The Glasswrights' Journeyman, by Mindy L. Klasky
Book Review by Joshua Palmatier
Have you read this book?
I finished Glasswrights' Journeyman, the third book in Mindy L. Klasky's Glasswrights
series about a week ago, but then got sidetracked by a convention
before I had a chance to sit down and write up my review. The good news
is that the book is still firmly in memory, which is a sign of how good
this book is. I though the first book in this series was good. The
second one suffered from the fabled "second book syndrome" in my
opinion, dropping down a notch, but this third book not only recovers
from that spectacularly, it surpasses the goodness of the first book by a
long shot.
What I liked most about this book in comparison to the other two is two things: first, we travel to a new part of the world and visit a new society that has some immensely interesting aspects to it. The Spider Guild that is really the focus on this book was interesting and its power over the people (based on its monopoly on spider silk and its production) is easy to see and understand. I was interested in this part of the world and the guild that essentially controls it, even though there is a king and royal family here, and this kept me reading.
In addition, I was also caught up in the struggles of the two main characters, Rani and the king of Morenia, Hal. In the first book, they meet, but we don't see much interaction between them. Part of what I felt was lacking in the second book is that the two are separated for the majority of the book, so there was no tension between them. Here, however, we not only get them interacting with each other, but their entire relationship is tested again and again simply because of the circumstances and the fact that Hal is the king and subject to certain responsibilities and expectations.
The basic premise of this book is that Hal must find resources (meaning money) after the capitol city of Morenia is destroyed by a fire. He is also being pressured to find a royal wife. The two converge when it is revealed that there is a suitable, if young, bride available in far off Liantine. The bride's dowry might be enough to help Hal rebuild Morenia after the fire. He, along with Rani (ostensibly to help him barter for the best dowry), depart for Liantine in hopes of solidifying ties with the Liantine king.
And this is where pressure is put on the relationship between Hal and Rani, because they do have feelings for each other and yet both know that they cannot act on those feeling, and that realistically they can never be together simply because Hal is the king. So how can Rani barter objectively for Hal's future wife? How can Hal expect that of her? And how can Rani sit by and watch it happen if she isn't part of the process? The reason that this book works so effectively for me is because of all of this emotional turmoil. We didn't have this in the second book. Factor in the intriguing aspects of the new land and the slew of other characters that they meet once they arrive and the book takes off and holds you until the end.
So far, this is the best book in the series. I'm moving on to the fourth book, The Glasswrights' Test now and I'm hoping that the emotional struggles of the characters continue there.
What I liked most about this book in comparison to the other two is two things: first, we travel to a new part of the world and visit a new society that has some immensely interesting aspects to it. The Spider Guild that is really the focus on this book was interesting and its power over the people (based on its monopoly on spider silk and its production) is easy to see and understand. I was interested in this part of the world and the guild that essentially controls it, even though there is a king and royal family here, and this kept me reading.
In addition, I was also caught up in the struggles of the two main characters, Rani and the king of Morenia, Hal. In the first book, they meet, but we don't see much interaction between them. Part of what I felt was lacking in the second book is that the two are separated for the majority of the book, so there was no tension between them. Here, however, we not only get them interacting with each other, but their entire relationship is tested again and again simply because of the circumstances and the fact that Hal is the king and subject to certain responsibilities and expectations.
The basic premise of this book is that Hal must find resources (meaning money) after the capitol city of Morenia is destroyed by a fire. He is also being pressured to find a royal wife. The two converge when it is revealed that there is a suitable, if young, bride available in far off Liantine. The bride's dowry might be enough to help Hal rebuild Morenia after the fire. He, along with Rani (ostensibly to help him barter for the best dowry), depart for Liantine in hopes of solidifying ties with the Liantine king.
And this is where pressure is put on the relationship between Hal and Rani, because they do have feelings for each other and yet both know that they cannot act on those feeling, and that realistically they can never be together simply because Hal is the king. So how can Rani barter objectively for Hal's future wife? How can Hal expect that of her? And how can Rani sit by and watch it happen if she isn't part of the process? The reason that this book works so effectively for me is because of all of this emotional turmoil. We didn't have this in the second book. Factor in the intriguing aspects of the new land and the slew of other characters that they meet once they arrive and the book takes off and holds you until the end.
So far, this is the best book in the series. I'm moving on to the fourth book, The Glasswrights' Test now and I'm hoping that the emotional struggles of the characters continue there.
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