Taste of Darkness (The Healer Series Book 3)

This is what I wrote about the trilogy on my blog (http://lindacjaeger.com):I just finished the Healer books by Maria V. Snyder, and I wanted to give them a little love!In the first book, Touch of Power, we get to know Avry, the main character, and the people who will be important to her throughout the series. At the very beginning of the book, Avry is alone and living on the run. Ever since a plague killed large parts of the population, healers have had a price on their heads. This might seem contradictory, but the healers were unable to heal the plague, and rumors had it that they even started it in the first place by experimenting with things they should have left alone. Grief and anger are taken out on the healers by those looking for someone to blame.Avry is not fully trained, but she was well into her education when healing became outlawed. She's been on the run for three years, and always breaks her cover when she can't take a child's pain anymore and decides to use her powers. So far, she has been able to get away, but this time, she is caught and sentenced to be executed in the morning. She is rescued/kidnapped in the nick of time by a group of men who need her to heal a prince - of the plague.The second book, Scent of Magic, splits the narrative between Avry and her now lover, probably because they are in two different places for most of the book. Avry goes undercover in Estrid's army, and her man is taken prisoner by viking-lookalikes in the North.The third book, Taste of Darkness, continues the split narrative, and there was a moment right before the end where I thought "oh no, please don't tell me it's done that way because we're going to lose one of them," as in another not-to-be-mentioned YA series recently on the hit lists.MAJOR SPOILER ALERT FOR HEALER AND ALSO SALVATORE'S DRIZZT BOOKS IN THE FOLLOWING TWO PARAGRAPHS!So. People die or are presumed dead all the time in this series, but they rarely stay dead. They are revived by magic, conserved by flowers, made into zombies by magicians. If someone you care about is presumed dead, it's safe to assume it's just a momentary setback. When reading R.A. Salvatore's books about Drizzt & Co., my husband and I soon turned it into a running joke that if we hadn't seen the body, we assumed the person/cat/arch nemesis in question was still alive (if not necessarily kicking).This litmus test turned out to be faulty here: even when characters are actually, physically dead, they get up again. At one point, it annoyed me, because I thought it was turning comical and that it was taking tension away from the narrative. I've changed my mind, however. The magical properties of life and death are central throughout the series, and we see that both can be used for good and evil. The Peace/Death Lilys, which I at first thought were a nice detail, then a little gimmicky, turned out to be major parts of the plot. The Lilys or the resurrections aren't plot holes or dei ex machina; they are natural parts of the story world waiting to be explored and discovered. Because of (especially) Avry's curiosity and research, the characters learn a lot of interesting things during the series, and if some of them are convenient, they're not too much so. It's more that the characters are good at turning what they find into good use.END OF SPOILERS.I'm not going to say much about the plot in the third book, other than that this is where it's all coming to a head. Tohon, Cellina, Ryne, Noak, Estrid, and now also the Skeleton King fight for power over the Fifteen Realms. In the middle of everything, Avry goes on a rescue mission to save one woman, but quickly learns she has to save over two thousand instead.I particularly enjoy the women in these books, and I think it's great that women are soldiers, leaders, inn keepers and whatnot without its being made a huge deal out of. This is what you do, writers of books/comics/computer games/anything - you treat women just as if they were normal people! It's a little disappointing, then, when you have thousands of female soldiers, that the other characters feel the need to name them "lady warriors". But at least they're there.After reading tons of how-to-write books, I find that I read differently. I still enjoy books, but I am more critical. That isn't always a bad thing. If I see things I don't like/agree with, I approach them in a "learn from them" mindset instead of a negative one.As a would-be writer, I really appreciated the pacing in this trilogy. If you're looking for examples of tension, conflict, or cliffhangers, start here. The characters are rarely given a rest, and there's always something new ready to happen just when everything has calmed down. It's not the hyper-stressful, over-the-top kind of tension, but it's exactly the right amount to keep you reading instead of going to bed.Another thing that was timely for me was the exploration of trees, plants, and the energy of living things. I am very fond of trees, and the characters in my WIP have a special connection to the forest around them. It was interesting to see how Snyder makes use of this relationship between people and nature. I also love the relationships between the characters. Friendship is very important for them, and while Avry does develop a romantic relationship during the series, she also forms lasting bonds with a lot of other characters. Having lived on the run for years, not knowing if her family was alive or dead, she now treasures every connection she makes. Where she used to be lonely, Avry now gets warmth, wisdom, and comic relief from her friends.If friends or lovers quarrel/disagree with each other, it's about important things, not minor misunderstandings that two seconds of actual talking would have solved. I was so happy with Dan Wells's Partials series, because the characters talked about their relationships like sensible people instead of over-thinking everything and never telling the other how they felt. I'm hoping this is a new trend in YA. Same with love triangles - both Partials and Healer have them, but they're treated gently, not like a contest or a never-ending back and forth. I'm looking forward to the book where the heroine decides she wants both guys/girls! It's always refreshing to read about healthy relationships where the characters love and respect each other for who they are. Although I cannot like the start of Avry's romantic relationship, it does grow into something mature and loving.All in all, the Healer series has action, romance, magic, world building, interesting plants, healing, vikings (I'm from Norway. I'm never not going to call them that.), undead, research, cannibals, lady warriors, politics, and caves. What's not to love?

