Storm Glass (The Chronicles of Ixia, #4) (Glass, #1)

by Maria V Snyder

As a glassmaker and a magician-in-training, Opal Cowen understands trial by fire. Now it's time to test her mettle. Someone has sabotaged the Stormdancer clan's glass orbs, killing their most powerful magicians. The Stormdancers--particularly the mysterious and mercurial Kade--require Opal's unique talents to prevent it happening again. But when the mission goes awry, Opal must tap in to a new kind of magic as stunningly potent as it is frightening. And the further she delves into the intrigue behind the glass and magic, the more distorted things appear. With lives hanging in the balance--including her own--Opal must control powers she hadn't known she possessed...powers that might lead to disaster beyond anything she's ever known.

• ISBN10: 0778325644
• ISBN13: 9780778325642
• Publish Date: 28 April 2009
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: CA
• Imprint: Mira Books
• Format: Paperback (US Trade)
• Pages: 448
• Language: English

Reviews

[nitzan_schwarz]

4.5 stars
*Sigh* I love Maria V. Snyder. Still kicking myself in the arse for not reading her books sooner...

[Chelsea]

If you are a Poison Study fan you are going to love this book. It’s in the same world as Poison Study and there’s even the same characters. We’re not in Yelena’s view, unfortunately, but we do see her which was nice. We’re in Opal’s point of view, who was a side character in the Poison Study series. I didn’t like her at first because she felt sorry for herself a lot, but she learned to get over that and became a really good character. I actually ended up liking her! I wasn’t a fan of all her decisions but she reminded me of a young Yelena. I think she’ll be a good heroine. I have to say though, the male lead, Kale, was my favorite and if Opal doesn’t take him I will.

The plot was great too. Opal is learning about her unusual magic and befriends one of the Master Magicians. I was glad that we got to see some of the side characters become main characters. It was really cool. There was a lot going on action wise though. First helping the Stormdancers and then looking for diamonds and then getting kidnapped. It was really intense. You will never be bored reading this.

[ladygrey]

I'm glad this isn't the first [a:Maria V. Snyder|445303|Maria V. Snyder|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1224476079p2/445303.jpg] book I read or I probably wouldn't have blindly gone on to read almost everything she's written the way I have.

And I'm really disappointed because such a pretty cover and then an underwhelming book.

First, [b:Storm Glass|6080889|Storm Glass (Glass, #1)|Maria V. Snyder|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1327899480s/6080889.jpg|2830002] is heavy on exposition from the Study series ([b:Poison Study|60510|Poison Study (Study, #1)|Maria V. Snyder|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170542921s/60510.jpg|1180409], [b:Magic Study|46202|Magic Study (Study, #2)|Maria V. Snyder|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1308955191s/46202.jpg|1254584] and [b:Fire Study|1966969|Fire Study (Study, #3)|Maria V. Snyder|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1308969176s/1966969.jpg|1970128]). Only about 1% of the information given away in this book is actually relevant to the story, so there's no reason to reveal so much of the earlier novels. And she goes over and over the same information. If this was #4 in a series I wouldn't be complaining (except for the repetition) but it's not. It's #1 in a new series and so spoilers are not fair game.

Second, it's exposition heavy from itself. "It's like that time when..." Yes, I know because I read about that time when less than 100 pages ago. You don't need to tell me about events I just read about. Again and again. Or give me information over and over. "My brother Ahir..." "You know, Ahir, my little brother..." "Ahir, who is my brother..." That's the most non-spoilery example I can think of and also I noticed at some point it was like the 4th time she'd informed me that Ahir was her brother or that her brother's name was Ahir. It's like she doesn't trust her reader to be smart at all or able to comprehend what's happening without her having to explain it to me.

Which makes sense because her main character isn't that smart. She's so full of doubt and recrimination and talking herself out of things that are so obvious right in front of her. It was really annoying. And then it didn't help when all the other characters were telling her how smart and courageous she was. I didn't believe them any more than she did. And I'm not sure what I think of Opal's power. It seems too easy. But since this is a Maria Snyder book, I fully expect an extensive and ongoing debate about the morality of her power in the next book.

I didn't like Opal. And I didn't fall in love with Kade or Ulrick (there is no romance anywhere in this book, really). If it wasn't Maria Snyder it would have faired much worse in my review. But ultimately, she is a good writer and this is an interesting world so it's not a terrible book. It's also not anything as good as she's capable of.