Review: Fire Study by Maria V. Snyder

Title: Fire Study
Author: Maria V. Snyder
Series: Study #3
Genre: Fantasy
Edition: Paperback
Release Date: January 16th, 2008
Blurb:
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.


In the last instalment of the trilogy we finally get to know the limits to Yelena's abilities as well as ending the plot arc that began in the first book.
Yelena finally learns to accept her abilities and at the end, after some difficulties, she becomes a leader who fights for both Ixia and Sitia.
Her relationship with her brother Leif is quite rocky: sometimes you can see the affection they have for one another and other times you see the resentment and anger, especially Leif's.

This book was much darker than the last one. First, people fear Yelena for what she is, then she has a lot of enemies to take care of while they keep attacking her and for a long part of the book, Yelena is scared of and tries to deny her powers.
One of the great things of this book is that we see what Opal has been up too (and how important it is), we also see more of Valek, who helps Yelena the best he can, even though she doesn't want him to in a big part of the book & I can't forget mentioning Moon Man, Yelena's life guide and the power twins, who are as mischievous as ever.

In this book we see both Ixia and Sitia and the differences between both of them are more visible, especially when Yelena tries to convince the Commander of the benefits of magic and how it can help his people. It was very easy to imagine all the places that are described in the book in my min, and that is a great feat.

The book was fast paced, and I enjoyed reading every little bit of the story.
Some twists at the end made my eyes tear and I had to control myself not to look at the last few pages and find out if everything turned out ok.
This was a great end for the trilogy, and I really hope the author writes a new Yelena book in the future, although there is the Glass series, that centers around Opal's life. I guess I'll have to go buy it right now!


Memorable Lines:

The man stepped from the midst of the roaring bonfire. Scorched black from head to toe, small flames clung to him like feathers. He advanced toward me. I broke my paralysis and scrambled away from him.
"Did I surprise you, my little bat?" the man asked. "Counted nine when there really were ten. Hot little trick."
He knew my conscience had flown with the bats. But who was he?
I scanned the surrounding jungle, looking for my backup. Leif and my friends were at the edge of the clearing.
"No help from them, my little bat. They will burn if they come any closer."


Previous Books:

Poison Study - Study #1
Magic Study - Study #2


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