I first read this book some years ago, right after it first came out. Then, of course, I forgot it existed for a couple years, so I didn’t notice that a sequel was published . . . and then the third book. Consequently, I’m rereading the first book. Ms. Snyder is a meteorologist-turned-writer who has lived the majority of her life in the Philadelphia area; she appears to love researching her books as much as she does writing them.

Yelena killed the son of a prominent General and was scheduled to hang, when she was given a reprieve — possibly. She is offered the position of food taster for the Commander (the ruler of the country of Ixia), which is obviously a job with a good deal of risk. Her mentor is Valek, the Commander’s second-in-command. He tests her constantly, and even when she is safe, she’s in danger. Unfortunately, the General whose son she killed is still around and making life difficult for her. On top of that, there’s a southern magician trying to get to her. Why?

Yelena is generally likable, but she’s unfortunately just a little bit too good at everything. She turns out to be one of the best tasters ever. She’s an acrobat who won the big contest once, and because of that, she does extremely well at learning self-defense and weaponry. She’s also very smart, and outwits a ton of trained soldiers in a tracking exercise. She takes to lock-picking immediately, and she’s able to help the cook tweak a recipe that wins the competition. She also is completely irresistable to the hero. If I liked her a smidge less, all these things would bother me, and I could see how she would come across as a little Mary Sue-ish to other readers. Fortunately, she stayed just barely on my good side for the whole book. I suppose all the horrific things in her past saved her from being all sweetness and light.

The romance takes a very long time to build, but it is definitely there. It borders on the very edge between cliched, because it’s expected, and slightly unbelievable. Since this is a Luna publication, readers should expect some romance, but it isn’t more than one would find in a good deal of regular fantasy novels. The sex isn’t terribly graphic; it’s mostly over-the-top euphemisms and figurative language.

My favorite part of the book was actually her training as a food taster. The information wasn’t shoved down our throats, but it was presented as Yelena learned it. I found the techniques quite interesting; how one might plug one’s nose to discover an underlying taste, gargling, stirring drinks, etc. The worldbuilding was probably my second-favorite part; I liked the history of the country and the military takeover. The dichotomy between what people assumed would change and what actually did change was fascinating. While I’m generally not that big a fan of military sf, this was fantasy, and the military mindset wasn’t so much ‘blow up the Commies’ as super-bureacracy.

Overall, the setting was a little more interesting than the characters, but I am looking forward to reading future books in this series, and set in this world. I think this novel by Ms. Snyder has a lot of promise, and I’d like to see what she does with it. I’m hoping Yelena will be a little less perfect in the next book, and that we get to see more of the less one-dimensional characters in this book. 3.5/5 stars.