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Choose: a quick death… or slow poison… Locked deep in the palace dungeon for killing her abuser, Yelena knows she'll never be free again. The laws in Ixia are strict, and murderers must be executed, no matter the reason. But just as she's resigned herself to her fate, she's offered an extraordinary reprieve. As the food taster, Yelena will eat the best meals, have rooms in the palace - and risk assassination by anyone trying to kill the Commander of Ixia. To make matters worse, the chief show more of security deliberately feeds her Butterfly's Dust, and only by appearing for her daily antidote will she delay an agonizing death from the poison. As Yelena tries to escape her new dilemma, disasters keep mounting. Rebels plot to seize Ixia and Yelena develops magical powers she can't control. Her life is threatened again, and in order to survive, she must unravel the secrets behind the past she's been running from. Previously published. The Chronicles of Ixia Series by Maria V Snyder Book One: Poison Study Book Two: Magic Study Book Three: Fire Study Book Four: Storm Glass Book Five: Sea Glass Book Six: Spy Glass Book Seven: Shadow Study Book Eight: Night Study Book Nine: Dawn Study. show lessTags
Recommendations
Member Recommendations
espertus Both stories of strong but vulnerable young women struggling both for survival and to reconcile with their consciences what they've had to do to survive.
160
stephxsu Similarly intelligent, courageous, and resourceful heroines struggling against a fully realized world. Excellent stuff!
Also recommended by MyriadBooks
133
cecilypk both have strong female leads with budding romance and great plots
90
litaddictedbrit Similarly strong female lead and great magic twists
Also recommended by lottpoet
40
terriko Poison study reminded me of the whole Circle of Magic series, and the Circle Opens one.
20
crazybatcow Very similar romantic fantasy themes. Mature but not graphic.
mamaie I read A Discovery of Witches right after Poison Study; A Discovery of witches is more graphic.
22
Morgester You just have to cheer for Yelena - Strong, vibrant characters and impressive narrative ability.
Member Reviews
“But joy was like a butterfly alighting on a hand; a brief rest before flying away.”
I only found this book by accident while browsing for others and was intrigued by the premise. Yelena has been a prisoner in the dungeons of Ixia for almost an year waiting to be executed as a murderer. When the day arrives, she is summoned by the security chief of the kingdom Valek himself and offered a choice – take the noose or take the position as the Commander’s personal food taster. For her, it’s a simple choice because she wants to live. But she doesn’t realize how tough her job is going to be; there are always going to be people who want to kill the Commander, but seems like there are people who want to kill her too. Additionally, show more Valek’s training regimen also involves poisoning her food and asking her to identify it, if any. Escaping General Brazell’s assassins, honing her skills, making friends and uncovering the biggest threat to the kingdom in a long time are just some of her accomplishments through the remainder of the book.
“Maybe if I stayed here long enough, my heart would turn to stone. Then betrayals, tests of loyalties and poisons would have no effect on me.”
I loved Yelena’s character. Initially, we can see that she is troubled by her past and has nightmares. We only get to know the truth slowly, as she is coming to terms with the abuse and torture she was subjected to. We realize why she had to commit the murder but she tries to justify what she has done because despite the truth, she still feels guilty. Slowly, with attacks coming from all sides, she decides to take matters into her own hands and takes up self-defense lessons. Death is staring at her everyday, but she still tries to help whoever she can and always regrets leaving others behind in the past. The way her magical powers form an intrinsic part of her is well described in the book and we can feel the way she uses it when she is desperately in need. Her character growth is exceptional and the writing is so impeccable that we feel ourselves on the same journey of growth as her.
“But you’ve slipped under my skin, invaded my blood and seized my heart.”
Valek initially seems like a loyal advisor to the Commander but a psychopath because he torments Yelena. However, we get to know him better through her eyes and he grows on us just as she understands his motivations and his personality. He is extremely brave, loyal and a master strategist and what I loved most about him was that he never left her behind. He was always there for her when she needed him and encouraged her to be self sufficient in case he couldn’t be. As she falls for him, I did too and it just felt right. The romance angle was very subtle in the book but still gave me all the feels. Yelena also befriends Ari and Janco, Captains in the military and they grow so protective of her that they don’t hesitate to put themselves in danger to protect her. I really hope to see more of them in the next book.