After the cliffhanger from Scent of Magic, I was glad that I didn't have to wait for the third and final installment of this series.There were some great moments in here. Some I saw coming, like Avry getting kidnapped again, and some that I didn't, like Flea and Avry learning they could control the dead.Out of this series, Kerrick is easily my favorite character. His reluctance to complete certain actions are always supported by his own logic and what he knows is the right thing to do, even if he doesn't want to do it. I admire him for it. The monkeys are great for playful banter and lightening a moment. Belen reminds me of a close friend mixed with Dwain Johnson (The Rock) for some reason.So much happened in this book but towards the end, it felt too rushed. You don't get much of a glimpse into the two final battles. It was more of a "they're here, they happened, sorry you blinked." It was a little disappointing to lead up to this big moment only to be left with a small fight scene in a cave. I was expecting more of a "last stand" between Avry, Kerrick, and Tohon, and instead, we got the accounts of a couple of characters telling us what we missed. I would have been okay with it being a little longer if I could have had more action from that battle and the one with the Skeleton King.I also would have like a final reunion between the main five. Don't get me wrong, Kerrick and Avry should have their ending too but I felt myself longing for a moment to end with the group that it started with and not just the couple. A little epilogue would have been nice too but I'm also okay with the ending as it is.Overall, I really enjoyed the final installment and the series as a whole. We learn (with the characters) so much about the lilies, the magic people, and even the plague in this final book. Everything gets tied up in its pretty little bow but not without making you think or wonder a bit about the "why" and the "how."

Having read the 1st two books in this trilogy in paperback I had to get the final book asap. Loved the storyline and engaged all throughout

Das Buch, wie die beiden Vorherigen, unterhält gut und führt zu einem befriedigenden Ende. Von meinem Empfinden her richtet es sich eher an ein jüngeres Publikum.Obwohl es so schien, dass Prinz Merrick überleben würde, ist es doch nicht mehr sicher. Über Nacht ist er verschwunden, alle ausser Avry halten ihn für tot. Unterdessen geht das Leben, das heisst der mörderische Krieg in den Königreichen, weiter. Prinz Ryne sucht verzweifelt nach Verbündeten und kämpft ums Überleben. So machen sich die Freunde um die Heilerin Avry auf, die Hoheprieserin Estrid aus ihrer Starre zu befreien. Doch das ist nicht so einfach wie es tönt.Avry's Ziel ist es immer noch, Mom's Tochter aus den Klauen der Priester zu befreien und etwas über das Schicksal von Belen zu erfahren. Derweilen wird sie in ihrem Träumen vom brutalen König Tohan heimgesucht und sie weiss nicht, ob dieser real ist.Neben den vielen Kämpfen und der Brutalität gibt es auch vieles Zwischenmenschliches. Avry scheint es manchmal an Realitätssinn zu mangeln, aber klar- sie schafft es trotzdem immer. Etwas zu kurz kommen viele Protagonisten, die Zusammenhänge sind kurz gehalten. Aber der Schluss mit Merrick und Avry ist stimmig und schön. Spannende, kriegerische Trilogie mit abgerundetem Ende.

I really enjoyed this third book in the Avry & Kerrick story. The ending did seem to miss a bit more detail though for me.

Ich habe es wirklich genossen, alle drei Bücher hintereinander weg zu lesen. Die Geschichten sind sehr intensiv geschrieben, alles passt zueinander und baut auf einander auf und die Entwicklungen sind klar nachvollziehbar.Bei der Vielzahl der Bücher aus diesem Genre, gehört diese Trilogie definitiv zum obersten Drittel. Mir ist der Schreibstil sehr wichtig und ich genieße auch diese bittersüße Sehnsucht der Liebe, die sich über alle drei Bände aufbaut und dann durchzieht. Absolut gelungen. Und ich werde weitere Bücher der Autorin lesen.

I loved this book. Thank God Kerrick didn't die! The ups and downs and all arounds were a bit 'humph' and if I thought I wanted to slap Ryne before, someone should bitch slap him in this one. Just because.The Realm of Avry had a nice ring to it.....why she didn't pick that one I dunno.