Touch of Power

Touch of Power –by Maria V. Snyder

Fiction – Fantasy

396 pages

Footnotes/Endnotes: No

Illustrations: No

Suitable for eReaders: Yes

This is my first book by Maria Snyder, and I found it very enjoyable. I was looking for escape, and I found it. What I wasn't looking for was romance, but I found that, too.

Avry is a Healer, the last of her kind. Healers, in Avry's world were empaths, that would take the injury or illness into themselves to heal the sick, but of course, that would leave the Healer in a sickened or injured state until they healed. Fortunately, they were fast healers.

When the Plague swept the earth, people blamed the Healers, and hunted them down and killed them, because the refused to admit they started it, and refused to treat the plague victims, as they could not heal themselves.

In hiding for years, Avry is a sucker for kids, and every so often, she heals a sick one, then must leave before people figure out she's a Healer. This time, she blew it, she had to rest to overcome the illness she brought into her, and because of the bounty placed on her, the village turns her in for the money. She will face the guillotine soon.

Or will she? I mean, that happens in the beginning of the book, so we know, don't we, that there will be a rescue, but who rescues her? A man who wants her to heal his Prince, who is held in stasis, and has the Plague. A man Avry knows and hates and who, if she goes along with it, will kill her. What is a girl to do?

This book is fun, and it's pure, unadulterated brain candy. There are Death Lilies and Peace Lilies, but who can tell the difference before they're eaten? There is intrigue, double crossings, and magic.

The sequel is due out this coming March (2013) and it will soon be downloaded to my Kindle once I see it. In the meantime, I'll try a couple other of her books....