Scent of Magic by Maria V. Snyder Series: Healer #2
Published by Harlequin on 18th December 2012
Genres: High Fantasy
Pages: 414 (Paperback)
Source: Publisher
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Hunted, Killed—Survived?
As the last Healer in the Fifteen Realms, Avry of Kazan is in a unique position: in the minds of her friends and foes alike, she no longer exists. Despite her need to prevent the megalomanical King Tohon from winning control of the Realms, Avry is also determined to find her sister and repair their estrangement. And she must do it alone, as Kerrick, her partner and sole confident, returns to Alga to summon his country into battle.
Though she should be in hiding, Avry will do whatever she can to support Tohon’s opponents. Including infiltrating a holy army, evading magic sniffers, teaching forest skills to soldiers and figuring out how to stop Tohon’s most horrible creations yet; an army of the walking dead—human and animal alike and nearly impossible to defeat.
War is coming and Avry is alone. Unless she figures out how to do the impossible ... again.
I am so very, very glad I picked up another Maria V. Snyder book by getting my greedy little hands on Touch of Power, because I so very much love Avry and the world Snyder has constructed in Healer. The question is, can it hold up to the first book? Maybe it depends on the type of reader you are. For me it almost did, but not quite. That’s not to say that it wasn’t still a pretty damn enjoyable book.
There was much less of the long walking scenes in this novel and much more of Avry doing what she should be doing. Avryfying the world with her badassery. Allow me to list the good things about Scent of Magic:
1. Avry rocks.
2. Kerrick’s around but he’s not (Yup. You can see why I’m such a well-regarded reviewer, right?)
3. Kerrick becomes like 20% cooler. Like he went from being Douchetastic to likable. It was amazing, actually. Like magic.
4. The shit that happened that I can’t tell you about because – Spoilers! (Doctor Who fans, just imagine I said that in a River Song voice with a cheeky wink.)
So this book is a lot more suspenseful and has a whole lot of new characters – which is the plus. Less walking, also a plus.
But it wasn’t perfect. If you’ve already read the reviews then you’ve likely heard the desperate pleas of fans for the ending which was just… no. I refuse to speak of it. That ending? Gah!
But the issue with the book was inherent in Touch of Power too, so it’s a little silly to complain about. But those Death/Life lilies are turning into a deus ex machina – and they were already a little bit like that in book one. However the magical discoveries of this majestic plant keep cropping up. It’s weird. You’re immersed in a magical, high-fantasy world where a woman can absorb people’s injuries but these freakin’ lilies seem unrealistic?!
Anyway, end result is that I am definitely reading the next one. This series isn’t perfect but there is addictive qualities to it as well as my not-insignificant crush on Avry.
*Review copy provided for me by Harlequin AU for reviewing purposes. No money or gifts were exchanged for this review. Only love. Sweet, sweet loving.
Kat Kennedy
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