Spy Glass by Maria V. Snyder

An undercover mission leads to danger, adventure and an impossible choice...

After siphoning her own blood magic in the showdown at Hubal, Opal Cowan has lost her powers. She can no longer create glass magic. More, she's immune to the effects of magic. Opal is an outsider looking in, spying through the glass on those with the powers she once had, powers that make a difference in the world.

Suddenly, the beautiful pieces she makes flash in the presence of magic. And then she discovers that someone has stolen some of her blood - and that finding it might let her regain her powers. Or know it could be they are lost forever...
 

"A terrific finale to a terrific series... although I didn't like the ending... who Opal ended up with..."

Say's Brittany on Goodreads

Sea Glass by Maria V. Snyder

Transformed from a timid girl who could make magical glass to a magician who can readily steal the power of other magicians, Opal Cowan is considered too powerful and possibly a threat to Sitia. Though ordered home by the Council, Opal is no longer content to follow them blindly and instead goes off on her own to search for Ulrick who she believes to be a victim of corrupting blood magic. But Opal’s plans hardly go as she hopes, and soon she finds herself embroiled in another deadly plot. Word of Opal’s newfound abilities has spread, and now there are people after her for their own selfish gain. With numerous enemies everywhere she goes, Opal no longer knows who to trust. All she knows for sure is that there are more lives than just her own at stake and that she can’t solve this mystery on her own. 

Opal Cowen has been summoned back to Sita's Magicians Keep by the high council. Never a good sign. After an unsuccessful trip to find her lost friend Ulrick who has switched souls with her long time enemy, Opal heeds the summons and returns only to be put under house arrest. Her new found power of siphoning the magic of others has the Keep on high alert and she must earn back their confidence.

At the same time, Opal is determined to prove that Ulrick is no longer himself, and becomes entangled in a plot to steal control over the glass messengers Opal creates for Sitia. Unless Opal can figure out who is behind the plot, all of Sitia may be in danger from something much worse than just some stolen magic... 

Storm Glass by Maria V. Snyder

As a glassmaker and a magician-in-training, Opal Cowen understands trial by fire. Now it's time to test her mettle. Someone has sabotaged the Stormdancer clan's glass orbs, killing their most powerful magicians. The Stormdancers—particularly the mysterious and mercurial Kade—require Opal's unique talents to prevent it happening again. But when the mission goes awry, Opal must tap in to a new kind of magic as stunningly potent as it is frightening. And the further she delves into the intrigue behind the glass and magic, the more distorted things appear. With lives hanging in the balance—including her own—Opal must control powers she hadn't known she possessed…powers that might lead to disaster beyond anything she's ever known.

A Thrilling Story of Romance and Adventure, Storm Glass, excites the senses with a heart-racing plot.

From the Author: Maria V. Snyder with her Acclaimed Study Trilogy (Poison Study, Magic Study, and Fire Study)

The Necromancer by Michael Scott

San Francisco:
Josh and Sophie Newman are finally home, And they're both more confused than ever about their future. Neither of them has mastered the magics they'll need to protect themselves, they've lost Scatty, and they're still being pursued by Dr. John Dee. Most disturbing of all, however, is that now they must ask themselves, can they trust Nicholas Flamel? Can they trust anyone?

Alcatraz:
Dr. Dee underestimated Perenelle Flamel's power. Alcatraz could not hold her, Nereus was no match for her, and she was able to align herself with the most unlikely of allies. But she wasn't the only one being held on the island. Behind the prison's bars and protective sigils were a menagerie of monsters, and now Machiavelli has come to Alcatraz to loose them on San Francisco.

Perenelle might be powerful, but each day she weakens, and even with Nicholas back at her side, a battle of this size could be too much for her. Nicholas and Perenelle must fight to protect the city, but the effort will probably kill them both.

London:
Having been unable to regain the two final pages of the Codex, Dee has failed his Elder and is now an outlaw.

But the Magician has a plan. With the Codex and the creatures on Alcatraz, he can control the World. All he needs is the help of the Archons. But for his plan to work, he must raise the Mother of the Gods from the dead. For that, he'll have to train a necromancer.

Fire Study by Maria V. Snyder

There's no rest for Yelena, the popular heroine of Poison Study and Magic Study, in this spellbinding and fast paced third novel. Picking up from where Magic Study left off, Yelena is called away from The Citadel in Sitia by her Storyweaver, Moon Man, to capture the killer Ferde, and his rescuer, Cahil who are in the hands of the Daviian Vermin. But the Vermin lead Yelena, her brother, Moon Man and their group on a wild chase throughout the whole of Sitia, always one step ahead. They are smarter than what Yelena gives them credit for, and soon have easily influenced the Councilors and Master Magicians who rule Sitia.

Very quickly, Yelena and Leif go from predator to prey and must flee to Ixia in order to avoid execution. Cut off from her Sitian allies, and afraid to even use her own magic, Yelena finds herself walking a fine line. She must learn to accept help from others, to know her own limitations, begin to trust herself and her power, and ignite that stubborn streak of hers towards her foes if she's to preserve both of her countries' ways of life.

Once again, Snyder proves she knows how to please readers. Fire Study lives up to its name in this flaming hot and unforgettable read. Fast paced and quick witted from the beginning, you'll lose track of time throughout this page turner. Fire Study achieves an elite status that very few novels could ever live up to. All the favorites from Snyder's previous novels are present, from Ari and Janco to Perl and Esau, Cahil to Valek, Star to Fisk, and Nutty to Dilana; they're all wound into this suspenseful and splendid novel to make this third Study novel a glorious finale.

