The cracks in the glass.

Morning,

I've just finished readed for the third time 'Storm Glass' by Maria V. Snyder, and felt hey I can write something about that. I like the story a lot, I've put the series down as one of my favourites, but there is a few little cracks that always annoy me.

Firstly the three books, Storm Glass, Sea Glass and Spy Glass are a follow on set of books from Poison Study, Magic Study and Fire Study. And a simply comparision, the Study heroine is Yelena, who I love. She's brilliant, powerful and totally a hero... while the heroine for the Glass series is Opal Cowan... who I like. She's alright as she grows into her powers over the three books, but she has an uncertainty about her that I don't really like. She's always questioning herself and then her internal monologue she'll tell herself to stop worrying. I know it's just me, but I want me heros to be heroic, not like normal me... how can you battle the forces of evil (Or Tricky and his gang) if you're worried you've left the front door open.

Secondly, in books I'm a great believer in the Soulmate Principle. That doesn't really translate into real life. In books, if someone seems destined to be with someone, they should be. In Storm Glass, Opal keeps mentioning the 'spark' she felt with Kade... but walked away to be with Ulrick... which did turn out to be a really bad choice... but still, it's a story, love should conquore all, even grumpy Kade.

Thirdly, I find some of the minor characters more interesting that Opal; Kade the grumpy 'Stormdancer' for one. He's great, brillaint and totally relalistic in his grief... then there is Leif the overshadowed brother who always wants to eat and is normally the first to crack a joke. Oh, and don't forget Pazia.

Finally, there are the convient plot twists. Ulrick is Devlen... when I first read it, I honestly expected a couple paragraphs later for Opal to wake up from the dream. It seemed to be a bit too big a strech... Also Mara's advice seems to be just to set up the plot twist with Devlen. And Janco is also randomly there, was he desperate for a little more limelight. Is there no other good character that could have swooped in to save the day, I might have believed it more if Valek himself had turned up.

But apart from all my complaints, I really do love the book... and have read it four times. I don't have enough words to describe the good points of the book. NB, it's just my point of view.

For now,

Ankh.