly with Poison Study and went downhill from there.

The book could have easily removed 200 pages and would have been better for it. I felt the author lost the passion for the storyline and was just rushing to finish it off.

Snyder left her roots of interweaving a story of magic and a fantasy world where Yelena learns to adjust to her increasing powers and removal from Ixia. Instead we have a repetitious action adventure plot missing the magical world the author had previously created.

Any magic that was used was extremely repetitive (Curare and Theobroma) and the fight scenes which were easily over half of the book were very repetitive. The main characters are out numbered, rendered paralyzed with Curare, captured, escape, Kiki needs to kick someone to save Yelena, and they all meet at the rendezvous point about 20 times. This followed with around 20 pages of repetitive bow staff fighting amongst friends. Not exactly exciting stuff there.

The rogue Warpers motivations seemed disorganized which proved to be a very serious failed opportunity to add a very interesting component to the story.

The main characters did not grow or form closer bonds with each other. Holes within their personal history were not filled in. I did not learn anything new about the fascinating people, history, or culture of Sitia or Ixia. The plot also follows the same line as the first books, children of children being harvested for the power of others. Yelena coming into her own to harvest and control her powers seemed improbable as the challenges put before her were more physical in nature. I did not see a personal growth that brought the story together for me.

The ending was decently strong although it was rushed. Ironically, it opened me up to wanting to know more about Sitia, Ixia, Yelena, and the supporting characters. Had the book started out with the same passion it ended with the trilogy would have ended with a great success.

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Big dissappointment, March 22, 2008

By	Lisa "Fantasy fan" (Plano, TX) - See all my reviews

I just forced myself to finish Fire Study, and I can't believe how let down I am. Poison Study is on my Listmania list of all time favorite books. Magic Study was a good follow-up. I have been eagerly awaiting this book for years and rushed out to buy it the day it was released. My thoughts mirror those of the other negative reviews. It felt that the book was a collection of action scenes strung together with no direction. The focus was action driven not character driven. I wanted more meaningful interactions between Yelena and Valek. Overall the book lacked the depth of character development that we had in Poison Study. Fire Study was a let down, but Poison Study remains an amazing book, which is why I am giving this two stars. I know this author has the capability of writing incredible stories, so I will still be reading her next novel Storm Glass which will apparently be focusing on Opal and glass magic. According to an interview with the author, it should be releasing this December.