Fire Study (Study, Book 3)
by Maria V. Snyder
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Book Reviews of Fire Study (Study, Book 3)
Book Review: Fire Study - Just OK
Summary: 3 Stars
While I enjoyed Maira Snyder's prior two books in the series, especially the first book Poison Study, I was a bit disappointed by the latest installment. I was not impressed by the plot, seemed to me just one jump/escape situation after another. Dialog was poor and characterizations were more annoying then anything else. The most consistant character was Kiki the wonder horse.....An example, why keep Ferde the soul-stealer alive from the last book, just to quickly take him out in the middle of this book? Strange that he would not have used the blood magic to regain strength like the fire warpers.
While fans of the series will want to read the book, this story will barely keep you interested, mostly to see an ending. And it appeared to me that the author lost her will to write towards the end(or had a deadline to meet), she quickly wrapped things up in a couple of pages, foes quickly vanquished, master level test passed, allowing for some quality cuddling time with Valek. I gave the book three stars only on the strength of prior works, not for any level of enjoyment I received from reading the book.
Book Review: An ending, true, but not really what I was hoping for...
Summary: 3 Stars
This is an enjoyable read, filled with non-stop action. It moves quickly, but after awhile I started thinking, "Haven't I read this?" There is one battle after another, and it seems like Yelena reminds the bad guys in each one that they aren't allowed to kill her, so what's the point of all the battles? It ends up being a lot of riding from one place to another with some mix of the supporting characters going through pretty much the same things: being paralyzed, captured, rescued, finding people you thought dead are alive.
I was entranced by Poison Study, sucked into a very creative world that felt real. That story was subtle and rich. I enjoyed Magic Study as a follow-up, even if I did not think it was quite as good. And while I enjoyed Fire Study in the way you enjoy books that move quickly and are easy to read, there just wasn't enough substance. Yelena's revelations about her powers do not have nearly the same punch they would have had the book been plotted differently. By the end it just didn't mean as much. That being said, I may still check out the Glass series by Maria Snyder.
Book Review: Offensive and boring at the same time...
Summary: 1 Stars
In addition to what everyone else already said about the plot being messy and boring, I also found the handling of Ixia's mass genocide of magicians to be highly offensive. The book never showed Valek or any other characters truly struggle with the fact that he was responsible for hundreds (thousands?) of murders based on peoples magical abilities. There was no remorse or real justification for his actions and at one point Yelena even said something along the lines of "I under stand why Valek got rid of all those magicians, it's just too messy to have them around!" I feel like her and Hitler are one in the same. You can call that I stretch but if you really look at the situation (mass murder of innocent people) then I think it is an appropriate comparison. This was truly disappointing with how strong the series started off. How would it feel to read about this if the killings were based on race or religious affiliation? The fact that they were based on fictional abilities doesn't make the premise sit any better with me, it is still a horrifying injustice.Book Review: Stop after Poison Study
Summary: 1 Stars
[...] the first book of the trilogy, is excellent. With appealing characters and an interesting plot, the story is classic, but not boring. Probably the most original thing is that Snyder manages to make a dictatorship look appealing. While I don't agree that it would work, I enjoyed her descriptions of the country. The next book, Magic Study was not as good but still appealing. Sitia, the other country Yelena travels to is too standard and the plot is too similar. Already, one begins to question why Yelena has to do everything on her own. Still, I enjoyed it.
However, this book, Fire Study, is extremely disappointing. The number of times in which Yelena must take over a group of wiser people and tell them what to do is ridiculous. Similarly, it becomes extremely predictable that Yelena will be almost foiled by a stupid bureacracy and then decide to act on her own and somehow overcome all odds. Then to add insult to injury, at the end, the plot is back to where it was at the end of Magic Study. Stop after Poison Study.
Book Review: Big dissappointment
Summary: 2 Stars
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.