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The Glasswrights Series: The Glasswrights' Apprentice, The Glasswrights' Progress, The Glasswrights' Journeyman, The Glasswrights' Test, and The Glasswrights' Master
All five novels of an acclaimed fantasy series “full of entertaining twists and turns” ( San Francisco Chronicle ).
Rani Trader is born a merchant in the kingdom of Morenia, where the caste you’re born into determines the path your life will take. After she gets an apprenticeship at the Glasswrights’ Guild, she discovers secrets beyond her rank, and soon her life will never be the same.
The Glasswrights’ Apprentice : Rani Trader has achieved the high honor of apprenticing in the prestigious Glasswrights’ Guild. But everything goes wrong when she witnesses the murder of the Crown Prince and is accused of being the killer.
The Glasswrights’ Progress : Rani survived the destruction of her family, her Glasswrights’ Guild, and everything else she held dear. She has begun to settle into her new life, living in the palace of Morenia’s new king, but then she’s kidnapped and taken to distant Amanthia where she discovers a plot against her ruler.
The Glasswrights’ Journeyman : Rani’s beloved homeland of Morenia has been destroyed by fire. The only hope for rebuilding is for King Halaravilli to marry a wealthy princess from Liantine, so Rani must set aside her own feelings.
The Glasswrights’ Test : Rani has finally been summoned by her exiled Glasswrights’ Guild to test for the rank of master, something she has wanted for years. She journeys to Brianta for the test and, cut off from all she cherishes, soon realizes that the lives of her loved ones hang in the balance.
The Glasswrights’ Master : Rani escaped Morenia just as enemy armies invaded. Now encamped in the kingdom of Sarmonia, she must make the hardest bargain of her negotiating safety for herself, her beloved king, and his heir, even as she struggles to control mystical powers that rise within her.
Rani Trader is born a merchant in the kingdom of Morenia, where the caste you’re born into determines the path your life will take. After she gets an apprenticeship at the Glasswrights’ Guild, she discovers secrets beyond her rank, and soon her life will never be the same.
The Glasswrights’ Apprentice : Rani Trader has achieved the high honor of apprenticing in the prestigious Glasswrights’ Guild. But everything goes wrong when she witnesses the murder of the Crown Prince and is accused of being the killer.
The Glasswrights’ Progress : Rani survived the destruction of her family, her Glasswrights’ Guild, and everything else she held dear. She has begun to settle into her new life, living in the palace of Morenia’s new king, but then she’s kidnapped and taken to distant Amanthia where she discovers a plot against her ruler.
The Glasswrights’ Journeyman : Rani’s beloved homeland of Morenia has been destroyed by fire. The only hope for rebuilding is for King Halaravilli to marry a wealthy princess from Liantine, so Rani must set aside her own feelings.
The Glasswrights’ Test : Rani has finally been summoned by her exiled Glasswrights’ Guild to test for the rank of master, something she has wanted for years. She journeys to Brianta for the test and, cut off from all she cherishes, soon realizes that the lives of her loved ones hang in the balance.
The Glasswrights’ Master : Rani escaped Morenia just as enemy armies invaded. Now encamped in the kingdom of Sarmonia, she must make the hardest bargain of her negotiating safety for herself, her beloved king, and his heir, even as she struggles to control mystical powers that rise within her.
- GenresFantasy
1486 pages, Kindle Edition
Published June 13, 2017
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102 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
January 24, 2018
The Glasswrights' Apprentice: Boy oh boy, talk about a tangled web. Rani/Ranita/several other names is surrounded by different factions, all professing to be saviors of the kingdom. She (therefore you) doesn't know who to believe.
Early on the Glasswrights' guild is completely destroyed because it is believed that its members were behind the assassination of the King's heir and hiding the culprit. Rani is sought after as she was observed calling out to the Prince right before he was killed. Meanwhile, Rani has taken to hiding out in the streets and masquerading as a casteless Touched child. A nice lot of twists and turns that resolve at the end of this volume. I was a bit confused when Rani kept being told that if she would do something, then she would be a full member of the Brotherhood. I thought she had achieved membership when she made a blood vow and additionally killed a soldier as ordered. She proved to be a very strong individual when she finally confessed to the King all that had happened since her guild had been destroyed.
The author, like so many others, seems to delight in complicated names. At least most of the characters use shorter nicknames.
The Glasswrights' Progress: Even Rani's kestrel hunting falcon has a long name (Kalindramina/Kali) Things go south in a hurry. Bashi (Bashanorandi) reveals how dissatisfied he is with his position as a bastard prince. He kidnaps Rani and Mair and takes them to Amanthia where his uncle, Sin Hazar, is king. I'm only to chapter 5 but there are indications that he may somewhat regret his decision to seek out his uncle. We are introduced to residents of Amanthia and their curious custom of tattooing a baby at birth to reflect which caste they will belong to. There are Lions, Suns, Owls and the much prized Swans.
Sin Hazar has created an army of children called the Little Army. Although it doesn't seem that they have been in any battles, their training is brutal. Captain Crestman would fit right in with Lord of the Flies characters. We eventually learn his history with the Little Army so understand a little more about him.
