Exciting News!

OMG, I can't believe this week is finally here!  As a librarian and especially a reader, I'm very excited about an author's visit down here.  Maria V. Snyder is going to be in Texas this week, and I can't wait to attend one of her book signings. :D  Below is her first fantasy book trilogy:

Choose: A quick death or slow poison.  About to be executed for murder, Yelena is offered an extraordinary reprieve.  As a food taster, she'll eat the best meals, have rooms in the palace--and risk assassination by anyone trying to kill the Commander of Ixia.  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...

Yelena is on her way to be reunited with the family she'd been stolen from long ago. Although she has gained her freedom, she can't help feeling isolated in Sitia. Her Ixian background has changed her in many ways, and her newfound friends and relatives don't think it's for the better. Despite the turmoil, she's eager to start her magical training. But her plans take a radical turn when she becomes involved with a plot to reclaim Ixia's throne for a lost prince, and gets entangled in powerful rivalries with her fellow magicians. If that wasn't bad enough, it appears her brother would love to see her dead. Luckily, Yelena has some old friends to help her with her new enemies. 

Yelena's new role as Soulfinder has made the Sitian Council uneasy. Worried that her new powers will corrupt her, the Council debates her fate. Yelena, though is trying to keep Sitia and Ixia from going to war. In the middle of political wrangling, Yelena receives a disturbing message: a plot is rising against her homeland, led by Ferde, the Soulstealer who murdered eleven girls and has escaped from prison with Cahil Ixia’s help. Cahil believes if he joins with the new Daviian Clan, he will have enough support to regain the Ixian throne. Testing the limit of her skills, Yelena becomes embroiled in the desperate fight to stop Ferde and the Daviian Clan from siphoning enough power to unleash a Fire Warper on the world. That would be worst than war between the northern and southern lands. Especially since, of all the powers Yelena possesses, she couldn't set fire to a candle wick if her life depended on it. And there is more at stake than just her life. 

It's always exciting having an opportunity to meet an author. ^_^