I'm very excited to have Maria V. Snyder on the blog today. I took a shot in the dark in contacting Maria for an author interview and was thrilled when she accepted my invitation. Maria's latest book Touch of Power was released last month and now available in your bookstores. I enjoyed the book and you can read my review here. Before we get to the interview, check out the awesome British book trailer for Touch of Power:




Welcome and thank you so much for stopping by, Maria! Your Study series was one of my favorite finds from last year and I have been recommending the series ever since.

MVS: Thank you for inviting me. I’m thrilled to be here!

I know that characters are not an autobiographical representation of their author, but they do share some similarities. Which of your characters would you say is most like you as a person?

MVS: I’d have to say Opal [from the Glass series] was the most like me at that age. Not now, but when I was in my late-teens, early 20s, I wasn’t as confident or as brave as Yelena [from the Study series], or as smart as Trella [from Inside Out].

Out of all the worlds that you have created in your books and short stories, which would you like to live in the most?

MVS: The world of Ixia and Sitia that is featured in my Study and Glass books. Inside is too crowded for me, and the Fifteen Realms (Touch of Power) is recovering from a horrible plague. Plus all my friends live in Sitia and Ixia. After writing about them for over ten years, we’ve become close. ;>

What I love about your books is that there is a balance between the presence of strong female protagonists who can take care of themselves and at the same time don't lose sight of who they are when love comes into their lives. What do you hope readers will take away from these portrayals?

MVS: I hope my reader sees that you can be independent and be in a relationship. That a relationship isn’t someone taking care of another, it is a partnership. Both partners are equals. They complement each other.

You have generously offered your readers short stories featuring our favorite characters from the Study series through your newsletter and now on your website. And I know you get asked this a million times so please forgive me but I have to ask: do you have any plans to write a book from that world in the near future?

MVS: Yes, I do plan to write another Study book with Valek and Yelena. However, it will probably be more from Valek’s point of view than Yelena’s and it will include some flashbacks about Valek’s early years. Don’t get too excited. There are no definite plans as to when this will be published – I haven’t discussed this with my editor yet. :)

YAY! Just knowing makes me happy. :) I'm super excited to read your new series. What can you tell us about Avry, your new heroine? What do find most interesting about her?

MVS: Avry has healing powers, but she’s been on the run from bounty hunters and mercenaries for three years. Her world blames healers for starting the plague that killed two thirds of the population. At the start of the book, she’s tired and lonely and decides doing something is far better than doing nothing. She heals a child, is caught and slated for execution. Avry is like my
other heroines—smart and stubborn, but she also has a more defined nurturing instinct than the others.  
    What is the most interesting is Avry’s healing powers. She has to take on the injury or illness and then heal herself. Yelena has this power as well, but it was a side effect to her other magic. I really wanted to explore that aspect of healing. The ability to heal with magic is very appealing to me. As a mother, I hate to see my children sick or injured and always wish I could make it all go away. I also have to give credit to an old Star Trek episode titled The Empath about a race of healers/empaths who would can take on the injury or illness of another. I watched all the Star Trek episodes, but this one always stayed with me.

From reading your blog, I know that you take researching very seriously when it comes to writing your books. What did learn while creating Touch of Power?

MVS: I learned about the Black Death in Europe and what happened after. I also read books on medieval medicines and found a few interesting nuggets. Right now, I’m researching traditional warfare versus guerrilla warfare for the second book, Scent of Magic.

What made you decide to write Touch of Power? Was it a story that you had been working on for a long time or was a struck of brilliance that made you go "I really have to write this story!"?

MVS: I had this vague idea about a healer or an apprentice healer during an epidemic. She was either going to be sought after for her powers – like everyone wanting her, or be hunted. I wasn’t sure. Then one night my daughter couldn’t sleep and she wanted me to tell her a story. She knew all my other books, so I started telling her about this healer. And every night, she’d ask, “What’s next?” That’s why Touch of Power is dedicated to my daughter.

If I visited your house, what books would I find on your bookshelves?

MVS: You’d find a lot! To save time, I’ll break them down by section. I’ve a mystery/suspense section with books by Dick Francis, Harlan Coben, Barbara Vine, Tess Gerritsen, and Laura Griffin. Then there’s the SF/F section that has Barbara Hambly, Kate Elliott, Mindy Klasky, Jeri Smith-Ready, Lynn Flewelling, David Eddings, Anne McCaffery, and Sheri S. Tepper. And then there’s the Young Adult books I love, including Rachel Caine, Julie Kagawa, Melissa Marr, Susanne Collins, Scott Westerfeld, and Rick Riordan.

You got some of my favorite authors listed. :) As a reader, I can't help but develop literary crushes. The love interests in your books are very swoon worthy. Do you have any literary crushes of your own?

MVS: Ilya Bahktiian from Jaran, by Kate Elliot, and Prince Ash from Julie Kagawa’s Iron Fey series.

I know there are many who would agree with you about Prince Ash. I've yet to met him! Which book characters do you love to hate?

MVS: Finding complex villains is very hard, and I can’t think of any right now. I really liked Hans Gruber from Die Hard, but that’s a movie. In my Glass books, Devlen was one of those characters – I hated him, but he just wouldn’t go away.

What books have you read recently that you think everyone should read but haven't discovered yet?

