Book #137 - Touch of Power (Healer #1)

Touch of Power (Healer #1), Maria V. Snyder
high fantasy
390 pages
Started 12/20/12
Finished 12/22/12
4 STARS

I read Maria V. Snyder's Study series back in the spring of 2012, and hadn't read anything of hers since then. It seems a bit like blasphemy, since she's a local author and I've met her twice since then. At one of the book signings I attended over the summer, I had her sign my copy of Touch of Power. And, as of this past Saturday, I now have a signed copy of Scent of Magic (Healer #2). I decided it was high time I get started on this series

Avry is the last healer in existence, which means she's highly sought after. Some want to kill her, some want to possess her. So, she gets lucky when Kerrick and his merry band of men free her from a difficult situation. In return they ask that she heal a friend of theirs - who is NOT a friend of hers. During the journey to find this friend, she grows to love this rag-tag group of guys. Perhaps even enough to die for them.

Maria sure knows how to weave a good story. My favorite part is the world these characters live in. The rules, the history, the characters - they all weave together to make this magical place that is very easy to lose yourself in. Books that you lose yourself in are the best kind.

Avry is a strong woman. As the last healer left, she has to be. Yet, the reason I love her is because she's not strong 24/7. She has a few moments of weakness where she breaks a little, and those glimpses into her less confident side makes her more real to the reader. Because, let's face it, no woman - heck, no person - is strong all the time. Those types of characters seem like bad caricatures of what the author intended.

Kerrick is awesome - he's mean and cranky and stoic and yet he grows to care for this pure person. But, I gotta say, my favorite characters in this story are Kerrick's men - Belen, Loren, Quain and Flea. They are definitely the comic relief in this story. Also the heart of it.

If you haven't tried a Maria V. Snyder book yet, I definitely recommend that you do. Strong women, loyal men, and fantastic worlds - what do you have to lose?