“Sieges weathered, fight together, friends forever.”
On the whole, this book really surprised me. It wasn’t the usual fantasy story. There was a lot of discussion about politics in a military establishment, the injustice in the proclamation of blind justice that doesn’t take intention into consideration, the fact that abundance of opportunities don’t necessarily compensate for curtailed freedoms and the guilt that ravages the heart of a rape and abuse survivor. We see all this and more through Yelena’s eyes and find the flaws and faults that can exist even in a kingdom run by an efficient Commander. The characters are great, the plot is mysterious and the writing very imaginative. I really look forward to reading all the books in this series as soon as I can.
“Everyone makes choices in life. Some bad, some good. It’s called living, and if you want to bow out, then go right ahead. But don’t do it halfway. Don’t linger in whiner’s limbo.” show less
I only found this book by accident while browsing for others and was intrigued by the premise. Yelena has been a prisoner in the dungeons of Ixia for almost an year waiting to be executed as a murderer. When the day arrives, she is summoned by the security chief of the kingdom Valek himself and offered a choice – take the noose or take the position as the Commander’s personal food taster. For her, it’s a simple choice because she wants to live. But she doesn’t realize how tough her job is going to be; there are always going to be people who want to kill the Commander, but seems like there are people who want to kill her too. Additionally, show more Valek’s training regimen also involves poisoning her food and asking her to identify it, if any. Escaping General Brazell’s assassins, honing her skills, making friends and uncovering the biggest threat to the kingdom in a long time are just some of her accomplishments through the remainder of the book.
“Maybe if I stayed here long enough, my heart would turn to stone. Then betrayals, tests of loyalties and poisons would have no effect on me.”
I loved Yelena’s character. Initially, we can see that she is troubled by her past and has nightmares. We only get to know the truth slowly, as she is coming to terms with the abuse and torture she was subjected to. We realize why she had to commit the murder but she tries to justify what she has done because despite the truth, she still feels guilty. Slowly, with attacks coming from all sides, she decides to take matters into her own hands and takes up self-defense lessons. Death is staring at her everyday, but she still tries to help whoever she can and always regrets leaving others behind in the past. The way her magical powers form an intrinsic part of her is well described in the book and we can feel the way she uses it when she is desperately in need. Her character growth is exceptional and the writing is so impeccable that we feel ourselves on the same journey of growth as her.
“But you’ve slipped under my skin, invaded my blood and seized my heart.”
Valek initially seems like a loyal advisor to the Commander but a psychopath because he torments Yelena. However, we get to know him better through her eyes and he grows on us just as she understands his motivations and his personality. He is extremely brave, loyal and a master strategist and what I loved most about him was that he never left her behind. He was always there for her when she needed him and encouraged her to be self sufficient in case he couldn’t be. As she falls for him, I did too and it just felt right. The romance angle was very subtle in the book but still gave me all the feels. Yelena also befriends Ari and Janco, Captains in the military and they grow so protective of her that they don’t hesitate to put themselves in danger to protect her. I really hope to see more of them in the next book.
“Sieges weathered, fight together, friends forever.”
On the whole, this book really surprised me. It wasn’t the usual fantasy story. There was a lot of discussion about politics in a military establishment, the injustice in the proclamation of blind justice that doesn’t take intention into consideration, the fact that abundance of opportunities don’t necessarily compensate for curtailed freedoms and the guilt that ravages the heart of a rape and abuse survivor. We see all this and more through Yelena’s eyes and find the flaws and faults that can exist even in a kingdom run by an efficient Commander. The characters are great, the plot is mysterious and the writing very imaginative. I really look forward to reading all the books in this series as soon as I can.
