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simmyk91 's review for:
Touch of Power
by Maria V. Snyder
The plague ha struck. 1/3 of the population are left. And healers are the blame. Healers are able to absorb a person's illness and recover 10x faster, but they refuse to heal the plague. This has triggered a man hunt and the belief that healers started the plague.
Avry is a healer on the run. She finds the notion of healers starting the plague ridiculous. But non the less has to hide and try and resist the urge to help others. One night she knows the crying baby next door will dye from her illness. She can't let it go on any longer. She goes and tells the mother to rest (the mother trusts her as Avry has baby sat many a time). It's worse than Avry thought, the babe wouldn't have lasted another hour. Avry takes on the illness and the babe stops crying. The mother returns in shock and awe as she hadn't been able to calm her for days. Avry returns her to her mum calming just to have a soothing touch and stumbles back to her apartment. Knowing she should flee ,that she has been discovered. She passed out into a healing slumber, unable to resist.
The next morning Avry is awakens to guards bursting down her door. The child's family had turned her in. Unable to escape the guards, Avry is held in prision and now on death row, until an unlikely crew of bandits help her escape. Why? When no one else trusts healers. Of course they need a healer.
The story turns from mediocre to brilliant - the characters are developed, the story becomes more intricate and the plot doesn't end the way I expected. I really enjoyed the world building (although not very in depth), imagining a post plague medievil era with magicians of the element types - air, earth, life, death, forest, water etc. I am not going to lie I may have shed a tear or two.
However I did dislike the lack of building in a realtionship between two characters - I predicted it happening but it just seemed forced. I also disliked the motivation of Tohon, it seemed a little childish. Aside from that, I really enjoyed the read.
Avry is a healer on the run. She finds the notion of healers starting the plague ridiculous. But non the less has to hide and try and resist the urge to help others. One night she knows the crying baby next door will dye from her illness. She can't let it go on any longer. She goes and tells the mother to rest (the mother trusts her as Avry has baby sat many a time). It's worse than Avry thought, the babe wouldn't have lasted another hour. Avry takes on the illness and the babe stops crying. The mother returns in shock and awe as she hadn't been able to calm her for days. Avry returns her to her mum calming just to have a soothing touch and stumbles back to her apartment. Knowing she should flee ,that she has been discovered. She passed out into a healing slumber, unable to resist.
The next morning Avry is awakens to guards bursting down her door. The child's family had turned her in. Unable to escape the guards, Avry is held in prision and now on death row, until an unlikely crew of bandits help her escape. Why? When no one else trusts healers. Of course they need a healer.
The story turns from mediocre to brilliant - the characters are developed, the story becomes more intricate and the plot doesn't end the way I expected. I really enjoyed the world building (although not very in depth), imagining a post plague medievil era with magicians of the element types - air, earth, life, death, forest, water etc. I am not going to lie I may have shed a tear or two.
However I did dislike the lack of building in a realtionship between two characters - I predicted it happening but it just seemed forced. I also disliked the motivation of Tohon, it seemed a little childish. Aside from that, I really enjoyed the read.