Completing her apprenticeship could prove deadly (Magic Study - Maria V. Snyder)

Member Name: Nienke

Product:	Magic Study - Maria V. Snyder
Date:	24/09/09 (112 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Seriously addictive

Disadvantages: You won't get any sleep until you've finished the book

MAGIC STUDY
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Here I was thinking that I had read all the books in Waterstones worth reading, and then it turns out that I'd missed out on these three treasures! Magic Study is the second book in Maria V. Snyder's fantasy trilogy, which begins with Poison Study and ends with Fire Study. For information about the first book, please refer to the two reviews that have been posted previously. It is an intelligent and well-written series aimed at young adults.

THE CONCEPT
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Magic Study is part of a trilogy based on the concept of a clash between two lands: Ixia and Sitia. Yelena has grown up in Ixia, in the North, which is divided up into 8 different Military Districts and ruled by the Commander. In Ixia, Magic is not allowed, and is in fact punishable by death. To the South of Ixia lies Sitia, which is ruled by Magicians.

THE STORY
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Without giving away too many of the good bits, here's a summary of the story:

Having been found out as a magician, Yelena now has an execution order over her head, and has to leave her beloved Valek behind in Ixia to travel to Sitia. She is accompanied on her journey by Irys, a Sitian who is leading Yelena to Sitia to be reunited a the family she has never met. Although Yelena is now free, she misses Valek and finds it hard to adjust to the Sitian way of life. Being reunited with her family is not the fairytale it could have been. While her parents welcome Yelena back with open arms, her brother Leif and many other members of her "clan" suspect Yelena of being a spy. Despite this, Yelena is keen to start her magical training, because the sooner she finishes, the sooner she might be able to return to Valek. But in the Magician's Keep too she struggles to fit in and is in constant danger from those who suspect she is a spy.

Her plans to complete her apprenticeship and leave take a radical turn when she gets in the way of a powerful magician's plans and becomes involved with a plot to reclaim Ixia's throne for a lost prince. Worse still, when a rogue magician begins to harm the only people that Yelena is close to, using a new sort of weapon which was inadvertently discovered by Yelena's father, she has to do all she can to counter his plans. Yelena will need all the help she can get, from her highly intelligent horse to some unexpected sources.

WHAT I THINK
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I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. After reading the first book, I was concerned that it would get too sugar-coated, but the opposite is true. The plot of this book is even more gripping than the first, and Snyder has a remarkable ability to keep the pace high at all times, making her books absolutely impossible to put down.

The contrast between the land of Ixia and that of Sitia is very well-constructed and highlights the dangers of crossing from one land into another perfectly. The descriptions are extremely visual without being longwinded, and this really makes the story come to life. The magic in these books is rather subtle, which is a positive thing, because it means that the difference in status between magicians and ordinary people is not so big that ordinary people become entirely insignificant and almost like slaves, which happens in some fantasy books. The romance within the story is minimal, making the books suitable for boys and girls alike.

The action sequences in the book are also worth a mention. Apparently Snyder is a brown belt in karate, and constructed the fight scenes by playing them out herself. And whilst I'm sure that martial arts ability has no bearing on writing ability, the extra effort really seems to show in the action sequences. They are detailed and intricate but also concise and exciting. They also help maintain the pace of the book very well, balancing the slightly slower sections with an injection of adrenaline.

In terms of character development, this is slow but steady, and the reader only learns as much as is necessary in order to understand the story. This keeps the reader guessing and means that your predictions will change every ten pages or so. The books are narrated by Yelena, in the first person, which is something I usually find irritating but which I had absolutely no problem with for this trilogy. In fact, if anything, it improves the immersion factor of the books. This is because Yelena starts off knowing comparatively little in the book, meaning that the reader discovers things while she does. For me this really helped me get into the story, and works very well.

I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who likes a little magic in their life, as it really strikes the right balance between tension and release.
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Summary: A fantastic second book and just as addictive as the first.