“Everyone makes choices in life. Some bad, some good. It’s called living, and if you want to bow out, then go right ahead. But don’t do it halfway. Don’t linger in whiner’s limbo.” show less
4.5 stars
Wow, I was not expecting to like this one as much as I did! I haven't read much fantasy lately so it was great to get back into that genre a bit. I've been wanting to read this one for a while, but I didn't realize it was published 15 years ago! When I realized that, I expected it to feel a little old. 15 Years is a long time in the book world. So many trends change and people change and what they find acceptable or good in books changes along with them. However, once I started reading, I didn't think once about how old this book was. It felt like a book that could have been published last year. If the age of this book worries you, I would still give it a chance.
I thought the characters in this were really good. Yes, some of show more the characters, including our protagonist Yelena, do fall a bit into some character tropes that you see a lot in fantasy but I didn't really mind that. I differ from some people on tropes and cliches where I really don't mind reading a book with a lot of tropes or has a plot that is kind of cliche if it is a trope I like. So I don't like love triangles so that trope annoys me but I love found family stories or love conquers all stories so I will read books with those tropes just over and over again. All of that to say that if you are a bit more annoyed about repeated fantasy tropes, you probably won't like this book as much as I did.
I thought Yelena was a great protagonist. She had so much agency and made so many hard choices that she dealt with through out the book. She is clearly dealing with some form of something like PTSD and I love the way she is shown sort of reckoning with that throughout the story. Even though she does have a romance plot, it is in no way the focus of her story and the man does not just swoop in and fix all her problems. She still has choices to make and sometimes she makes choices that are to her benefit only. I really liked that almost everything that happens in the story is the result of a decision Yelena makes. I loved that the book gave her the ability to make those choices and I loved that the decisions she makes actually have an impact.
I also loved the love interest, Valek. I really wanted them to end up together from the moment they started working together but I really didn't think it was going to happen so I was really happy to be proven wrong. This might sound weird, but I like when characters have specific skills so I really liked his role as not just an assassin, but one that also specializes in poisons. I think that just makes the character so much more interesting vs if he was just described as an assassin. We were only just starting to get into his backstory at the end of this book, so I really hope some more of that will show up in the sequels.
I thought the plotting in this was also excellent. This book is longer than a lot of the books I've been reading lately but I got through it in 3 days and I usually read like 100 pages at a time. The story always was moving forward so there weren't a lot of down moments where I was bored or wanted to stop reading. Yelena's journey never felt rushed or that she was acquiring abilities too fast. The author specifically notes the effort a lot of these skills take to learn and that it takes a lot of practice and can't be done overnight. These sort of notes really helped me keep track of the pacing of the story and I really appreciated the fact that she made a point to indicate that these sort of skills like fighting take a lot of work. So frequently in these "a person has discovered they're magical" books, I think authors can fall into the trap of using that as an excuse for why a character learns a new skill so quickly, especially in chosen one type stories. I really appreciate that this book didn't fall into that trap.
The side characters were also really great. Such a good mix of lighthearted characters and more serious people. They all had such distinct personalities that I could picture them so well. Again, some probably did fall into tropes about who is in the sort of band of people in fantasy books, but because I thought they were well written and well imagined, I didn't have any issues with that.
I definitely do want to continue on with the series. All of the books are currently available as eBooks from my library, so hopefully I'll be able to get to book two in the near future. I would definitely recommend this series to anyone who has considered reading them but have just never got around to it. show less
Wow, I was not expecting to like this one as much as I did! I haven't read much fantasy lately so it was great to get back into that genre a bit. I've been wanting to read this one for a while, but I didn't realize it was published 15 years ago! When I realized that, I expected it to feel a little old. 15 Years is a long time in the book world. So many trends change and people change and what they find acceptable or good in books changes along with them. However, once I started reading, I didn't think once about how old this book was. It felt like a book that could have been published last year. If the age of this book worries you, I would still give it a chance.
I thought the characters in this were really good. Yes, some of show more the characters, including our protagonist Yelena, do fall a bit into some character tropes that you see a lot in fantasy but I didn't really mind that. I differ from some people on tropes and cliches where I really don't mind reading a book with a lot of tropes or has a plot that is kind of cliche if it is a trope I like. So I don't like love triangles so that trope annoys me but I love found family stories or love conquers all stories so I will read books with those tropes just over and over again. All of that to say that if you are a bit more annoyed about repeated fantasy tropes, you probably won't like this book as much as I did.
