Touch of Power - Maria V. Snyder

Touch of Power by Maria V. Snyder

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



I always enjoy Maria V. Snyder's fantasies. They are lighter Fantasy fare, aimed more at a female audience with the romantic elements, and with the lack of long battle scenes (thank goodness!), although there's still plenty of conflict and violence on a different scale. I can always rely on getting a good adventure with plenty of danger, magic and intrigue. This start to the Healer Trilogy was not a disappointment. It's full of adventure and magic, friendship and betrayal, and has a romance that emerges slowly and is not the focus of the plot.

Set in a world devastated by a plague, all the healer mages have been killed except for Avry, and she is on the run. Much of the book is spent traveling in the forest, hiding out in caves, and learning outdoors and fighting skills (things that never seem to fail to attract me). Mages with forest magic, elemental magic, magic of life and death, and giant, man-eating lilies fill the landscape, while the surviving rulers fight over control of what's left. Along her travels, Avry discovers what's been going on in the realms while she's been in hiding and attempts to find out what her new role should be.

Not everyone wants to kill Avry for the bounty on healers. Others want to use her healing skills for their own purposes, and she must sort out the truth and decide her own loyalties. It is difficult to trust anyone, let alone find friendship or love in such dire times when everyone has lost something. Somehow, Avry finds these things in spite of betrayals, manipulation, ignorance, and fear. It's a fun journey and a solid start to the trilogy.