MVS: For the ultimate book about girl power, I’d suggest the ladies read, The Gate to Women’s Country by Sheri S. Tepper. It might be a little too much girl power for the guys ;) I also really enjoyed Shadow’s Son, by Jon Sprunk. The main protagonist is an assassin, and the book is well written and impressive for a debut novel.

Maria, thank you so much for stopping by! I know you're insanely busy these days so I really appreciate you taking the time to be here today.

MVS: Thanks for a great interview! If your readers would like more info about me and my books, I have the first chapter of all my books on my website as well as a number of free short stories they can read. 

Readers, be sure to stop by Maria's blog too to learn more about her upcoming works, author interviews from upcoming writers, writing advice, and giveaways. You can also find Maria on Facebook, and on Goodreads.


 Maria and her publishers have generously offered to giveaway ONE (1) signed copy of Touch of Power.  This giveaway is open to U.S. and Canada mailing addresses only. To enter, simply leave your name/alias and an email address so I can contact you if you win. This giveaway will end 11 PM EST on Friday, February 17. The winner will be selected by Random.org and announced on my blog on Saturday, February 18. Good Luck!

 I absolutely loved Maria V. Snyder's Study series. It made my favorite list of books in 2010. I thought the series had a great combination of intrigue, fantasy, and romance with a great cast of characters. It's definitely a series that I've been recommending nonstop after finishing it. When I heard that Maria was going to do a new series, I was very excited to read it. I really enjoyed reading the first book in the Healer series called Touch of Power for the most part, but did have a few issues with it. Many thanks to Mira and Netgalley for an advanced copy of this book.


Description (from Goodreads): Laying hands upon the injured and dying, Avry of Kazan absorbs their wounds and diseases into herself. But rather than being honored for her skills, she is hunted. Healers like Avry are accused of spreading the plague that has decimated the Fifteen Realms, leaving the survivors in a state of chaos.
  Stressed and tired from hiding, Avry is abducted by a band of rogues who, shockingly, value her gift above the golden bounty offered for her capture. Their leader, an enigmatic captor-protector with powers of his own, is unequivocal in his demands: Avry must heal a plague-stricken prince—leader of a campaign against her people. As they traverse the daunting Nine Mountains, beset by mercenaries and magical dangers, Avry must decide who is worth healing and what is worth dying for. Because the price of peace may well be her life...


Review: Touch of Power is a promising start to the Healer series. Snyder develops an intricate and intriguing world where the possession of magic abilities comes with a double edged sword, it may allow you to survive but it might also put you on the death list. I thought the world building was easy to understand and it didn't take me long to get immersed into the story. I loved how the concept of a magical ability, the potential abuse of power, and ethics play a role amongst all of the characters.
  Avry is another strong heroine created by Snyder. While I didn't like her as much as I liked Yelena from the Study series, she did hold her own. Avry was smart, stubborn, funny, and always had good intentions at heart though her envisioned plans didn't always work as she wanted them to. She also has the ability to heal, which makes her a very special commodity for those seeking the power of the throne. Avry uses her ability with discretion, which I think sets her up quite nicely for many complex questions as the series continues. I'm curious as to whether Avry will be in danger of taking advantage of her own power. Even though Avry had these strengths, she did come off as being a bit dense sometimes. There were times when I shook my head in amazement and said aloud "Really, that wasn't a rhetorical question?" when she asked stupid questions or didn't understand what was going around her. I couldn't help but wondered how in the world did she survive without being found for many years. 
  As for Kerrick, the male lead in the story, I didn't really care for him. He comes off as a complete jerk. He treats Avry awfully and cruelly when she refuses to obey his command. While he may have gotten the brooding, distant look right, I didn't fall for him at all. Actually, I kept waiting to see if I could just even trust or stand just seeing him whenever he popped on the page. Though he does seem to change (I'm still debating this), I couldn't negate his earlier behavior nor do I think we are suppose to.
 My issues with Kerrick dampened the romance aspect of the book for me. I didn't see the chemistry between him and Avry at all. I'm not fully convinced that they are meant to be with one another, especially when Kerrick's history is revealed. It almost seems both Avry and Kerrick are rebounds to one another.
  While I did have some issues with the main leads, I absolutely loved the secondary characters that make up Kerrick's unit and band of family. Each of these character brings warmth and humor especially when the story turned dark whenever the aftermath of the plague was discussed. In their own way, they dote on Avry and replace the hole in her heart of not having a family to return to after the spread of the plague. In addition to these great characters, there is also the deliciously evil villain who can easily make your skin crawl and reminded me a lot like Klaus from the Vampire Diaries.
 The pacing of Touch of Power is quite good. There is a balance between action and dialogue, never making the reader bored. We are given answers to questions, but more questions arise as we move forward in the plot. There were a few twists to the story that I predicted ahead of time, but there were others that I didn't see at all. To be honest, it took me a while to understand why the book was written in our language and didn't really ring of the fictional medieval setting but I got over it as I got swept away by the characters and the story. All in all, Touch of Power is an enjoyable read and I look forward to seeing what happens next to Avry.   


Rating: 4 stars


Words of Caution: There is PG-13 language, fantasy violence, an allusion to sex, and a few disturbing images. Though marketed to adults, I think the book is a great crossover to YA (recommended for Grades 9 and up).

If you like this book try: The Shifter by Janice Hardy, the Study series by Maria V. Snyder, Graceling by Kristin Cashore, Fire by Kristin Cashore