I thought Yelena was a great protagonist. She had so much agency and made so many hard choices that she dealt with through out the book. She is clearly dealing with some form of something like PTSD and I love the way she is shown sort of reckoning with that throughout the story. Even though she does have a romance plot, it is in no way the focus of her story and the man does not just swoop in and fix all her problems. She still has choices to make and sometimes she makes choices that are to her benefit only. I really liked that almost everything that happens in the story is the result of a decision Yelena makes. I loved that the book gave her the ability to make those choices and I loved that the decisions she makes actually have an impact.
I also loved the love interest, Valek. I really wanted them to end up together from the moment they started working together but I really didn't think it was going to happen so I was really happy to be proven wrong. This might sound weird, but I like when characters have specific skills so I really liked his role as not just an assassin, but one that also specializes in poisons. I think that just makes the character so much more interesting vs if he was just described as an assassin. We were only just starting to get into his backstory at the end of this book, so I really hope some more of that will show up in the sequels.
I thought the plotting in this was also excellent. This book is longer than a lot of the books I've been reading lately but I got through it in 3 days and I usually read like 100 pages at a time. The story always was moving forward so there weren't a lot of down moments where I was bored or wanted to stop reading. Yelena's journey never felt rushed or that she was acquiring abilities too fast. The author specifically notes the effort a lot of these skills take to learn and that it takes a lot of practice and can't be done overnight. These sort of notes really helped me keep track of the pacing of the story and I really appreciated the fact that she made a point to indicate that these sort of skills like fighting take a lot of work. So frequently in these "a person has discovered they're magical" books, I think authors can fall into the trap of using that as an excuse for why a character learns a new skill so quickly, especially in chosen one type stories. I really appreciate that this book didn't fall into that trap.
The side characters were also really great. Such a good mix of lighthearted characters and more serious people. They all had such distinct personalities that I could picture them so well. Again, some probably did fall into tropes about who is in the sort of band of people in fantasy books, but because I thought they were well written and well imagined, I didn't have any issues with that.
I definitely do want to continue on with the series. All of the books are currently available as eBooks from my library, so hopefully I'll be able to get to book two in the near future. I would definitely recommend this series to anyone who has considered reading them but have just never got around to it. show less
Yelena is up next for execution, but is offered a reprieve if she's willing to become the Commander's food taster. The only catch: she's been poisoned and needs an antidote from Valek, the Commander's chief of security daily to not die a slow agonizing death.
Very fun fantasy with some political intrigue and a slow burn romance that's much more in the background than in more current romantasy titles (fortunately I like it that way). Yelena grows a lot over the course of the story, and I had a blast learning along with her. There are a couple of fight scenes that get pretty gory, but I was enjoying other aspects enough that I could gloss over them.
Very fun fantasy with some political intrigue and a slow burn romance that's much more in the background than in more current romantasy titles (fortunately I like it that way). Yelena grows a lot over the course of the story, and I had a blast learning along with her. There are a couple of fight scenes that get pretty gory, but I was enjoying other aspects enough that I could gloss over them.
I found this book very absorbing and basically devoured it. Yelena, a prisoner condemned to death, is offered the choice to become food taster to Commander Ambrose, the military dictator of Ixia. Though it's a dangerous job, she accepts. Soon she is dealing not only with poisons, but with conspiracies against the Commander, magic-wielding friends and foes, and the mystery of her own identity. There are a nice romance (though the declaration-of-love scene near the end is probably the worst-written section of the book) and a lot of kick-butt women. I also thought Snyder's portrayal of Ixia was really interesting: it is a military dictatorship, but Snyder does a good job of showing the complexities of such a regime. There is an emphasis on show more the communal at the expense of the individual, but the Commander also seems to strive for true justice for the citizens of Ixia. I really enjoyed Yelena's story and plan to read the sequels, Magic Study and Fire Study, as soon as possible. show less
This type of fantasy is so hard to come by. It's more traditional, with the slow pace and less of a view into the emotions of the characters. They're more static than dynamic, coming into their own if changing at all. The combat scenes are the type of thing I would go back to read only THAT paragraph just for the fun of it (the mug scene, anyone?!). There is no sensationalism or glamorizing of the sexual assault in the book, which I appreciated. On the same note, I liked the represenation of someone whose romantic and sexual desires are unaffected by her past trauma even if that trauma(PTSD) does show up in other aspects of her life. There were no attachment disorder issues or anything, just a strong, decisive relationship. Readers who show more are looking for a very emotionally charged fantasy, especially on the romance side, will be disappointed in this, as the actual world-building and plot are where it shines. I honestly loved this book so much. Ready to read the others.
