Fast Forward Book Review for May 2011
Spy Glass
by
Maria V. Snyder
MIRA Books
A review
by Colleen R. Cahill
Several of my friends will not read a series of books until the last one is in their hot little hands. While they still have a wait for many titles, Maria Snyder’s Spy Glass is now out and that makes the Glass series ready for complete reading enjoyment. Related to her popular Study series, also from MIRA Books, we once again enter a world of magic and adventure, following the spinning life of Opal Cowan. Opal again finds herself in the center of danger, as forces both inside and outside her come together.
It has been two months since Opal’s rescue from a pair magicians who were siphoning away her magic-filled blood. While she does not regret that it took sacrificing her powers to overcome the kidnappers, Opal now feels she is in a “shadow world? Now she can only feel magic, but has no ability to work with it, unless you count her new power of magical immunity. This gives Opal several paths to consider, and after some advice and a job offer from the assassin Valek (who is perhaps the only other person with magical immunity), she decides: head to the prison at Fulgor. Why? To find out what happened to all the blood that had been drained from her during the six days she was held captive. While she may have no magical power now, her blood still holds enormous potential and could be used to create a great deal of mayhem.
Once at Fulgor, Opal finds the best approach is to secretly enter the prison, as the fewer who know about the possible blood stash, the better. Turning to old friends in the city, she learns this is going to be a tough job, for while they have many connections, there are none in the maximum security area Opal needs to access. A round of some convoluted plotting takes place, and just as she thinks there might be a way, Opal stumbles into Devlen, a man who has left physical and emotional scars on her. He pleads that he is changed and wants to help her, but is this just an act? As hints of what has happened to Opal’s stolen blood surface, she finds she must turn to this man who has damaged her body and soul.
Opal has changed a lot since her first appearance in the Study series. Once an innocent and gentle soul, she now has an edge, along with the ability to defend not just herself, but those she loves. Not a hard edge, however, as making the right choice is still important to Opal, even if that choice is hard to make at times.
If you liked Snyder’s Study series, you will definitely want to explore more of this world with Spy Glass. The only way to fully enjoy this book is to read Storm Glass and Sea Glass first. For those who are series completists, the Glass trilogy is a good choice, and a great read to boot.