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Touch of Power (Healer, #1)
by Maria V. Snyder (Goodreads Author)
by Maria V. Snyder (Goodreads Author)
Tatiana's review
bookshelves: 2011, fantasy, series-dropped-lost-steam, ya
Oct 03, 11
bookshelves: 2011, fantasy, series-dropped-lost-steam, ya
Recommended to Tatiana by:
memories of "Poison Study"
Recommended for:
hardcore Snyder fans
Read from October 01 to 02, 2011
On the surface, there is nothing wrong with Touch of Power. Avry, a 20-year old magic healer in a world where healers are persecuted and blamed for spreading deadly plague, is a nice character. She is kind, courageous, smart, strong, self-sacrificing, caring, self-sufficient, moral, a quick learner, a good friend (you see where I am going with it?) Avry's adventure is fast-paced, something exciting is constantly happening. There is no instalove. The magical system with 11 kinds of powers (one of which is the healing power) is fairly interesting. The theme of uniting a plague-torn country is... good.
The problem is, there is nothing below the surface of this story. There is no depth to it. The characters are simple and flat, their emotions and personalities are superficial, juvenile even. Avry is condemned to death in the first chapter, for being a healer, and her only response to the death sentence is to shrug her shoulders and go to sleep. Her calling is to heal people by taking in their pain and illnesses, and never once does she feel resentful towards this ability, she always welcomes other people's bruises, cuts, whip lashes, infections, fevers. Does she enjoy pain? (No, this is not that sort of book, maybe unfortunately.) There is hardly a moment of contemplation or any complex feeling in this story. Why bother with sappy stuff I guess if there is a new adventure or a game of hide and seek or a knife-throwing practice just around the corner?
The world-building is equally thin. It is hard to fully grasp it, especially if you pay attention to the language that is used to describe it. After finishing Touch of Power I have this vague image of a medieval land of 15 Realms, with mages, castles, princes, wooden carts and swords, but then once in a while the author would drop in a "syringe," "toxins," "virus" or "president".
Then there is the familiar dilemma - is this YA/is this adult fic? Avry and her love interest are in their twenties; conflicts, violence and sex are of YA variety; and the writing style is so simple and void of nuance it would better fit a children's book.
But what bothers me the most about this novel is the whole concept of healing. Avry can transfer aches and illnesses from sick people into herself. Then she experiences it and heals, faster than a normal person would. However, a lethal disease will kill her, just like any other person. My question is, if Avry can only take away treatable illnesses, why not allow the patients heal on their own? Are her sacrifices truly necessary?
It is probably time for me to abandon all hopes of ever reading something written by the author that is as good as Poison Study. I sometimes even think that maybe that book isn't nearly as great as I remember it.
I would only recommend Touch of Power to Maria V. Snyder's most dedicated fans and those readers who like books where stuff happens on every page, but who do not expect to grow fond of the characters, swoon at romances or be enchanted by new fantasy worlds and mythologies. Everyone else, try Finnikin of the Rock instead.
The problem is, there is nothing below the surface of this story. There is no depth to it. The characters are simple and flat, their emotions and personalities are superficial, juvenile even. Avry is condemned to death in the first chapter, for being a healer, and her only response to the death sentence is to shrug her shoulders and go to sleep. Her calling is to heal people by taking in their pain and illnesses, and never once does she feel resentful towards this ability, she always welcomes other people's bruises, cuts, whip lashes, infections, fevers. Does she enjoy pain? (No, this is not that sort of book, maybe unfortunately.) There is hardly a moment of contemplation or any complex feeling in this story. Why bother with sappy stuff I guess if there is a new adventure or a game of hide and seek or a knife-throwing practice just around the corner?
The world-building is equally thin. It is hard to fully grasp it, especially if you pay attention to the language that is used to describe it. After finishing Touch of Power I have this vague image of a medieval land of 15 Realms, with mages, castles, princes, wooden carts and swords, but then once in a while the author would drop in a "syringe," "toxins," "virus" or "president".
Then there is the familiar dilemma - is this YA/is this adult fic? Avry and her love interest are in their twenties; conflicts, violence and sex are of YA variety; and the writing style is so simple and void of nuance it would better fit a children's book.