We meet an elderly woman named Shea who is desperately trying to protect a group of children from being impressed into the Little Army. Unfortunately she does not succeed.
Towards the end Hal reveals himself to be a worthy adversary. Rani shows surprising fortitude in protecting Hal from Bashi. You are left with the impression that both Hal and Crestman are a little in love with Rani, however, despite some indication that Rani is attracted to Crestman, she ultimately returns to Morenia with Hal. Davin, kind of an evil genius from Amanthia, is brought to Morenia to use his talents for them.
The Glasswrights' Journeyman: We are introduced to new characters who reside in Liantine, firstly Mareka, an apprentice of the spider's guild. This guild's use of poisonous spiders' web to create silk reminds me of a Nancy Drew story I read as a child where black widows were the spider of choice.
Many children from Amanthia had been sold to Liantine as slaves. We discover what happens to one of Shea's children, a Swan named Serena.
Three years after the ending of the last book, Hal wants to become the leader of the Fellowship of Jair. Morenia (Moren?) experiences a terrible fire that demolishes a large portion of the city. Hal is forced to seek financial aid from the Church to rebuild and he insults Rani during the negotiations, causing her to flee from his presence. Then he berates her for abandoning him.
Hal realizes his error in not allowing Rani to negotiate the loan from the church. He asks her to accompany him to Liantine where he will seek out Princess Berylina as a prospective bride. He needs a substantial dowery, where Rani's bargaining talents come into play, to help repay the church. He is also being reminded that he owes the kingdom an heir. Mair and Crestman accompany Hal and Rani to Liantine. Crestman is now a loyal subject who is demanding that Hal keep his promise to rescue the Little Army captives that have been sold as slaves. (I wonder how this would have played out if it was still believed that the Little Army was sent to Liantine to prepare for war)
Several storylines. Hal's courtship of the Liantine princess; Rani's quest to learn from Tovin, a master glasswright; Mareka's deception by stealing spiders from the guild and her plan to ensure both her and their safety.
Rani is one of those characters who has big plans but does not share them with others so there is a great deal of misunderstanding. One of her plans causes Crestman to turn against her, renounce his loyalty to Hal/Morenia, and be forced to stay in Liantine.
The Glasswrights' Test: Rani is well on her way towards rebuilding the glasswright guild in Morenia. She is somewhat blindsided by Hal's command that she accompany Princess Berylina to Brianta during her holy pilgrimage.
Some of the survivors of the glasswright's massacre in book one have relocated to Brianta. Rani is known there as "The Traitor." At least one of the master glasswrights conspires with the Fellowship who seem to be plotting against Rani, even though she is a member of that group. I think it must have something to do with her ability to help Hal succeed in various ventures, although his wife has been unable to grant him a living heir. The Fellowship initially seemed to be a force for good, or at least benign, but now reveals a sinister plot to take over the world.
Rani is again not sharing her thoughts and motives with those around her. Actually she is becoming quite unlikeable. I am rather hoping that this volume will be the last we see of her. Mair seems to have a good head on her shoulders and would probably be a more compelling heroine.
I am noticing a lot more editorial errors in book 4. The word "steel" was misspelled as "steal." A sentence ended with the word "the." Many other mistakes.
All righty then. The penchant for using long names is finally explained. Nobility's names are supposed to have at least five syllables. I knew Mair's name, being one syllable, marked her origins as a Touched street urchin. Apparently two syllables, such as Rani, come from the merchant class. Ranita Glasswright indicates her membership in a guild. Four syllables; I'm not sure.
The story is becoming rather tedious. So much torture, maiming and death. I don't think there are any happy moments in this book.
The Glasswrights' Master: Rani is delusional. "...struggling to find her way back into the guild that had betrayed her." Really? As I recall she is the culprit that caused the guild to be destroyed and its members either maimed or killed. She did not have the courage to turn herself in to the authorities which would have (hopefully) prevented the devastation. She might have become a martyr instead of being called "The Traitor." (I tend to agree with that descriptor)
So Brianta and Liantine have attacked Morenia*, forcing Hal and some of his loyal followers to flee the city. They travel to Sarmonia to hopefully enlist its king into aiding their retaking of Morenia. Once there, however, it becomes abundantly clear that the Fellowship has infiltrated Sarmonia's government and that it would be suicide to reveal their identities. Tovin Player, a former lover of Rani, is able to assist in their identity deception and additionally keep them from being punished for camping in the King's forest.
*I assume Liantine has been looking for any excuse to reclaim the spiders that had been smuggled to Morenia by Mareka and the Morenians. Otherwise, since they are using the excuse to declare war due to Berylina's death, it would make more sense to attack Brianta, since its religious fanatics are the ones who killed her.
I found the ending implausible. Why couldn't Berylina have employed the Thousand Gods to not only save herself but have them respond as they did for Rani to retake Morenia from the Fellowship?
Did Liantine recover the spiders that had been smuggled to Morenia? This wasn't addressed. I hope King Hamid will be able to resume his throne and that Hal followed through with his promise of granting him a significant reward for his aid in retaking Morenia.
