Sea Glass Review

Sea Glass (Opal Cowan 2)

-       Maria V Snyder

Publisher: UK – MIRA Books

Student glass magician Opal Cowan's newfound ability to steal a magician's powers makes her too powerful. Ordered to house arrest, Opal dares defy her imprisonment, travelling to the Moon Clan's lands in search of Ulrick, the man she thinks she loves. Thinks because she is sure another man - now her prisoner - has switched souls with Ulrick. In hostile territory, without proof or allies, Opal isn't sure whom to trust. She can't forget Kade, the handsome Stormdancer who doesn't want to let her get close. And now everyone is after Opal's special powers for their own deadly gain.

So after her adventures in Storm Glass, Opal has discovered new secrets and new abilities but has become even more isolated from her fellow magicians and friends. This is re-enforced when other people don’t believe that there are still blood magicians loose in Sitia. Opal spends much of this book fighting for what she believes is right against all her friends and colleagues and learns to depend much more on herself. She still manages to make new friends and travel across the country in the course of the story. Opal is willing to sacrifice herself again to safe other people and is frequently between doing what she knows is right and what everyone else thinks is right. As a result Opal does question herself a lot throughout the story and there is a great glimpse into her mind and how she comes to trust herself more and perhaps rely less on other people to solve her problems.

Once again there is plenty of adventure and appearances from old friends. I loved that Janco is given more time and Kade is such a lovely guy, but the development of Develan is a real treasure. Like Opal I’m never sure if she can trust him or not, but I want to be able to trust him. The greatest joy of the Glass series though is the writing – it’s is beautifully done in a well developed world. It never feels like this is a story but following a real person and their life. This makes for involving reading but also one of my minor drawbacks with the series – there is little sense of urgency for much of the book. The story seems to get distracted at times from the overall arc as little issues are raised and not fully developed – yet. The joys of reading a trilogy is figuring out how something like the Bloodrose clan will come into the story later – if they do!

One final point I want to add - the cover art for the UK is gorgeous! I love all three covers and the colour scheme for each one just seems to fit with the story so far.

This is a great fantasy series – especially is you like a little romance with your magical adventures! I’ve already started the third book, Spy Glass and can’t wait to see how Opal develops further.

Recommended for fans of Kelly Armstrong and Patricia Briggs. 8 out of 10.