Book Review: Touch of Power by Maria Snyder

Pros: strong female protagonist, fast paced, lots of plot twists, minor romance elements

Cons: limited emotional punch, simplistic world building

Avry of Kazan is a healer in a post plague world where healers have been hunted and killed for spreading the disease that decimated the populace of the Fifteen Realms.  After three years of hiding, her cover is blown when she heals another child.  Too ill from the aftereffects of the child's illness (which must be taken into herself in order to heal it) for her to run, she's taken by the authorities and sentenced to death. 

Kerrick of Alga finds her there, and frees her with the condition that she heal his friend.  But his friend has the plague, and healing it means dying herself.

Touch of Power is reminiscent of Snyder's first novel, Poison Study.  The protagonist is a feisty young woman, the romance creeps up on you towards the end (with many clues, but no acknowledgement until the climax), and fast paced story telling with lots of plot twists to keep you turning pages. 

Tragedy didn't make my connect with the characters as I would have liked, until the final scene.  I wanted to feel their losses as well as their joys, and didn't quite get there.

The world was interesting, some aspects (like the events surrounding the plague and the death lilies) were well detailed and others (differences in customs between Realms) were ignored.  In other words, it's a very tight story, with no digressions for elements unconnected to the plot, even if a few side details wouldn't have been amiss.

This somewhat open ended book is a solid beginning to a new trilogy.

Out December 20th.

Book Review: Outside In by Maria Snyder

Pros: good pacing, interesting story, realistic relationship development

Cons: Trella manages to do an awful lot despite injuries and being tracked at one point

The Pop Cops are in the brig and a committee now runs Inside.  But the scrubs aren't happy and most have stopped working.  Trella's still reeling from the events of Inside Out and doesn't want more responsibility.  So she's only a consultant to the committee, which is ignoring all of her suggestions.  After a blast destroys a key system and injures a lot of people, Trella discovers that it was not an accident but caused by saboteurs.  How could things have gone so bad so fast?

Ms. Snyder's forte is with relationships, and this book shows off her skill in that regard.  Trella's relationship with Dr. Lamont begins strained and slowly develops into something new.  Her relationship with Riley also progresses at a natural pace, with her reckless behaviour causing him stress and hesitation with regards to taking things further.

As with the previous book, Trella makes mistakes and grows as a person when she acknowledges them.

Lots of unexpected twists will keep readers on their toes.  While Trella does endure more pain and injuries, again recovering remarkably fast, she remains a fun, flawed character.

Book Review: Inside Out by Maria Snyder

Pros: protagonist experiences real growth of character

Cons: Trella recovers from severe injuries surprisingly fast


For Parents: no content issues or language, mild violence

Trella knows their world is a cube.  Though she's a scrub, and relegated to a life of drudgery cleaning the ducts on levels 1 and 2, she's snuck to the upper levels often enough.

Now her skill at navigating the ducts and breaking the rules is going to get her into trouble.  Her only friend is convinced that Gateway - a door to an outside world - exists.  To prove him wrong she must retrieve something from the upper levels.  Only the authorities have set a trap and she's about to spring it.

While neither the idea of a two-tier society nor an enclosed environment are unique, their combination and lack of known history by the inhabitants makes this story interesting.

Trella's do it herself mentality could be grating, but it's not.  She's a teen who wants more from life and who's willing to change as her world expands.  She does heal much faster than I believe is possible, and functions well under high amounts of pain, but that's becoming common in teen dystopian fiction.

And she's given time to think about events and see the consequences of her actions, allowing for true character growth.

Maria Snyder Book Signing in Toronto

And last but not least, Maria Snyder, author of:



will be in town to sign her books at the World's Biggest Bookstore on November 7th from 6-8 pm. Please join us at any and all events!

For more information about these events, call the store at: 416-977-7009.