Product Description

Choose: A quick death...or a slow poison...About to be executed for murder, Yelena is offered an extraordinary reprieve. She'll eat the best meals, have rooms in the palace - and risk assassination by anyone trying to kill the Commander of Ixia. And so Yelena chooses to become a food taster. But the chief of security, leaving nothing to chance, deliberately feeds her Butterfly's Dust - and only by appearing for her daily antidote will she delay an agonising death from the poison. As Yelena tries to escape her new dilemma, disasters keep mounting. Rebels plot to seize Ixia and Yelena develops magical powers she can't control. Her life is threatened again and choices must be made. But this time the outcomes aren't so clear...

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #3796 in Books
• Published on: 2007-09-21
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 416 pages

Review
Overall, this is an impressive debut and a strong start to what should prove to be a compelling new fantasy series. --Rhianna Pratchett, SFX

'This is an excellent first novel, full of atmosphere, intrigue, and adventure with some interesting twists and a strong heroine determined to rise above her many problems.' --Locus Magazine

'Poison Study is an action-packed debut to a new fantasy series, involving intriguingly different forms of magic.' --Book Loons

Synopsis
Choose: A quick death...or a slow poison...About to be executed for murder, Yelena is offered an extraordinary reprieve. She'll eat the best meals, have rooms in the palace - and risk assassination by anyone trying to kill the Commander of Ixia. And so Yelena chooses to become a food taster. But the chief of security, leaving nothing to chance, deliberately feeds her Butterfly's Dust - and only by appearing for her daily antidote will she delay an agonising death from the poison. As Yelena tries to escape her new dilemma, disasters keep mounting. Rebels plot to seize Ixia and Yelena develops magical powers she can't control. Her life is threatened again and choices must be made. But this time the outcomes aren't so clear...

About the Author
Born and raised in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Maria attended 12 years of catholic school before going to Penn State University to study Meteorology. Earning a Bachelors of Science degree in Meteorology, Maria discovered, much to her chagrin, that forecasting the weather wasn't one of her skills. She found employment in the environmental field as an air quality scientist, and it was during those years that she began writing. After writing many science fiction short stories, Maria started Poison Study, her first novel, about a food taster. Her research on food tasting methods with an expert chocolate taster, her husband, turned out to be a delicious bonus while writing Poison Study. Maria has a brown belt in Issinryu Karate, and has enjoyed acting out the complex fight scenes in her books. Playing volleyball, scrapbooking, and reading are her other hobbies.

Customer Reviews

Very well written
Yelena was convicted of murdering a General's son and was sentenced to death. As she is walking to her death she is redirected to Valek's (chief of security) office where she is offered a choice: the noose or becoming the food taster for the Commander. Only the next convict sent to their death after the predecessor has died can become the new food taster as it is a death sentence anyway. Yelena accepts Valek's offer but she is not only in danger from possible poisons in the Commander's food but her life is threatened by the grieving General whose son she killed.

When Yelena was convicted no one knew her motive for the murder so everyone believes she is a cold-blooded killer, though Valek rightly begins to suspect otherwise. In this society any unnatural death is murder and therefore the punishment is always execution.

I was intrigued by the political structure in this society. The monarchy was overthrown by the current Commander and a new military structure was put into place. It seems like a very communist society for example, every child at age 12 is assigned a job based on their skills and is entered into training and every person must wear a uniform according to their political and social standing. This is very different to most of the fantasy books I have read.

Yelena was very well written she is a victim to begin with, she would run away at the first sign of trouble but as she is put in more and more danger she decides to find people to teach her some fighting skills. She becomes more confident and stands up to those that are bullying her.

This is a very easy to read fantasy with plenty of action and adventure as well as a slow burning romance. A brilliant start to the Study series

Strong female
It's been a while since i've devoured a book. This happened with poison study. This female character has fire, power and courage, as well as habilities. But what I like the most is that she does't just have the strenghts and uses it, like we see in so many books, she has to work them. She struggles through life as a girl and developes skills that slowly makes her a powerful woman. Even the romance that eventually happens isn't too lame. A nice story, that ends as good as it starts.

NO SPOILERS HERE.

Seriously good
I bought this book the other day and wasn't able to put it down from the moment i turned the first page. Yelanna's story is captivating, and Snyder's writing style creates a world as real as Tolkien's middle earth. I havent enjoyed a fantasy book this much in a long time!!