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Saturday 13 April 2013

Review - Scent of Magic by Maria V. Snyder


 Scent of Magic (Healer, #2)
 Hunted, Killed—Survived?

As the last Healer in the Fifteen Realms, Avry of Kazan is in a unique position: in the minds of her friends and foes alike, she no longer exists. Despite her need to prevent the megalomanical King Tohon from winning control of the Realms, Avry is also determined to find her sister and repair their estrangement. And she must do it alone, as Kerrick, her partner and sole confident, returns to Alga to summon his country into battle.

Though she should be in hiding, Avry will do whatever she can to support Tohon’s opponents. Including infiltrating a holy army, evading magic sniffers, teaching forest skills to soldiers and figuring out how to stop Tohon’s most horrible creations yet; an army of the walking dead—human and animal alike and nearly impossible to defeat.

War is coming and Avry is alone. Unless she figures out how to do the impossible ... again.

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Scent of Magic is the second in Maria V. Snyder’s new series, beginning with Touch of Power. The author won me over with a gripping, original storyline and a unique take on magic, and the sequel more than lives up to the first book!

Avry’s in hiding and everyone believes she is dead – but in fact she’s infiltrated the army opposing Tohon, desperate to do everything she can to prevent him from taking over the Fifteen Realms – and also to repair her relationship with her sister, whom she hasn’t seen for three years since the plague struck. But Tohon has managed to do the impossible and created an army of the dead, and no one believes her even though she has seen them for herself. Kerrick, meanwhile, travels alone to his home country to summon them to war.

I like that we get Kerrick’s perspective, as he’s a character who was quite difficult to understand throughout most of the first book. All the characters are multi-layered and complex, and the villains are extremely well-drawn. The world-building is just as great, and we get to see more of the Fifteen Realms as the action expands. Meanwhile, we see Avry and Kerrick face struggles that push them to their limits as they fight an apparently impossible battle. This is a real page-turner, and as with the first book, the gripping narrative held me until the end. The pace remains high and there are many heart-tugging moments – and a Maria V. Snyder sure knows how to keep readers hanging on!

This epic fantasy series has it all - action, romance, adventure and magic. I’m recommending this to all my friends who love fantasy and I’m on tenterhooks for the next book! For now, I’ll definitely be checking out Maria V. Snyder’s other work!

Rating: ****

3 comments:

  1. I'm glad to hear this one is as good as the first. I have it, but haven't gotten to it yet! I have pretty much loved every book with this author's name on it though. Inside Out and Poison Study were both epically good!

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  2. This is the kind of stories that hard for me to understand.

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  3. I like to know about stories with good world building, so thanks for mentioning that.

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