GREAT. GENIUS. AWESOME. FANTASTIC. PERFECT.. and all other beautiful words one can have! 
 This one is definitely on my top reads for 2011. 
 Touch of power intrigued me at first because of the cover (uhh yea, i'm a judge-the-book-by-it's-cover sometimes..so sue me!).. and then the blurb which says something about healing.. and me being a nurse and all waited for this book for months and months. When it finally came out, i braced my self since i didn't know if the book will be what i expected it to be. Turns out, i didn't really need to worry... the book is more than what i expected and truth be told.. just blew me away. 
 I loved Avry on the spot. As in from the very first page, i admired her. She's really a breath of fresh air. I've encountered so many heroines.. the kick ass type, the intelligent ones, the combination of kickass and intelligent type, the beauty-and-brains type, the meek-subdued-not-so-likeable type, the bitchy-yet-likeable-because-humorous type and so on and so forth.. but Avry? she's very different. I can't place her on any of those. 
 I LOVE AVRY's character because: 
 she thinks before she heals meaning she knows triage 
 she's smart and you really can't fool her because her brain functions too fast.. 
 she can figure things out in just a small amount of time (which happened with the Death Lily incident) 
 she's honest yet she knows how to use words properly 
 she thinks about others' well being first 
 she knows the value of self sacrifice and definitely doesn't hesitate when it comes to children 
 she gives people the benefit of the doubt (like with Prince Ryne) 
 she's not self absorbed!! finally.. another character who doesn't fuss about herself on every page like everything's about her 
 she's intelligent yet doesn't gloat 
 she learned how to fight because of PRACTICE which means of course that she's hard working 
 she's also a good teacher (uhm like the time she taught Loren how to cook other stuffs) 
 she's plain yet commands attention because she knows how to handle her self 
 even though she tried hard to not make any connections with people, she managed to win their hearts and eventually became her friends.. her character knows the feeling of fulfillment due to her ability to heal 
 So there, i like the heroine. Do i like the story? well hell.. DEFINITELY YES! It has a different feel. I felt like i was reading about RAGNAROK (MMORPG), with all the talk about Mage, Acolyte, Monsters, Mercenaries and items. The places they traveled into, people they met and obstacles they had to face... awww that surely sealed the deal into me liking the whole novel. The love part here is just a plus. I also admit to being teary eyed at some point. Avry's point of view sometimes is just too much. With all the things she's been through and people who became close to her, she can't help being affected by them and of course, me as a reader can't help but be affected as well. sucks, but yea.. I was happy, frustrated, sad, fuming and then happy all over again. 
 Personally, i wish that Flea is still alive. I don't have any other things to hope for on the next book except for that. I hoped that the next book would come out on 2012 but, no such luck because at the end of this first book it says the second one will be out by 2013..anyway.. still, it's another great book to be expected. du