The one giant low point for me, despite my 5⭐ rating, is the 19 y/o with the 33 y/o thing. Gross. But to be honest, I genuinely can't imagine Yelena as any younger than 28. So... that's what I choose to believe she is lol. There's this whole section at the end of the book that has the writer going into her chapter notes on the book, and I was so disappointed to hear that a lot of her plot points were not planned, because in hindsight, I can see it. I wish I hadn't known tbh. That being said, the worst was the whole "I didn't plan for the age gap but it was the only thing that made sense." Nah. You can almost ALWAYS make writing work for your vision, you just have to have the skills to do so. Yes, Valek needed to be older to be the commander's first in command. But Yelena could have been older. Make a caste system, it seems like that's already a thing anyway with the way she's not even allowed to defend herself. She could have been owned by Reyad or something, making her disobedience punishable. There are so many ways the age thing could have been above board but Snyder deliberately chose not to put the effort in. So, again, in my head, Yelena is close to Valek's age, because she also ACTS like she is. NO 19 y/o would make the mature decisions she makes.
I give Kristin Atherton 4/5⭐. I NEVER listen to dramatized readings at higher speeds than recorded because that, to me, is like watching a movie at high speed and therefore incorrectly depicts the art of the performance. But I listened to this on 1.5x without remorse. show less
The one giant low point for me, despite my 5⭐ rating, is the 19 y/o with the 33 y/o thing. Gross. But to be honest, I genuinely can't imagine Yelena as any younger than 28. So... that's what I choose to believe she is lol. There's this whole section at the end of the book that has the writer going into her chapter notes on the book, and I was so disappointed to hear that a lot of her plot points were not planned, because in hindsight, I can see it. I wish I hadn't known tbh. That being said, the worst was the whole "I didn't plan for the age gap but it was the only thing that made sense." Nah. You can almost ALWAYS make writing work for your vision, you just have to have the skills to do so. Yes, Valek needed to be older to be the commander's first in command. But Yelena could have been older. Make a caste system, it seems like that's already a thing anyway with the way she's not even allowed to defend herself. She could have been owned by Reyad or something, making her disobedience punishable. There are so many ways the age thing could have been above board but Snyder deliberately chose not to put the effort in. So, again, in my head, Yelena is close to Valek's age, because she also ACTS like she is. NO 19 y/o would make the mature decisions she makes.
I give Kristin Atherton 4/5⭐. I NEVER listen to dramatized readings at higher speeds than recorded because that, to me, is like watching a movie at high speed and therefore incorrectly depicts the art of the performance. But I listened to this on 1.5x without remorse. show less
I've been very curious about this book. Seeing it on Audible I downloaded it to listen to on the second half of our trip to South Dakota. I will start off by saying the audio book was done very well; very high quality production.
Yelena has been imprisoned with the ultimate punishment of death awaiting her; her crime is the murder of a man. As she takes what she believes to be her last steps before hanging by noose she is instead lead into the office of the Commander's head of security, Valek. There she is given a choice; she can go to the noose or she can go through training to become the Commander's food taster. Of course she chooses the second action. From this point on her live is full of the danger of food-tasting and of escaping show more the guards of the father of the man whom she killed. It is also filled with the kindness of a few special people and of Yelena's exploration of here own abilities.
