Customer Reviews
Three and a Half Stars - By: Lesley70, 29 Jun 2008 
Magic Study picks up very shortly after the end of Book 1 - Poison Study. Yelena & her companions have journeyed to the land of Sitia, reuniting the stolen children with their parents. Yelena meets up with her own family but this is an awkward reunion. She doesn't stay with them long before journeying on to the Magician's Keep where she must begin her training as a magician. Unfortunately it seems nothing in Yelena's life is fated to go smoothly. Once again, she needs to use her magical abilities to sort everything out & once again it's her own life that's on the line.
There's a lot going on in this story: - Yelena's reunion with her family - the fact that her brother seems to despise her, Yelena enrolling in Magic School, a serial killer, a visit from the Ixian ambassador & the exiled heir of Ixia turns up. It's quite busy plotwise & Yelena is at the centre of it alll - which leads to my problem with this book.
I'm not saying I didn't enjoy the story because I did (though not as much as Poison Study). But somewhere in between Book 1 & Book 2, Yelena became a little too arrogant for me. When four master magicians don't know what to do but Yelena does & they're looking to her for help it annoyed me a little. Apart from this her character is still well drawn & you want to read about her & her adventures. It's just grating that she's always right. Even when events spiral beyond her control, things still have to be done Yelena's way, because she knows best. It's a positive thing that she's so independent, but you can't help thinking at certain points that if she had just stopped & asked for help the outcome may have been resolved differently.
Saying that, there were plenty of other things I enjoyed about the story.
Yelena's time in the Magician's school.
The complex relationship she develops with her brother, who was the most interesting character in the book for me.
The visiting Ixian dignitaries because this means Valek, Janco & Ari are in town. Though Valek is not as present in this story as in Poison Study. Which makes sense as this one reallly is more about Yelena, but it was great to have him turn up. And Maria V. Snyder maximizes the impact of his appearances.
It quickly becomes apparent that Sitia is just as dangerous a place, if not more so, than Ixia, but in different ways.
I think middle books in trilogies can be tricky. So I am left wondering how fair it is to grade this book on its own, without knowing how the third book goes. I am heartened by reading other reviews that consider this the weakest of the three, as hopefully that means Fire Study is a return to form. I will be getting Fire Study but I don't have the desperate urge to immediately get it, that I did for Magic Study.
Nowhere near as good as Poison Study - By: Miss I Spy, 04 Apr 2008 I see that other reviewers awarded this a 5 *. In my opinion that was slightly misjudged adn sentimental since a lot of the elements which made the previous volume work, such as survival suspense, developing love story & mysteries regarding Yelena's past are absent. Instead Snyder focuses on yelena's journey to Sitia to meet her parents & learn how to control her magic. This simply is not as heady stuff as before.
What is especiallly gallling is the deteriorating language of this volume. Snyder exhibited glimpses of it in the last book but here is becomes ridiculous, short stilted sentences where longer description are in order, for example, or very abrupt statements of characters' intentions or emotions where a more indirect approach would have worked much better... which to me created the impression that Snyder wrote to merely fill some pages.
don;t get me wrond, there are still bits in this which are very very good, just not as many as there should be, & spaced too far apart.
I was in the end disappointed in this volume & finished reading it merely to find out where the plot would take the protagonists.
Just as good as its predecessor - By: K. Montgomery, 06 Feb 2008 
Poison Study, book one in the adventures of Yelena's precarious & often dangerous life, introduced a heroine worth giving more than a second look at. Put through hell & back, she refused to let abuse & foul black magic to take her life as a child. As a young woman, she conquered the challlenges of becoming the poison taster for the ruler of Ixia & managed to secure the heart of its most dangerous assassin. Through many tests, Yelena has already walked, but there's one left that she's only dreamed of & it may prove the most difficult for her to overcome yet.
