#chronicles of ixia series

[brainrotcharacters]

First time reading: Dawn Study by Maria V. Snyder

I’m going to be annoying and reblog my own posts

[seventhratking]

“to yelena, our newest food taster. may you last longer than your predecessor”

[horrorgirlreads]

Words cannot describe how excited I am to read this

[oh2e]

Not be Commander/Valek posting but can we address the fact that the Commander carved a C into Valek’s chest which is used as a sign of his loyalty and then many years later Yelena and Valek bound their marriage by carving into each other’s chests. Valek has two carvings on his chest - the Commander, his boss, and Yelena, his wife.

[hermitknut]

20 Questions for Fic Writers Tag Game

@birdylion tagged me :D

1. how many works do you have on AO3?

56.

2. what’s your total AO3 word count?

440,219

3. what fandoms do you write for?

There've been quite a few over the years. Currently Goblin Emperor (slightly on the back burner while I unkink my writer's block) and Hands of the Emperor (just started dabbling, nothing posted yet). Before that Merlin, Green Rider, Realm of the Elderlings, Doctor Who, and Harry Potter predominantly, with little dips into Discworld, Sherlock, Sweep, Supernatural, Percy Jackson, Lady Trent, Life on Mars, Old Kingdom, Life on Mars, and MASH. I have some Narnia stuff kicking about in my drafts somewhere, and while I've never posted it I've been writing Animorphs fanfic for years.

4. what are your top 5 fics by kudos?

The Stairs Beneath the Heart: Goblin Emperor, a series of vignettes that runs parallel to the canon that I posted through the start of the pandemic and really enjoyed. It was the first time in ages I'd had a regular posting schedule, and the first time ever I'd had that much fandom attention on something I was writing - everyone was so lovely <3.

Take These Tower Stones: Goblin Emperor, the sequel to the above, a much more coherent and consistent story which everyone was again really supportive of <3

What Friends Are For: Discworld; Angua gives Vetinari the shovel talk. There's a big disparity in the stats between the previous two fics and the rest, so these last three were a surprise to me! I'm glad people liked them though :)

Fire in the Night: Merlin, somewhat angsty nightmare/comfort oneshot. Again, surprised to see this one so near the top, but pleasantly so.

The Michen Emperor: Goblin Emperor again, currently the bane of my existence because I can't seem to finish it (I will eventually, just need to unstick my brain). Really appreciate all the love people have shown it. Basically, what if canon but with smol!Maia.

7. what’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

Probably either Take These Towers Stones, or Red Sky (which is a tiny little snippet of fluff).

8. do you get hate on fics?

I've had a few shitty comments, and mostly I've just deleted them. I've never had any extended hate campaigns or anything, just people who mistakenly thought their dislike was worth expressing.

9. do you write smut? If so, what kind?

Occasionally; usually though not always queer, normally pretty tame. I read smut usually without worrying about the warnings, but I'm a bit too shy to comment on it, and I think that extends to my writing, haha. Maybe I'll get the hang of it some day :)

10. do you write crossovers?

Nah, for some reason they don't work for me at all - almost a squick, I don't read them either. The closest I got was considering a fic where the characters from Green Rider had diplomatic contact with the characters from the Chronicles of Ixia series, but I never ended up getting there.

11. have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not that I know of.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

I don't think so - I should probably put in my Ao3 that people are welcome to if they like, I keep forgetting. I'd be honoured if anyone wanted to.

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Nope; I'm very picky and not good at compromise, though it's something I'd like to work on one day. It'd have to be very low stakes and with someone very patient!

15. What’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you will?

Lines of Silver and Gold (Realm of the Elderlings) is probably my oldest fic that is both posted and unfinished, and I have no current plans to work on it. I'm hoping that one day I'll be able to come back to it, but that book series was my thesis topic and unfortunately I rather burnt myself out on it, so it might be a long while.

The Queen Rider series was originally going to have two more fics, but those have been scrapped; fortunately it resolves quite nicely as is. Maybe I will put up a little misc fic with what I do have of the rest some day.

And on a more positive note, my Animorphs fic - it was originaly going to be a full written-through story spanning a considerable post-canon period, but unfortunately I lost the original in a harddrive failure and while I rewrote some of it I rather lost my enthusiasm for it. However, I have been reconsidering lately and might post what exists as a series of loosely connected vignettes; we'll see.

16. What are your writing strengths?

Dialogue is what I find easy and what I've received the most compliments on; I think this is because a lot of my fic is drafted "out loud" before I get anywhere near setting it to page, so the first iteration is often predominantly speech. I'm also often told I'm good at mimicking the tone of the canon, if I'm writing for a book fandom.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Research (I'll do it if it's something that will otherwise potentially hurt people, but other than that I have neither the effort nor the inclination), and making things messy - that is, I tend to tidy things up a lot and I'm not good at letting my characters get things wrong/communicate badly/etc. Good for fix-its, less good for creating challenges in the story.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic?

I am depressingly monolingual so I don't do it in my fics; as to what everyone else does I think they should have fun and do whatever they like, I suppose. Not enough knowledge to have more of an opinion than that.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

Harry Potter was my gateway fandom.

