Valek and Yelena, and the unusual friends and family that they have gathered around themselves over the years, need to uncover the full extent of the plot before the war and bloodshed begins. In a strange twist the Commander himself seems to be being controlled by one of the very magicians he fears so much and a large portion of Sitians seem to be under the influence of a drug that renders them little more than puppets. On top of that it seems that the two countries are poised on the brink of war. Yelena and Valek now find themselves on the Commander’s most wanted list. An ability that was buried so deep within that the possibility of him ‘burning’ out by not knowing his own strength was very real.

Unfortunately, however, in a strange twist of fate, and just as Yelena found herself powerless, Valek seems to have come into his own magical ability.

The Commander of Ixia has very strong views on the subject and his feared assassin Valek has worked for him many years helping to keep magic at bay and in the process forming strong bonds and even a friendship of sorts with the Commander. Ixia lives in fear of those with magic and think all magic users should be eradicated. Yelena Is from Sitia and has (or at least had) very powerful magical abilities. Yelena is pregnant and the baby seems to be drawing her magic in some unknown way, making her a magic free zone and also leaving her incredibly vulnerable to any number of people who have come to hold a grudge over the years not to mention an assortment of assassins. So, we pick up virtually where the last book left off. If you haven’t read the previous books in the series you might want to look away about now as this review will undoubtedly contain spoilers. I think it’s very fitting that this final series once again brought to the fore those two characters that we all came to love so much from the Study books. Dawn Study is the conclusion of Maria V Snyder’s excellent series that started a number of years ago with Poison Study and brought to us the characters of Yelena and Valek.

Maria snyder study series