The Glass Palace Chronicle

by Patricia le Roy

When Marco Polo visited Burma in 1298, he was dazzled by gold and silver temples. Seven centuries later, the gold is gone and the Burmese government manages to keep its economy afloat via heroin trafficking. Plunged into this world are Claudia and her mysterious companion Paul.

359 pages, Paperback

First published January 6, 2000

Reviews

[Soma Mukherjee · Rating 5 out of 5]

beautiful book,exciting,amazing character portrayal

[Philippa · Rating 4 out of 5]

What first attracted me to this book was that it's set in Burma (now known as Myanmar), so some of the places, culture and religion were familiar to me from visiting there and studying Burmese Buddhism many years ago.
The story is one of intrigue, spying, art heists, heroin, double-crossing and love, set in places like the shining Shwedagon Pagoda in Rangoon, the stupa-dotted plain of Pagan, and the jungles between Burma and Thailand. The setting, politics and unrest between the dominant Burmese and other tribes such as the Shan all provide an authentic backdrop to the story.

[Goldenwattle · Rating 3 out of 5]

A slow story; more a travelogue than a story. Still, despite almost no story, it was interesting enough to hold me, until the end. Not riveting though and I wasn’t waiting with baited breath for anything exciting to happen. Only in the last quarter (or less) of the story does the interest pick up.
A travelogue of Myanmar.

A note: I keep getting mixed up between Austin and Adrian. Why call two characters similar names?

[Naura · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book reminded me so much of Dan Brown's books where we're generously supplied with good amounts of information.Dan Brown style,most definitely but not way up to that mark either!
The story is based mostly in Burma and there's an interestingly huge amount to learn about Burma and whatnot :)
You keep encountering major and minor twists as you read,hence absolutely no dull moment in the book. There are a lot of serious scenes such as death and intimacy,but these scenes lack the heart-pounding intensity,which would perhaps add more to its quality.
All in all,an excellent read and do you good to learn new,interesting stuff!
Happy reading :)

[Pat K · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed the Glass Palace Chronicles, but I found some of the info on Burma a little didactic. The story unfolds very slowly, with the pace picking up in the second half of the book. There are some nice twists and turns with character development but none of the characters are particularly endearing or memorable.

[Sanntint · Rating 2 out of 5]

Seeming true writing on Myanmar but some of her writing reflects negative feeling to its citizens and those who know we'll ! The storyline is just normal but the writer's attitude toward Myanmar is heavily emphasized ! Anyway , regardless of it , it's worth reading as a thriller for pleasantly leisure time !

[Nida Tariq · Rating 3 out of 5]

Is available at obooko.com. Good free read