20. Favourite fic you’ve written?

Ohhhh tough one. I'm immensely proud of the Keystone series (The Stairs Beneath the Heart and Take These Tower Stones), so they're solid candidates, but I also really like The Shadow of the Mountains (Lady Trent) and Miracles (Realm of the Elderlings), the latter of which contains possibly my favourite line of prose I've written.

I'm tagging @the-tao-of-fandom, @pipuhattar, @alittlefellowinawideworld, @nonasuch, and anyone else who'd like to answer!

[romanwitchgirl]

A little bit about me:)

Welcome to the hell that is my blog! This is the pinned post.

I like to read:

Percy Jackson (All of the series) by R.R

Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo

Air Awakens by Elise Kova

The Coven Elemental Magic by Chandelle Lavaun

Kingdom of the Wicked by Kerri Maniscalco

They Both Die At The End by Adam Silvera

The Infinity Cycle by Adam Silvera

How to Train Your Dragon by Credessa Cowell

Currently Reading:

The Chronicles of Ixia by Maria V. Snyder

All of Us Villans by Amanda Foody and Christine Lynn Herman

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I like to watch:

How to Train Your Dragon

She-Ra and the Princesses of Power

Avatar the Last Airbender

The Great British Baking Show

The Flash

Supergirl

Harry Potter

Voltron

The Dragon Prince

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I like to listen to:

Set It Off

Panic! At The Disco

Fall Out Boy

My Chemical Romance

Lana Del Ray

MARINA

Sleeping At Last

Green Day

Mother Mother

Lorde

Taylor Swift

grandson

The Neighborhood

Bring Me The Horizon

Arcadian Wild

Alec Benjamin

Bastille

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What I like on YouTube

Minecraft (Hermitcraft, Third Life, Last Life, Double Life, Empires SMP) *Note: I HAVE A PROBLEM WITH SHIPPING BLOCK MEN OKAY LEAVE ME ALONE

TwoSetViolin

The Talk It Off podcast

The Pointe Shop

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Notes:

I have way too many out-of-school and in-school hobbies. I forget half of them.

Slytherin🐍

Cancer ♋🦀

Dying inside, all the time 💀

@nerdywitchgeek - irl and tumblr bff and soul sister 🖤

[lgbtplus-literature]

He’s only really a main character in book 1 and becomes a minor character (albeit with great power) in the later books and his transness gets magically explained away (what with being 2005) so it’s not right up there, but the Chronicles of Ixia by Maria V. Snyder is an amazing series. The author is currently rewriting the series from the love interest’s POV and the trans man is the love interest’s best friend so presumably he stays quite relevant in those. They’re high fantasy; probably best classified as New Adult; and are comprised of three/four trilogies and a short story anthology.

(I wouldn’t count the Chronicles of Ixia as ‘LGBTQ fiction’ but the trans character in it was the first time I’d seen an LGBT+ character in the wild and therefore he is important to me. The series is also fantastic so there’s that too. They’re definitely not the kind of thing to jump in to when you want trans fantasy novels but it’s nice to see incidental trans characters also.)

Yoooo!

This is. A very specific request, and believe me, I know how hard it is to find books like this, but. Do you have any fantasy recs with trans male main characters? I've read Viscera and On This Unholy Scaffold (trans guy side characters...), The Witch King, and of course, the classic recommendation of Cemetery Boys. I'm leaning towards more high fantasy-ish, but I will probably enjoy anything with magic\fantasy creatures. YA and adult books are mostly what I'm looking for, and romance is something I can take or leave.

I do! Check out Venom & Vow by Anna-Marie McLemore and Elliott McLemore (YA), The Sunbearer Trials by Aiden Thomas (YA), Peregrine Seas by R.C. Ballad, Peter Darling by Austin Chant, and Your Heart Will Grow by Chace Verity. If I can add nonbinary transmasc, I'll also mention The Wicked Bargain by Gabe Cole Novoa (YA).

[nonbinaryicon]

“it's a dirty way to fight, but i'm late for lunch." ♦︎ character aesthetic for valek icefaren, standing president of the 'i want to kill yelena guild' ♦︎ soulfinders series (maria v snyder)

[angelscryptonite]

[wealllovesoulfinder]

Janco: I sleep with a sword under my pillow

Onora: weak, I sleep with a knife

Maren: I sleep in the armory

Yelena: you're all pathetic

Ari: what do you sleep with then?

Yelena: with Valek

[booksbeyondimagining]

Poison Study (Poison Study #1, The Chronicles of Ixia #1), by Maria V. Snyder

Publish Date: September 27, 2005 Published by: Mira Length: 431 pages Genre: Fantasy My Rating: ★★★☆☆ (3 out of 5 stars)

Synopsis:

Murder, mayhem and magic…

Locked in a coffin-like darkness, there is nothing to distract me from my memories of killing Reyad. He deserved to die—but according to the law, so do I. Here in Ixia, the punishment for murder is death. And now I wait for the hangman's noose.

But the same law that condemns me may also save me. Ixia's food taster—chosen to ensure that the Commander's food is not poisoned—has died. And by law, the next prisoner who is scheduled to be executed—me—must be offered the position.

