Maria Snyder

Poison Study — (2005-2008) Publisher: About to be executed for murder, Yelena is offered an extraordinary reprieve. She'll eat the best meals, have rooms in the palace — and risk assassination by anyone trying to kill the Commander of Ixia. And so Yelena chooses to become a food taster. But the chief of security, leaving nothing to chance, deliberately feeds her Butterfly's Dust — and only by appearing for her daily antidote will she delay an agonizing death from the poison. As Yelena tries to escape her new dilemma, disasters keep mounting. Rebels plot to seize Ixia and Yelena develops magical powers she can't control. Her life is threatened again and choices must be made. But this time the outcomes aren't so clear.

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Poison Study

Overall, I am impressed with Maria Snyder's first novel, Poison Study. It was well written and the main characters are likeable, complex, and engaging. The characters of the "supporting staff" are also well done. The dialogue is realistic and the writing style is pleasant and unpretentious. The pace is quick, there is political intrigue, spying, treachery, fighting, forgiveness, personal growth, and romance (although the single love scene was confusing and a bit corny).

However, the plot was somewhat predictable and there were few surprises. Also, the setting of the story is confusing. Chamber pots, swords, and castles with dungeons suggest a medieval setting, but then there are factories, camouflage, disinfectants, briefcases, pills, and dialogue that doesn't seem to fit that setting.

I was also slightly disappointed with the ending. Among all of the other life changes that Yelena is dealing with, she also finds out she's a magician and that she needs to be trained so she doesn't burn out the magic power source by "pulling power" incorrectly. This sets up a nice sequel (called Magic Study), but Yelena has also just recently learned to be an expert fighter, and now we throw in magician, too, and it just seems a bit over the top. She's just too perfect. Except that she's a murderer. Oh, wait, but when she murdered that guy, she saved many innocents from the torture she went through... I guess she is perfect.

All in all, I think Maria Snyder is a very promising author with a good imagination and a nice writing style. I will give the second book a try and I will certainly take a look at whatever she publishes in the future. In my opinion, she has Jacqueline Carey potential. —Kat Hooper

Poison Study

Poison Study was a surprise to me. I picked it up because Amazon recommended it for me, but reading the description and most of the review made me think that it was going to be a waste. In this case, I was pleasantly surprised.

Maria Snyder does a very good job of introducing a character in a dire, horrifying situation: Yelena is set to be executed for murder and is offered a choice between facing immediate death or accepting a position as the food taster for the Commander, who is the ruler of the nation she lives in. Snyder builds an interesting world — something like Sparta except women are not just for bearing children.

Yelena is well written and stays true to character with realistic fears, anxiety, and stubbornness. Surrounding characters are interesting, but they don’t upstage Yelena. They are not all equally well written (there are a few glaring inconsistencies), but on the whole it’s well put together.

Maria Snyder has a good voice for fantasy and the story's romance doesn’t interfere with the plot — it's not a romance novel. My only complaint was the author’s need to address a social, societal issue that didn’t seem to fit with the rest of the story. Gender issues in fantasy literature can be troublesome, but Maria Snyder doesn’t get so wrapped up in them that she turns the story into an advocative essay instead of a fictional work.

Good stuff and I am seriously considering reading the next book: Magic Study. —John Hulet

Poison Study

I give this book a solid three stars. It didn't blow me away, but it entertained me and held my attention while I was reading it, and that's more than I can say for a lot of books.

My taste in fantasy runs to the sprawling political-intrigue epic with a bit of magic for spice, and books get extra points with me for elegant, lush prose. Poison Study is sort of a "lite" example of the subgenre when compared to my favorites (A Song of Ice and Fire, Kushiel's Legacy, Maledicte, to name a few) both in terms of plot and in terms of style. The plot of Poison Study is relatively simple by comparison, and the prose is perfectly serviceable but not seductive. Still, it's a fun bit of brain candy, for the most part.

What I liked: The parts about poison tasting, which were fascinating and left me wanting to know more about poisons and food tasters throughout history. I also liked the ambiguity of the government Yelena serves. It's frighteningly totalitarian in some ways, and in other ways it's superior to the corrupt monarchy it replaced, and while the law states that there are no exceptions to justice, there are plenty of secret ways around the prescribed sentences for those who are worthy or lucky.

The romance aspect doesn't bother me. I'm not a member of the "Get This Stinkin' Romance Out Of My Fantasy!" club. What I didn't like, though: Yelena is too perfect; she's the type of heroine who is loved and lusted after by everyone and who is good at everything. Yet, she can be annoyingly clueless at figuring out the agendas of people around her. I also find it disturbing that the love scene is vague and flowery while the rape scene is explicit. If both scenes had been written in the same style, I wouldn't have an issue; as it is, it feels like loving sex is being glossed over and rape glorified.

Gripes aside, however, I have begun reading the sequel, and will probably read the third book as well. While Poison Study is not perfect, it's clear that Maria Snyder can spin a good yarn, and she'll improve with experience. —Kelly Lasiter

Magic Study

A brief overview of the plot of Magic Study is this: Yelena, the poison taster turned magician whom we met in Poison Study, leaves Ixia for Sitia, the country of her birth, to enter magical training and meet her long-lost family. Along the way, there are family tensions, new friends and enemies among the students and teachers at Yelena's school, and sinister forces that may claim Yelena's life, or that of one of her friends, if Yelena can't thwart them. It's a fast-paced and exciting plot, and I stand by my earlier assertion that Maria Snyder can tell an interesting story.

What isn't so interesting anymore is Yelena. There were hints of Mary Sue in her character in Poison Study, but here she blossoms into full Sue-itude. Yelena is not just a magician, she has staggering powers that are almost unheard of. Then, after the umpteenth person has commented on Yelena's nearly-unprecedented powers, it seems a little disingenuous when she responds to "You're very powerful" with something along the lines of, "Who, me?"

Another issue I had with Magic Study has to do with grammar and editing. I don't know if this issue existed in Poison Study and I missed it because I liked the story better, or whether the success of Poison Study meant the author was given less editing, but there are a lot of unintentionally funny dangling participles in this novel.

I will read the third book in the series (Fire Study), but will almost certainly not buy it in hardback.
—Kelly Lasiter