Magic Study

Please tell me there is going to be third book in this series. The story is far from finished, and the end of this book is wide open for another whole story. We need to see Yelena in her new career, and I'm dying to see her take her heart's love to meet her family.

As with Poison Study, the first book in the series, I had a hard time getting out of the car at the end of my commute because I wanted to hear more of the story. Maria Snyder has created a set of fully-realized characters and a twisting plot that remains unpredictable all the way to the end. More! I want more!

I would highly recommend this book if you like fantasy. This was a great sequel, I think maybe even better then Poison Study, though I might feel that way because I started this book already attached to the characters. I listened to this book every free moment I had. The twists and turns kept me guessing and intrigued. Gabra Zackman was a great narrator. I'm looking forward to the 3rd "Study" book which according to the authors website is due out in 2008.
I would recommend anyone wanting to try this book to get the first book (Poison Study) first because you need the history of the characters to really appreciate Magic Study.

I was first introduced to Maria Snyder via "Poison Study", which was so far afield from my normal fare of suspense, mystery and intrigue; but those elements were all there residing in a tale of fantasy.
Then when "Magic Study" became available I was curious to see how it developed. Wow!
I just purchased, "Fire Study" becasuse I am hooked!
Fantasy is not my fare, but these three books have enlarged my audio entertainment vista and I recommend them without hesitation.

I bought Poison Study (first in the series) last year when the trilogy was on sale and am now mad at myself for not buying the whole trilogy at that time. I always have about 10 audiobooks in my library that I haven't listened to yet and I go through them in order of purchase... I listened to Poison Study two weeks ago and instead of going to the next in my list, I bought Magic Study.

And now I still have my 10 unlistened books and am going to go buy Fire Study...

The narrator is fantastic. The story is engaging and unpredictable. You care about the characters and want things to work out for them. It is a fantasy series with a female protagonist written with adults in mind and yet there is no obscenity or graphic sex.

Perfect.

Very good story- the characters were constantly evolving as events progressed. Although I felt at times that everyone seemed to be extremely stubborn and that a lot of their choices were very selfish, I guess that's not that different than in real life. At times the novel was fairly bloody & graphic when it came to injuries and rape but I'm still interested in hearing the first book and the end of the trilogy.

4.1/2 stars, great follow-up to this fantastic series, new intrigues,new twist and turns, new bad and good characters, and the romance! aww! even though is not as steamy as I normally like, still very believable, heart-felt and hot and a whole new way.
I truly enjoyed it.
The narration is just superb! Gebra Zackman does a terrific job bringing this books to life with the perfect tone, pace and very accurate interpretation of the characters.

This is the best of so-called fantasy fiction: a story that could be happenening here and now but with a twist, similar to Harry Potter. Like Harry, the main character is different from the others, trying to fit in and remain safe while learning to recognize and control her magic powers. The reader presents the characters in a crisp, straightforward way, not relying on fake accents.

I recommend that you read the previous book, "Poison Study" first, for the full background of this story line.

Very pleased with all aspects of story and production. I have listened to it multiple times and have the rest in the series.

I love the Poison Study series. I could read them over and over again and never get tired of them. I love the characters, the world, the writing, everything. If you haven’t read my Poison Study review, you should. I gave it rave reviews and consider it among my favorites. Comparing the two books, I have to say that I liked Poison Study more than Magic Study but I still enjoyed it nonetheless.

In Magic Study, Yelena leaves Ixia and returns to her homeland, Sitia, to study magic from Master Magician Irys. Yelena must control her magical abilities or risk her life and everything she knows. Prior to her magic studies at the Citadel, she meets her family for the first time since she was a littler girl. All might sound like things are going well for Yelena but despite her returning to her home country she is still technically a foreigner. She doesn’t receive as warm of welcome as you would expect from her brother. On top of that, upon arrival at the citadel, she is met with distrust from the other Master Magicians for her connections to Ixia. Even her classmates, who are a few years younger than her, give her hard time.

Despite the not so good start to her life in Sitia, Yelena earns respect from the others through her actions. She is a talented magician, skilled fighter, and among the few who can stop a magician that’s been killing young girls for power.

Magic Study is a fun fantasy read. Yelena is a strong heroine and one of my favorite heroines of all time. Only in this book her actions are a little more frustrating for the reader. She frequently does things that she shouldn’t which often results in her being kidnapped. And that’s another thing, kidnappings seem to be a common theme through the Poison Study series and it does get a little old after awhile. With Poison Study being as awesome as it was, book two fell a little short of what I was hoping for. Regardless, I still had a ton of fun reading it and had a hard time putting the book down.

Magic Study picks up right after Poison Study. I liked this book better than the first just because the character development so improved, less introspective thought by the characters and more dialogue.