Review: Storm Glass by Maria V. Snyder

Storm Glass, Maria V. Snyder

Release date: May, 2010

Publisher: Harlequin
Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy, Romance
Pages: 488
Series: Glass Series
1. Storm Glass
2. Sea Glass
3. Spy Glass

Author's website

Untrained. Untested. Unleashed.

As a glass maker 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, killing their most powerful magicians. The Stormdancers - particularly the mysterious and mercurial Kade - require Opal's unique talents to prevent it from happening again.

But when the mission goes wrong, Opal must tap into a new kind of power as stunningly potent as it is frightening. And the deeper she delves into the mystery, the more distorted things appear. With lives hanging in the balance Opal and Kade must learn to control unknown powers... powers that could lead to disaster beyond anything they've ever seen.

So I got home from the convention and immediately started reading Storm Glass. It didn't sound particularly interesting, but I decided to give it a try. Turns out that I should have read the Study/Soulfinder books first, just to get a bit of the back story, but it was quite well explained.

This is Opal's story, who was introducedc back in Magic Study, the second of the Study series. Opal is now nineteen and is sent on a mission to help the Stormdancer clan, whose glass orbs are breaking when they try to put the storm's energy into them, and the magicians are being killed, which is bad because they're kind of rare, and even one death is really, really bad.

So Opal sets off, and we learn more about her glass magic. She actually has the really cool ability to put magic into the glass animals she creates, and they can be used as kind of mobile phones by magicians with mind reading powers. Pretty awesome, huh?

This book sucked me in! I didn't expect to enjoy it, since I've now learned that Maria doesn't really stick romance in... or at least, it's shoved to the side and labelled 'Not an Important Part of the Story'. Yeah, I've read the first two Study books (yes, already!) and am onto the third, wishing to see more of Valek. But anyways, I enjoyed Opal's story a lot.

I loved the world because I wish magic did exist, and Opal's magic is so awesome. Making glass sounds beyond cool. I'm gonna YouTube it to see if they've got any videos! Okay, so this book is fast paced with everything happening all at once, but it's so easy to follow. Maria writes really well and the plot is easy to understand and I didn't get lost at all.

My verdict: Read this book, guys. Actually, read the Study books first, and then this one! Maria Snyder is fast becoming one of my favourite authors, and she's coming to Australia in August!

P.S. Have you guys seen the UK cover? I AM IN LOVE. I am in love with the UK covers of both the Study series and the Glass ones!! I am seriously debating whether to buy them instead of the Aussie editions... help me decide? >.<