Magic Study by Maria V. Snyder

"So far, I’ve managed to survive. Kidnapped as a child, I was raised in an orphanage in the Territory of Ixia's Military District #5. When I turned 16, I was forced to become Reyad’s laboratory experiment. After two years of torture, I ended up in dungeon awaiting execution for Reyad’s murder. Ready to hang, I was offered a choice instead. Become the new food taster or go to the gallows. I'm sure you can guess my answer. After all, I'm not a simpleton.

So you would think after dealing with all the dangers and problems of being a poison taster, I would have endured enough. But no. The discovery of my magical abilities—powers forbidden in Ixia—has resulted in another execution order on my head. My only chance to survive is to flee to Sitia, my long-lost birthplace.

Now Sitia is unfamiliar territory for me and meeting a family I don’t remember is scary. My homecoming is less than stellar. I'm treated like an enemy—even by my own brother. Plus, I don’t know how to control my powers. It would be nice to settle down and learn all about my magic, but there is no time.

A rogue magician has emerged in Sitia, and I’ve been targeted as his next victim. He has already killed eleven girls. One of the victims escaped, and my attempts to help her have alarmed the master magicians; they think I am a 'soulfinder' and now people don't trust me. Valek is in danger if he comes, and the Ixian delegation is arriving.

But I hoping my untested magical abilities will help me survive. No matter how bad things get, I just can’t give up, and there is always, always hope that tomorrow will be better."

Poison Study by Maria V. Snyder

About to be executed for murder, Yelena is offered a 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 agonizing death from the poison. As Yelena tries to escape her dilemma, disasters keep mounting. Rebels plot to seize Ixia and she develops magical powers she can't control. Her life’s at stake again and choices must be made. But this time the outcomes aren’t so clear! 

Yelena, Valek and all the characters had such a personality it was hard to decide who I liked best. The story is unique and twisting and as you see the love interests unfold you are immediately rooting for the man in Yelena’s life. The cook was a fun character as the magicians from the south and the two guards who made it their personal mission to guard the food taster. Food tasters usually do not have many friends given the life expectancy. No reason liking someone who will fall down dead at a table sometime in the near future.

The training of a food taster really surprised me. She was forced to sample a lot of different poisons so that she could recognize them in the Commander's meals, some of which leave her so ill she's incoherent for days. And even if she survives her training, there's a good possibility she won't survive a plot to murder the Commander.

What would you choose... A quick death, or slow poison?

The Will of the Empress by Tamora Pierce

Slowly Daja, Tris, and Briar return to Summersea and Sandry, but they are not the carefree youngsters they were when they left to travel with their teachers. They have things they don't really want to share with the others in their old mental link. Sandry, trying to regain their old closeness, feels rejected and angry: she feels punished. With their refusal to renew their old ties bitter in her mind, she can't believe it when they agree to Duke Vedris's request that they accompany Sandry on a long-overdue visits to the lands and family that Sandry has in Namorn.

The duke is right to worry about Sandry's trip to the north. Empress Berenene of Namorn does not like it that any of the income from the vast Landreg estates has been leaving Namorn to fill Sandry's pockets. She wants that money--and her marriageable young cousin--to stay in Namorn, where Berenene can manipulate both for the enrichment of her throne. Moreover, when she sees how powerful Sandry's three young mage friends are, Berenene decides that she wants them to stay as well. To convince the four young people to stay, the wily, beautiful and http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=7305731425758324430&postID=7142763343701559674powerful empress has an empire full of tricks: great mages who can trap less powerful ones, handsome young men and women devoted to her who will court whoever she orders them to, tax laws to beggar people who look to Sandry for help, family ties like Sandry's cousin Ambros and his family, greenhouses and gardens beautiful enough to enchant even the most hard-hearted of garden mages. She is willing to offer Briar, Tris, and Daja money and power to serve her. She is intelligent, and she has a will of steel.

What can four eighteen-year-olds do against her? It is not as if they are even strong at this point: Tris is besieged by visions, Sandry by lovers, Daja by love, Briar by horrific dreams from the last two years. They have people to look after, a madman, and Sandry's new maid and her children. How can they possibly defy imperial Berenene and her powerful servants?

Melting Stones by Tamora Pierce

Residents on one of the Battle Islands south of Emelan have sent a call for help to Winding Circle temple: their plants and trees and the animals who live around them are dying off in patches, for no reason that they can work out.  From Winding Circle come two familiar figures: prickly green mage Rosethorn, whose plant magic will help her to decipher what's ailing the plant life on the island, and Briar's former student, the obstreperous stone mage Evumeimei, or Evvy, who is eager to travel once more.

With them comes the eager and nervous Dedicate Initiate Myrrhtide, who will help them to communicate with Winding Circle should they need to, and the companion Evvy met while she, Rosethorn, and her former teacher Briar were traveling in distant Yanjing, Luvo, a being who is best described as a walking, intelligent rock. Though supposedly Evvy and Luvo are simply along for the ride, they are pulled into the island's mystery when Evvy is caught up by the wild spirits loose in an immense bubble of molten rock quite close to the surface of the island.

What Evvy, Luvo, Rosethorn, and the people of the island can do in the face of a fast-approaching volcano will be anyone's guess. Can they evacuate the island?  Or worse--will they try to shift a volcano?