Fire Study by Maria V Snyder (The Study Trilogy: Book 3)

8/10

Yelena's apprenticeship is over - now her real test has begun. When word that Yelena is a Soulfinder - able to capture and release souls - spreads like wildfire, people grow uneasy. Already Yelena's unusual abilities and past have set her apart. As the Council debates Yelena's fate, she receives a disturbing message: a plot is rising against her homeland, led by a murderous sorcerer she has defeated before. Honour sets Yelena on a path that will test the limits of her skills, and the hope of reuniting with her beloved spurs her onward. Her journey is fraught with allies, enemies, lovers and would-be assassins, each of questionable loyalty. Yelena will have but one chance to prove herself - and save the land she holds dear.

“The apprenticeship is over- now the real test has begun”

In the final instalment of the The Study Trilogy Yelena’s intuitions for trusting those around her are again tested. It seems that being stubborn and not following rules is an advantage when you have become the “Soulfinder”.

The Council is uneasy with Yelena’s new abilities, but they are more alarmed at her capacity to overrule their own powers.

The Master Magicians constant fear of the unknown is beyond control, a fire burns bright. A Soul finder can only retrieve those who enter the emerald fires of doom, but the light is the escape.

As friendships are tested, old lives revisited, and the one constant love in Yelena’s life become enthralled in the flames, Yelena’s acceptance of who she is, and what she is, maybe the only key to survival.

Fire Study is the final instalment in The Study Trilogy and is preceded by Poison Study and Magic Study.