Meredith asked Maria V. Snyder:

In Shadow Study, I understood (and enjoyed) having the alternating POV. My question is, why are Yelena's chapters in first person, but Valek's and Janco's in third? I know Yelena's previous books were in first person, and the short stories about Valek and Janco were in third. Is that the reason you continued that in this book?

Maria V. Snyder Hi Meredith! I chose to use 3rd for Valek and Janco for a couple reasons. One - I think staying in first person between characters is really difficult to do well (and without jarring the reader) - I've read a few books that stay in first and I didn't like them. Two - I'm not ready to do a first person male POV - I'm not male and I don't know if I can "pull it off." I'd like to practice more before attempting it in one of my novels. Three - I liked the bit of mystery 3rd person keeps. I read a book where the main male protagonist was hard to read and he was mysterious and seemed dangerous, but then in a follow-up book the writer wrote this character in first person and that sense of mystery disappeared and it ruined it for me! So I wanted Valek to keep a bit of that mystery (don't know if I pulled it off or not). So that's why :).

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