A magicians world

If you have read Maria Snyder's Study series, you have to read her Glass series. Book one in the series, Storm Glass, took a plot line from the Study books and came up with a wonderful, enchanting and mystical story centering around Opal. Opal is a student at Magician's Keep, is mostly a family taught glassmaker and trying to learn what her magical powers ultimately will be. She starts off a little bit on the insecure side, thinking she is only a 'One Trick Wonder' but we soon find out she is capable of many tricks. Her first mission is to find out why the Stormdancer's orbs are shattering. With forensic type thinking she deduces the formula for the melt and what is wrong with it. The glass making procedures in this book are extremely fascinating. And I especially loved the insight of storms and their emotional aspects that was described. Opal finds love in a round about way, perfects her craft and then learns shockingly she can be a either a valuable tool or a terrible weapon. The imagery in this book was good and again I loved the story as I did with Maria's previous books. There may have been a part towards the end dealing with the key that I had to reread a couple of times and then still didn't quite get it (yes it was a small detail but got to me anyway) but otherwise this book is a must read. I can't wait to read her next one, 'Sea Glass'. http://www.mariavsnyder.com/ Purchased book and then donated to university library