I loved this book. This book was a breath of fresh air after all the mediocrity I've read lately. The characters had a lot of depth and were very intriguing. I loved Yelena's character and found her training as a food taster to be very interesting; I don't think I've ever read anything on this subject before. The character of Valek is close to the top on my list of male characters that I love. He is just awesome in his skill, his depth, his humor and his loyalty. The Commander is another character with great depth and great interest. You really want to know all of these characters better; you want them to be a part of your life.
The book is exquisitely written and full of lush detail; yet there is wry sense of humor throughout the book that keeps the story from taking itself too seriously. The plot starts off simply and becomes more convoluted and intriguing as the book continues. There are many layers of political intrigue here that really keep your brain thinking and active. The characters are constantly evolving and surprising you. Yet somehow the book is an easy read (or listen). I found myself unable to leave the car because I needed to know what would happen next! This is one of those books that you will think about; I couldn't wait to start the second one in the series.
A great book. I am very happy that I picked this one up; definitely one I will re-read. I will have to go and by the hardcover book just to have it in my collection of books that I absolutely adore. show less
Yelena has been imprisoned with the ultimate punishment of death awaiting her; her crime is the murder of a man. As she takes what she believes to be her last steps before hanging by noose she is instead lead into the office of the Commander's head of security, Valek. There she is given a choice; she can go to the noose or she can go through training to become the Commander's food taster. Of course she chooses the second action. From this point on her live is full of the danger of food-tasting and of escaping show more the guards of the father of the man whom she killed. It is also filled with the kindness of a few special people and of Yelena's exploration of here own abilities.
I loved this book. This book was a breath of fresh air after all the mediocrity I've read lately. The characters had a lot of depth and were very intriguing. I loved Yelena's character and found her training as a food taster to be very interesting; I don't think I've ever read anything on this subject before. The character of Valek is close to the top on my list of male characters that I love. He is just awesome in his skill, his depth, his humor and his loyalty. The Commander is another character with great depth and great interest. You really want to know all of these characters better; you want them to be a part of your life.
The book is exquisitely written and full of lush detail; yet there is wry sense of humor throughout the book that keeps the story from taking itself too seriously. The plot starts off simply and becomes more convoluted and intriguing as the book continues. There are many layers of political intrigue here that really keep your brain thinking and active. The characters are constantly evolving and surprising you. Yet somehow the book is an easy read (or listen). I found myself unable to leave the car because I needed to know what would happen next! This is one of those books that you will think about; I couldn't wait to start the second one in the series.
A great book. I am very happy that I picked this one up; definitely one I will re-read. I will have to go and by the hardcover book just to have it in my collection of books that I absolutely adore. show less
Yelena is locked in a dungeon waiting to be executed when the Commander's security advisor, Valek, offers her a deal. She can become the food taster for the Commander, making sure that no would-be assassin has poisoned his food. To make sure she doesn't use the freedom of her new position to try and escape, Valek poisons Yelena with Butterfly's Dust. To survive, she has to visit him every morning for a dose of the antidote. Yelena must try and figure out how she can escape now that she's been poisoned but it's hard to find time to do that because a rebels are plotting against the Commander. On top of all that, she just found out that she has magical powers she can't control.
I want to start off this review by reminding my readers that I show more am not an experienced fantasy reader - if you are, you may want to take my review with a grain of salt.
Yelena is a great, strong female character. She doesn't play the damsel in distress; she pulls herself up by her bootstraps and learns to kick some ass. She does have a love interest, but I didn't feel any chemistry between him and Yelena. That subplot felt a little forced to me.
Magic doesn't play a significant part of the story until towards the end which was actually a plus for me. For some reason, I can get on board with zombies, vampires and werewolves but I have trouble suspending my disbelief when it comes to magic. I think it might be because there are more clear-cut "rules" about what zombies, vampires and werewolves are capable of. Maybe reading more fantasy would cure me of that problem. Overall, I think thought Poison Study was a fun, quick read. show less
I want to start off this review by reminding my readers that I show more am not an experienced fantasy reader - if you are, you may want to take my review with a grain of salt.
Yelena is a great, strong female character. She doesn't play the damsel in distress; she pulls herself up by her bootstraps and learns to kick some ass. She does have a love interest, but I didn't feel any chemistry between him and Yelena. That subplot felt a little forced to me.