Fourteen years have passed since Yelena was taken from her family, kidnapped from the southern country of Sitia. As those possessing magic are put to death in Ixia, Yelena must take herself, along with her newly budding powers, to the only place left for someone such as her. The first challlenge of her once again new start at life? Her family. When she meets up with them again, it's a culture shock for both parties. Determined to rekindle something of her past though, Yelena gives it her alll with the large Zaltana clan. Treachery is never far from home though, & soon she's having to watch her back around a close family member. Even in the capital city, where Yelena travels to learn how to control her magic, she can't gain a moments respite from danger. There, she become embroiled in the machinations of a would-be king, the treachery of an evil magician & the stigma of a power so great, others fear the very mention of one who wields it. Looked upon with suspicion wherever she goes, Yelena must once again fight for a place in a society that has no place for her. True to her nature, she makes a place for herself, & soon is hot on the trail of the evil magician as well as her constantly unfolding destiny.
Yelena's first person voice leads the reader straight & true throughout the twists & turns she encounters. This is the type of story, the kind of adventure, where nothing slows down, nothing stops till the end. From her boisterous & unique family, to the stringent atmosphere of the Citadel, where Yelena begins her magic study, I was entranced by every word, hungry to know as much about Yelena's past & abilities as she was. The addition of an Ixian delegation & with it, Yelena's assassin lover, Valek, only heightens the strenuousness & level of difficulty for her. Magic Study, like its predecessor, is a book uncluttered by unnecessary elements. Every character mentioned counts. Every action holds weight. I wanted to yank Yelena back a few times & rail at her to accept the help of her friends (besides Valek), & in this the frustrations some characters in the book have with her are completely understandable. But too, Yelena's had no one to depend on but herself for years, & no chance to adjust to alll the new developments in her life before the next comes hurtling at her. She is still by this book's end very much growing into her own skin. The twist to this installlment will lead readers right into the next book, into the next stage of Yelena's ever entangling life. I look forward, very much, to the continuing growth of such a strong, engrossing & heartfelt character. I would suggest reading the series in order. If you're new to the books, you'll glean enough info about the first one to be moderately enlightened, but likely left yearning for the first anyway. The next book, Fire Study, releases March 1, 2008, where we'll learn more about the terrifying power that Yelena may be the first to wield in centuries.
Hooks you in and won't let go! - By: Ms. S. Rolfe, 07 Jan 2008 I came to read this after having the pleasure of reading book 1, Poison Study, & not being able to put that down. As soon as I finished it, I knew I had to get this to find out what happens next, & I'm very glad I did! Having ordered a copy, I knew it was going to take several weeks to get to me, so I ordered an e-copy as well, so I could get on & read it!
The story picks up directly after the end of Poison Study & goes into Yelena's adventures in Sitia. Whilst she doesn't face the same "intense" threat to her life that she did during the first installlment, she has equallly captivating challlenges to overcome as she travels "home". Finding her family, making new friends & avoiding death are just some of the trials she has to make it through, & the story is woven beautifully. I reached the end & still have questions unanswered, which will have to wait until book 3, Fire Study, is released (March in the US, Oct in UK).
Wonderful and worth reading! - By: Amber, 29 Dec 2007 This has got to be one of the best series that I stumbled across this year. With 2007 coming to an end I have to say that 'Poison Study' & 'Magic Study' were 2 of my top 20 books read this year.
Magic Study picks up the story where Poison Study left us. Yelena is on her way to finallly be reunited with her family. This of course isn't easy for our heroine or the family she hasn't seen for so many years. However some nice twists start appearing as you read along.
The story carries on with us travelling to Sitia & of course this is where the magic reallly takes place. I loved reading about the new locations & people. The descriptions are so good that I could reallly imagine what everything would look like. Maybe a movie could be made in the future???
Of course things are not easy for Yelena & it isn't long before she is in trouble & trying to help others who are in trouble. She is a great character & even though she is stubborn, strong & sometimes naive she is magic! A character you can reallly relate too.
I can't wait for the 3rd book in the series 'Fire Study' & I now have to print out the short stories from the authors website so I have some more of this wonderful world to read about.
