Storm Glass
Storm Glassby Maria V. SnyderDo you know what the problem with excellent books is? It's the fact they are so good you do nothing but read and read until they are done and then well, they are DONE. This happened to me yesterday. This entire book, read in one afternoon while I was home sick. And now I am without this book and the next one in the series isn't due out until the fall. THE FALL!Storm Glass is set in the same world as Maria V. Snyder's The Study series. Since I was so overwhelmingly enchanted by that series (especially the first two books) I knew I had to read this book when it came out. In Storm Glass we meet Opal, a 19-year old girl we met in The Study series under difficult circumstances. To be honest, I hadn't really given Opal much thought in that other trilogy. She had a unique magical talent and was in a bad situation, but that's about it.Storm Glass focuses on Opal and her unique ability to fill her glass animals with magic. She's negatively referred to as the "One-Trick-Wonder" by the other students at the Keep who are learning magic as she has not shown any other magical ability other than her glass animals. Her glass creations however are a huge benefit to the other magicians who are able to use them to communicate with each other telepathically over distances. When learning of trouble with the Stormdancer clan, Opal is recruited to accompany a Master Magician on her visit to help solve the problem. Opal's glass making skills make her just the expert they need to discover why the orbs used by the Stormdancers are shattering. Opal is captured and tortured and stalked throughout her journey and she can never figure out why anyone would care about her since all she can do is blow magic into glass.This is yet another enchanting novel by the author. She has such a way with words and the ability to draw you into the world of Sitia and Ixia and care so deeply about the characters. Once I started reading I could not put the book down. I did though, for a little while after I dropped an entire mug of scalding hot tea on myself, the book and the lounge chair I was in (I burned places a girl should not burn, let me tell you!). Thus ended my peaceful read on the back deck as I tried to get better. Ah, well. Luckily the sun was hot enough that the book dried fairly quickly and after a shower I wasn't as sticky from the tea (with cream and sugar!). Sadly, my chair cushion suffered the most, but I have left it out, uncovered in the rain today to wash it off.The rest of my reading continued indoors, on the couch, without incident I am happy to report. And yet, a little after 9PM when I was drawing near the last couple of pages of the book I did not want to let it go. I wish I had found out about this book closer to the release of the sequel (Sea Glass) because I am longing to travel with Opal and Kade once more. Also? I find glassblowing fascinating and I think it's so cool to have written a book where your protagonist is a 19-year old glassblowing expert. It's original!One that that does confuse me though is this - the edition that is currently out is the photo I posted above. It was released in May 2009. Amazon CA has another cover listed for the same price as released July 2009. Why would you release the same book with two different covers only two months apart? I think it might be the UK cover, am I right? I am not sure which one I prefer. Possibly the current one as I tend to like my books to not have faces on them. (Yes, I know, I have issues.) What do you think?The Glass Series