But what bothers me the most about this novel is the whole concept of healing. Avry can transfer aches and illnesses from sick people into herself. Then she experiences it and heals, faster than a normal person would. However, a lethal disease will kill her, just like any other person. My question is, if Avry can only take away treatable illnesses, why not allow the patients heal on their own? Are her sacrifices truly necessary?
It is probably time for me to abandon all hopes of ever reading something written by the author that is as good as Poison Study. I sometimes even think that maybe that book isn't nearly as great as I remember it.
I would only recommend Touch of Power to Maria V. Snyder's most dedicated fans and those readers who like books where stuff happens on every page, but who do not expect to grow fond of the characters, swoon at romances or be enchanted by new fantasy worlds and mythologies. Everyone else, try Finnikin of the Rock instead.
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Reading Progress
| 10/01/2011 | page 67 |
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17.0% | |
| 10/01/2011 | page 98 |
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25.0% | "I am still confused about the world. Can't pinpoint the era it is fashioned after. There are swords and princess and presidents." 2 comments |
Comments (showing 1-50 of 58) (58 new)
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Choco
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Oct 01, 2011 06:46pm
Oh a bit jealous although I haven't been in much luck with this author for a while. Looking forward to your review!
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The only non-meh book written by her appears to be Poison Study. Some writers have only one good story in them.
I heard she put about 5 years to write Poison Study. And obviously not nearly as much into other books. Perhaps it shows? I used to read every book by her, but now I wait for my trusted friends' reviews. (Thanks Tatiana :D)
Catie wrote: "I tried to start it the other night and didn't get very far."Catie, are you going to give it another try?
I made the mistake of rereading Poison Study and had the same complaints you have here -- haphazard world-building, lack of introspection.
I think Snyder's writing style only worked once in Poison Study because of Yelena and Valek's rather dry temperament. I had thought it was deliberate.
Miriam, PS was one of my first fantasy reads, so I even more inclined now to think I rated it so highly because of my own inexperience with the genre. This book is very shallow compared to others fantasy novels I've read!
choco wrote: "Now I'm scared to reread it."If you do, let me know how it goes, because now I am afraid I will hate it too:(
Oh no. I loved both "Poison Study" (for me it had a kind of magical thrill - even after rereading it, Maja) and "Inside Out". Therefore I hoped Snyder had managed to pull herself out of her meh-mediocre-slump.
"I have this vague image of a medieval land of 15 Realms, with mages, castles, princes, wooden carts and swords, but then once in a while the author would drop in a "syringe," "toxins," "virus" or "president""This part made me laugh remembering Lyndsey's rant about the random trampoline in the Study series.
I'm so disappointed to hear this isn't good:-/
oliviasbooks wrote: "Oh no. I loved both "Poison Study" (for me it had a kind of magical thrill - even after rereading it, Maja) and "Inside Out". Therefore I hoped Snyder had managed to pull herself out of her meh-med..."Maybe it will work for you better if you enjoyed her later books? I remember not caring even about Magic Study.
Yeah, I will probably try again (right after I finish Fingersmith which is just amazing BTW).I have re-read Poison Study (a book club that I'm in selected it for one month) and I still loved it. I do think that it's more escapist fluff than anything, but it's my favorite kind.
The other two in that series I don't care ever to read again :-/
The premise sounds similar to Janice Hardy's The Shifter. I think I'll be avoiding this. I only ever liked Poison Study. The rest got increasingly worse. Have you read Inside Out or the Glass Series, Tatiana?
Cory wrote: "The premise sounds similar to Janice Hardy's The Shifter. I think I'll be avoiding this. I only ever liked Poison Study. The rest got increasingly worse. Have you read Inside Out or ..."No, Cory. I never read anything published after Magic Study, after hearing everyone say her books only get worse. I should have skipped this one as well.
That was a wise decision. Fire Study was absolutely painful. I kept telling myself that it couldn't get worse than Magic Study, but I was wrong. She's tiptoeing on the line, right after Richelle Mead.
You would expect writers to become better over time, but alas, there is a huge number of them whose writing gets worse and worse. It's puzzling really.
Tatiana wrote: "oliviasbooks wrote: "Oh no. I loved both "Poison Study" (for me it had a kind of magical thrill - even after rereading it, Maja) and "Inside Out". Therefore I hoped Snyder had managed to pull herse..."No. I didn't care for Magic Study, Fire Study and the two later Glass books very much. Enough to finish them. That's all.
