The glass series follows Opal Cowan, a glass magician who can trap magic inside glass. She crafts glass messengers for Sitia and helps with a glass crisis. The Stormdance clans orbs are shattering, killing Stormdancers and leaving the coastal residents in life-threatening danger. The orbs contail the power of the seasonal coastal storms and are very dangerous is mishandled. Opal figures out the true recipe for the orbs due to her fathers teachings and helps to fix them. But as one crisis ends another begins when Opal is kidnapped trying to rescue Kade, a handsome Stormdancer captured by evil warpers. Trapped on the northern ice sheet of Ixia, with a huge storm close behind them Opal comes to terms with her death. She is prepared to sacrifice herself to save Kade.
The second in the Glass series, Sea Glass follows Opal as she defies the council and journeys to free her lover from a warper. With more warpers after her and a warrant for her arrest being made public, Opal has to fear for her life as she sacrifices more than she realises to save one she loves.
They get free.
At practically every single village she visits, and sometimes in the middle of nowhere, she’s beaten, or falsely imprisoned, or tortured, or kidnapped. The girl just can’t catch a break–people want to steal her magic, or, just want her to die. But resourceful girl that she is, Opal always manages to get out of sticky situations.
Along the way she picks up a couple of suitors: Kade, a powerful stormdancer with the personality of a dead fish and a never ending supply of weather analogies; Ulrick, a handsome, extremely overprotective glassmaker who lacks confidence, integrity, and any significant amount of magic; and Devlin, a good-looking former blood magic addict, who used to torture Opal, and, switched souls with a (very willing) Ulrick in order to seduce Opal, and then kidnap and torture her further. And then fall in love with her. And then saves her life. And save her friends lives. And then apologized to Opal for all the horrid things he did to her. And finally turn himself into the authorities, after giving Opal a gift. And a kiss.
In Spy Glass We rejoin Opal at home as she prepares for her sister, Mara’s wedding to Leif. In the midst of her grief (and moping) for her lost powers, she learns that the warpers who had taken her, had also stolen her blood. So after siphoning her own blood magic in the showdown at Hubal, student glass magician Opal Cowan lost her powers. Immune to the effects of magic, Opal is now an outsider looking in, spying through the glass on those with the powers she once had. Powers that make a difference in the world.
I was getting a bit irritated with her, wishing she’d get over herself and see the people around her. I understood that she’d been through a lot, but she wasn’t the only one and she was just so wrapped up in her own world and what was happening to her, she never seemed to think about anyone else or listen to anyone – she always knew best – and then whined to herself that her life was so rubbish. But in this one, she realy really developed into a strong, thoughtful, determined character. But what I liked about her change was that you could see it happen – you could see the thought process, the planning, the learning – she admitted she needed help and someone to teach her and she listened to people. It wasn’t just a sudden change – you watched her develop and it was so well done.
Opal has lost her magic. Possibly forever. Though she might gain it back if she can retrieve the vials of blood that were stolen from her—stolen and hidden by three men locked in a high security prison. Unfortunately that prison is so secure even the Councillors of Ixia can’t obtain legal entrance. Which just means Opal will have to find another way. But will that way require selling her soul to addiction? Or to the man who once tortured her? Or to the Commander’s assassin Valek. She ‘secretly’ visits Ulric/Devlin to get information from him and because she has confusing feeling for him. She is at home one night when Valek turns up. Terrified he’s been sent to kill her on the commanders orders she is startled when her parents invite him in for tea. He is also technically family as her sister Mara’s, boyfriend is Lief’s, and he is sister to Yelena, Valek’s soul mate. Valek discovers her new ability like his aversion to magic and so offers to and then trains her in the art of deception and espionage to helps her get the information she needs. She also develops as a character in her journey from ‘one trick wonder’ to a famous glass magician who saved Sitia alongside Yelena with her glass prisons for the Roze, the darvinian warpers and fire warper. Opal is a prize and is coveted by another from the newly known Bloodrosé family who live isolated and outside the Satian comities authority. Devlin loves Opal and helps her through her ‘imprisonment’ in the Bloodrosé encampment.
The climax of the story is writen perfectly. The situation was just so horrible and it physically make your skin crawl – without going into too much detail, it was just that level of sinister that probably isn’t the worst, but it’s definitely the creepiest or most sickening. And there’s a few things going on between the lines. What I liked about the climax and the ending though, it wasn’t just Opal showing her strength – it was everyone and it wasn’t just for one or two people – it was for everyone. The stakes were raised so highly and Opal accepted that she was just a small part of it.
These are all my favorite books of all time. I list them as my top rated and would recommend them to anyone.
My star rating is: five
- Goodreads rating – 4.00
- REVIEW – Suz