My Review:

This is one of those books I have been meaning to read for forever and while I enjoyed reading it for the most part, there was definitely a lot lacking that had me disappointed in many aspects of it. Despite that, I'm still interested in continuing the Yelena's story, though, so while there will be a lot of negatives in this review, it wasn't an entirely bad novel.

To begin with the plot itself is really interesting - lots of intrigue and mystery to keep me enticed. I will say the constant attacks on Yelena got to be a bit wearisome after a while, especially when it seemed like someone new was after her every other chapter. But I thoroughly enjoyed the storyline surrounding Brazell and the Commander, as well as Yelena's own personal forays into becoming more skilled in different areas.

I was also pretty pleased with the characters for the most part. Yelena is a feisty protagonist who actually stands up for herself in situations and actively makes the decision to learn how to defend herself (and other things). I love that she is intelligent and observant and while a lot of things seem to happen to her, she uses those situations and builds herself up because of and in spite of them. It showed well in her character growth over the course of the novel as she opened herself up to others and learned to trust people and herself again.

Now, for the negatives.

Right off the bat the writing was...awkward. There is an immediate "flashback" of sorts in the first pages which had a transition that just did not sit well with me. If I hadn't forced myself past it and continued on, I might have immediately stopped reading this book. There were several more "awkward" moments, especially towards the beginning, that had me cringing inwardly. One in particular was when Yelena reveals some of her past trauma to the reader by interrogating herself as a pretend nurse? It was just...weird.

Then there was the world-building. While there wasn't one huge info-dump at the beginning, there were several smaller ones scattered throughout that would just suddenly be inserted into the story whenever necessary. These were clinical explanations, a paragraph or two long, that did not really immerse me in the world but rather felt like parts taken from a textbook on the history of Ixia. I was glad when they stopped showing up as the story progressed because while they were necessary to explaining the world, they were unflattering to the actual story.

In conjunction with the world-building annoyances, there was the issue I had with adding the character Mogkan well after the halfway point. Supposedly this is an antagonist who was present for much of Yelena's torture and ends up playing a large role in the nefarious plans of Brazell, and yet he was not once mentioned before his appearance at the castle. It felt almost as if Maria V. Snyder was still making up some of the plot at this point and had only just figured out some of the villainy. I just wish he had been mentioned earlier whenever Reyad and Brazell came up. It just seemed so strange to have him suddenly appear and be so important without any prior mention.

Similarly, there was a character trait of Yelena's that was introduced without any afore-mentioned allusions to it - her acrobatics. All of a sudden, she was an acrobat. It would have been nicer to see her show some dexterity or think about it before actually saying it out loud. After that it was incorporated into her being like it should have been - in thoughts and movement - but no indication beforehand.

And then finally there is the relationship between Valek and Yelena. Yes, part of me gets their dynamic and sees how they work well together, the other part of me is still struggling with the distinct age difference between them. He is, what, 14-15 years older than her?? Um??? Like he was assassinating the king while she was just a child! [SPOILER] And then they had sex the first time they kissed at least I think it was sex it was very...metaphoric. But the real kicker was that THEY DID IT IN A DUNGEON COVERED IN STRAW AND RAT EXCREMENT AND WHO KNOWS WHAT ELSE O_O. Nope. I get that there was a mood and some sense of urgency but holy hell no. [END SPOILER]

Like I said, while there are a lot of technical negatives to this book, the overal plot and the characters had me intrigued enough to keep going, and I think I will still continue with the next book. Hopefully now that most of the world building has been established and the characters have sort of fleshed themselves out, things will get better with the rest of the series.

CONTENT WARNING: mentions of past rape, bodily harm

[saintnesryn]

✨❤️YELENA ZALTANA❤️✨

I peered deeper and found my soul

.

.

.

(yelena zaltana in every book: poison study)

[thereadingchallengechallenge]

#ThisAgain Challenge - July 9th - A Song of Ice and Fire

The Chronicles of Ixia series by Maria V Snyder

Want a long, epic fantasy with different viewpoint characters, warring countries and political intrigue? Without the gory violence or excessive nudity but with added magic? Then The Chronicles of Ixia might be for you! 

These books were apparently really popular when they came out but seem to have faded from memory around here. I read them a year or two ago and absolutely loved them. While the age-gap romance does squick out some people, it’s not predatory and is honestly one of the healthiest relationships I’ve come across in YA/NA. Highly recommend these books!

[safyresky]

OKAY SO LIKE. WAS NOBODY GOING TO TELL ME THAT MARIA V SNYDER'S STUDY SERIES HAVE SEVERAL NEW COVERS?? THAT ARE FAR NICER THAN THE ONES I HAVE?

[moiraineswife]

#relatable things in the chronicles of ixia: 

Yelena’s tea addiction. 

Esau’s plant obsession. 

[safyresky]

oh my god i forgot about the brandy scene and now i’m laughing REALLY HARD at this post

Valek: are you drunk?

Yelena: only on adventure

Yelena: and gin. and vodka. and bourbon. and gin.