This is almost exactly how I felt about this book. I think I may have liked it a little more than you did, but perhaps that will fade once I spend a little time thinking the book over before reviewing. Glad I'm not the only one disappointed.
Tara, the saddest thing is that the book left so little impression on me that I hardly remember anything about it, just a few days after reading it.
I'm thinking Snyder is becoming like one of those authors that write outstanding debut novels, but then clearly put less effort and time in to their later works. A shame really, because I feel like Snyder could do much better if she were not so focused on her personal agenda.
She might be an author who doesn't write quickly well. She has decent ideas and intentions, but fails to add layers to her stories. I've read it is her goal to write entertaining adventure stories, but even those require some depth of character and world-building to be compelling. I feel like her books are getting lighter and lighter.
You are more down on this book than I was, but your points are valid. Especially about Poison Study - I stopped reading Snyder after the Study series because I think the pace of her writing has reduced the quality quite a bit. I guess we differ because the thing that annoyed you the most in this book - the healing ability - was the one thing I found most fascinating and redeeming. I liked that her ability has a real cost & I had an easy time seeing the advantages. Thought it was a good conflict lock.
You see, Mlle, my problem is that I didn't really see Avry conflicted about her ability. I agree, it is an interesting idea that healing power has its costs, but, to me, it wasn't explored very well. I've read another books with a very similar "power" - Bruiser - and there this issue is examined much better. There is a lot of baggage that comes when one person has to suffer physically on another's behalf - how can you live your life when you are constantly experiencing someone's pain? do people around you become careless if they know they can count on you healing them? how so these people feel knowing someone is suffering their ills? Here all consequences are shrugged off or, at the list, examined superficially.
That's what I get for commenting in shorthand. No, Avry wasn't conflicted about her ability or its costs - though I liked that it was an ability with real and significant costs, so she couldn't simply use it willy nilly.
The conflict lock, though was with the prince guy who had the plague, where she'd die if she healed him.
And I agree again, that conflict is an interesting one as well, theoretically. It just, unfortunately, for me there was no real depth in Avry's contemplations of it. It's a matter of personal interpretation though, so I expect many readers will feel differently about it.
There are quite a few similar elements. For instance, the book starts with the heroine being saved from the death sentence by a potential love interest who wants to use her.
I'm glad to know that I'm not the only person who found the writing style far too simplistic for the themes that this book dealt with. It was quite confusing to class it as YA or adult, and the two pieces were enough at odds with each other to really spoil a lot of the reading for me.
I'm with you on Poison Study; remains one of my faves. And agree with the balance of your observations on her other books.
im not sure about all you guys who hated this book, but i liked it. i think she did a great job on it. wait-i dont THINK she did a great job on it- i KNOW she did a great job on it.
I agree with DJ! ^ I loooved this book! Now I haven't read poison study but I'll look into it! I enjoyed every page of this book. But in response to you saying about the concept of healing bothered you etc., she only really healed children and her friends. She couldn’t go around healing everyone because of the fact people hated healers for their "disease spreading." Avry also heals people because she's caring. And as for the disease that can kill her (sorry it’s been awhile since I’ve read this)I’m pretty sure they didn’t know where it came from but they did know at the end it can be healed by the white lily’s. But yeah I thought it was great, sorry you didn’t! Oh and sorry to just randomly comment! :D
Great review. I think I actually like ToP more than Poison Study, but it may be because I read ToP first and they are pretty much the same book. I also liked Avry more than Yelena, but I preferred Valek to Kerrick, so it's kind of a wash. The point is, neither book was really that great (IMO).I agree that the world felt a little... confused. I think it would have been best if the "modern" stuff (presidents, high schools, etc.) had been kept out of it. Still, overall, I did like the world in ToP.
Thanks for the rec on Finnikin of the Rock. I think I might make that my next read :-)
I haven't read this one, but THANK YOU for summing up what I found to be such a problem with her books when reading the Study series. Poison Study was a good read, but then the books went downhill from there. I had a hard time explaining just why to people when discussing it, but your review here - that her works don't have depth, that the characters are simple and flat and that the world-building is thin - THAT sums is up nicely. Ever since I read the sequel to Poison Study I've classed these as YA novels because of that lack of depth. I've found that I have lower expectations going into reading them, which are easier for her books to meet, when I do that. (This in no way means that ALL YA books lack depth, but it can be a characteristic of YA adventure/romance/dystopian/fantasy/etc works.
