Magic Study

Yelana in Sitia, coping with unfamiliar people, customs and dangers

Thoughts

Predictions for "Magic Study":

1. I won't like it as much, because Valek won't be there, and because learning about poisons is more interesting than learning about magic (being more unusual)
2. Yelana will arrive and be instantly hated by some (influential) members of her family, for the crime of (a) not being dead, (b) being a barbarian from Ixia
3. Yelana will make some unexpected allies also (well, she presumably already has an ally in Irys)
4. Yelana will miss Ixia (more particularly Valek) terribly, and not feel as if she belongs to her bloodkin
5. Yelana will lose her temper badly when someone insults Ixia
6. People will be scornful of Yelana's lack of skill in magic (due to her not having been taught when she was young)
7. Yelana will turn out to be a Soulkeeper (ah, that one-off reference) and thus her life will be forfeit if people find out
8. Yelana will kill someone who tries to kill her

How they came out:

1. Yes, though Valek did end up being there for some of it. But, yes, learning about poisons was really more interesting. Some magic systems can be entrancing, but this one wasn't. It was just okay.
2. Yep.
3. Yep.
4. Yep.
5. No, she actually managed to keep her temper about that.
6. And I was wrong about this one, well, sort of. There are other frictions in the magic-learning community.
7. Yes and no.
8. I think she manages not to kill people, though she certainly bests people.

I actually gave up on this before I reached the end. I just couldn't care less how it ended, really, and I was forcing myself to keep reading because I don't like leaving books unfinished, but then I decided that there was no point in keeping on going if I wasn't enjoying it.

I think the major difference between my enjoyment of Poison Study and of this one was that I could admire Yelana's fortitude and the way she learned so much in the first book, but in the second book is was all "she has really powerful magic" and that wasn't something that she'd earned, so I couldn't really admire her for it. She was too Mary-Sue-like here; the old "little miss perfect, must do everything herself, is always right" kind of thing, and it just irritated me. She didn't learn anything. Even the whole "must reconcile with person who hates her" thing was just too easily dealt with.