Magic doesn't play a significant part of the story until towards the end which was actually a plus for me. For some reason, I can get on board with zombies, vampires and werewolves but I have trouble suspending my disbelief when it comes to magic. I think it might be because there are more clear-cut "rules" about what zombies, vampires and werewolves are capable of. Maybe reading more fantasy would cure me of that problem. Overall, I think thought Poison Study was a fun, quick read. show less
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Shivers, obsession, sleepless nights—these are the results not of one of the milder poisons that novice food-taster Yelena must learn during her harrowing job training but of newcomer Snyder's riveting fantasy that unites the intelligent political focus of George R.R. Martin with a subtle yet potent romance. Through a stroke of luck, Yelena escapes execution in exchange for tasting the food show more of the Commander, ruler of Ixia. Though confined to a dank prison cell and doomed to a painful death, Yelena slowly blooms again, caught up in castle politics. But some people are too impatient to wait for poison to finish off Yelena. With the help of Valek, her steely-nerved, cool-eyed boss and the Commander's head of security, she soon discovers that she has a starring role to play in Ixia's future—a role that could lead to her being put to death as a budding magician even if she hits each cue perfectly. The first in a series, this is one of those rare books that will keep readers dreaming long after they've read it. show less
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Author Information
Maria V. Snyder was born and raised in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She earned a Bachelor's of Science degree in Meteorology at Pennsylvania State University in 1988, before deciding to become a novelist in 1995. Snyder graduated with a Master's degree in Writing Popular Fiction from Seton Hill University in 2007. The first two books in Snyder's show more popular fantasy/romance Study series, Poison Study and Magic Study, were Booksense picks in 2005 and 2006, respectively. Poison Study received a starred review in Publishers Weekly, and Magic Study was a RITA Award finalist. Dawn Study which is Book 6 of the Study series made the Februaury 2017 bestsellers list. Snyder has also written science fiction short stories and freelance magazine and newspaper articles, in addition to teaching fiction writing classes at a local college. Her book Spy Glass was published in 2010 and landed on the New York Times bestseller list. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
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Awards
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Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- Poison Study
- Original title
- Poison Study
- Original publication date
- 2005-10-01
- People/Characters
- Yelena Liana Zaltana; Valek; Commander Ambrose; Rand; General Brazell; Irys Jewelrose (show all 17); Janco; Ari; Reyad; Mogkan; Margg; Dilana; Marrok; Maren; Kangom; Captain Star; Porter
- Important places
- Ixia; Sitia
- Epigraph*
- Ze zaten vrolijk met je te praten terwijl ze je vergif toedienden. - Kathy Brandt, een goede vriendin die de strijd verloor, ondanks chemotherapie
- Dedication
- To my husband, Rodney, for all the support he has given, is giving and will give. I'm spoiled rotten.
In loving memory of Frances Snyder, Jeanette and Joseph Scirrotto.
"They would talk to you and make jokes whi... (show all)le they were feeding you poison."--Kathy Brandt on chemotherapy; a good friend who lost the battle - First words
- Locked in darkness that surrounded me like a coffin, I had nothing to distract me from my memories.
- Quotations
- "But you’ve slipped under my skin, invaded my blood and seized my heart.” “That sounds more like a poison than a person,” was all I could say. His confession had both shocked and thrilled me. “Exactly,” Valek repl... (show all)ied. “You have poisoned me."
"What have I earned from you, Valek? Loyalty? Respect? Trust?" "You have my attention. But give me what I want, and you can have everything."
"Yelena, you've driven me crazy. You've caused me considerable trouble and I've contemplated ending your life twice since I've known you...but you slipped under my skin, invaded my blood and seized my heart." - Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)"No, a promise."
- Blurbers
- Lackey, Mercedes; Graham, Heather; Elliott, Kate; Springer, Nancy
- Canonical DDC/MDS
- 813.6
- Canonical LCC
- PS3619.N937
*Some information comes from Common Knowledge in other languages. Click "Edit" for more information.
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