Fire Study by Maria V. Snyder Review

"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."

Fire Study isn't as good as Poison Study, but it is still pretty good for the third book. Fortunately, Fire Study isn't the last. There's a few other books, maybe three sequels? Anyway, there's a few more books plan for this series. It isn't over yet.  

But for now, let's focus on Fire Study. No, Yelena does not study fire and succeed. Instead, she seeks a different way to master over fire. Yelena is still awesome, but I hope there will be more use of poisons. She doesn't seem to be mastering over the powers of poison or practicing the powers of poisons very frequently. After all, practice does make perfection. Yelena may be close to perfection, but she's not there yet.

The plot of Fire Study is insane. First, there's tons of fighting (yay!) and a lot of backstabbing. Of course, there's more moves created by Valek (who is apparently at least thirty five, or in other words, at least fifteen years older than Yelena). Valek is still insane and unusually, as usual. And yes, he still kills people. He is the spymaster and the poison-know-it-all. Then there's the fun action created by Ari and Janco and a lot of lunatics who are very powerhungry. And that's not all. There's also the Commander fighting (verbally) with the Council of Magic. More old enemies are back and new villains are revealed. 

Wow! That was a lot. Don't forget the fact that Yelena had to practice her magic skills. Magic versus physical fighting seems to be one of Yelena's problems. Actually, it's one of her smallest problems. For more of her problems, please go back to the previous paragraph. Notice all her problems. It's even worse than high school drama.

Nice character growth from Yelena. She's definitely a little softer, but willing to do what's necessary when a problem arises. I can't wait to see Yelena in another book, like the sequel. Ahh! I just can't wait to see her on fire!

I have to admire one thing from Maria V. Snyder (the author of this book). She can really put seemingly meaningless plots together to make a whole picture. For example, Opal seems to be a very minor character with a huge role in the conclusion. Without her, the book would have a huge plot hole. Or how about the villainess, Roze? Without her, there will be no conflicts. Or the wannable king? Without him, there will be no complications/death. 

My needs: Another sequel. I'm nearly done with the Ice Study book. 

Rating: Five out of Five