What ever happened to Hal's sisters? They were never referred to after the first book.
I am especially disappointed in how Mair was depicted. Overall, this story was too dark a read for me.
Early on the Glasswrights' guild is completely destroyed because it is believed that its members were behind the assassination of the King's heir and hiding the culprit. Rani is sought after as she was observed calling out to the Prince right before he was killed. Meanwhile, Rani has taken to hiding out in the streets and masquerading as a casteless Touched child. A nice lot of twists and turns that resolve at the end of this volume. I was a bit confused when Rani kept being told that if she would do something, then she would be a full member of the Brotherhood. I thought she had achieved membership when she made a blood vow and additionally killed a soldier as ordered. She proved to be a very strong individual when she finally confessed to the King all that had happened since her guild had been destroyed.
The author, like so many others, seems to delight in complicated names. At least most of the characters use shorter nicknames.
The Glasswrights' Progress: Even Rani's kestrel hunting falcon has a long name (Kalindramina/Kali) Things go south in a hurry. Bashi (Bashanorandi) reveals how dissatisfied he is with his position as a bastard prince. He kidnaps Rani and Mair and takes them to Amanthia where his uncle, Sin Hazar, is king. I'm only to chapter 5 but there are indications that he may somewhat regret his decision to seek out his uncle. We are introduced to residents of Amanthia and their curious custom of tattooing a baby at birth to reflect which caste they will belong to. There are Lions, Suns, Owls and the much prized Swans.
Sin Hazar has created an army of children called the Little Army. Although it doesn't seem that they have been in any battles, their training is brutal. Captain Crestman would fit right in with Lord of the Flies characters. We eventually learn his history with the Little Army so understand a little more about him.
We meet an elderly woman named Shea who is desperately trying to protect a group of children from being impressed into the Little Army. Unfortunately she does not succeed.
Towards the end Hal reveals himself to be a worthy adversary. Rani shows surprising fortitude in protecting Hal from Bashi. You are left with the impression that both Hal and Crestman are a little in love with Rani, however, despite some indication that Rani is attracted to Crestman, she ultimately returns to Morenia with Hal. Davin, kind of an evil genius from Amanthia, is brought to Morenia to use his talents for them.
The Glasswrights' Journeyman: We are introduced to new characters who reside in Liantine, firstly Mareka, an apprentice of the spider's guild. This guild's use of poisonous spiders' web to create silk reminds me of a Nancy Drew story I read as a child where black widows were the spider of choice.
Many children from Amanthia had been sold to Liantine as slaves. We discover what happens to one of Shea's children, a Swan named Serena.
Three years after the ending of the last book, Hal wants to become the leader of the Fellowship of Jair. Morenia (Moren?) experiences a terrible fire that demolishes a large portion of the city. Hal is forced to seek financial aid from the Church to rebuild and he insults Rani during the negotiations, causing her to flee from his presence. Then he berates her for abandoning him.
Hal realizes his error in not allowing Rani to negotiate the loan from the church. He asks her to accompany him to Liantine where he will seek out Princess Berylina as a prospective bride. He needs a substantial dowery, where Rani's bargaining talents come into play, to help repay the church. He is also being reminded that he owes the kingdom an heir. Mair and Crestman accompany Hal and Rani to Liantine. Crestman is now a loyal subject who is demanding that Hal keep his promise to rescue the Little Army captives that have been sold as slaves. (I wonder how this would have played out if it was still believed that the Little Army was sent to Liantine to prepare for war)
Several storylines. Hal's courtship of the Liantine princess; Rani's quest to learn from Tovin, a master glasswright; Mareka's deception by stealing spiders from the guild and her plan to ensure both her and their safety.
Rani is one of those characters who has big plans but does not share them with others so there is a great deal of misunderstanding. One of her plans causes Crestman to turn against her, renounce his loyalty to Hal/Morenia, and be forced to stay in Liantine.
The Glasswrights' Test: Rani is well on her way towards rebuilding the glasswright guild in Morenia. She is somewhat blindsided by Hal's command that she accompany Princess Berylina to Brianta during her holy pilgrimage.
Some of the survivors of the glasswright's massacre in book one have relocated to Brianta. Rani is known there as "The Traitor." At least one of the master glasswrights conspires with the Fellowship who seem to be plotting against Rani, even though she is a member of that group. I think it must have something to do with her ability to help Hal succeed in various ventures, although his wife has been unable to grant him a living heir. The Fellowship initially seemed to be a force for good, or at least benign, but now reveals a sinister plot to take over the world.
Rani is again not sharing her thoughts and motives with those around her. Actually she is becoming quite unlikeable. I am rather hoping that this volume will be the last we see of her. Mair seems to have a good head on her shoulders and would probably be a more compelling heroine.
I am noticing a lot more editorial errors in book 4. The word "steel" was misspelled as "steal." A sentence ended with the word "the." Many other mistakes.
All righty then. The penchant for using long names is finally explained. Nobility's names are supposed to have at least five syllables. I knew Mair's name, being one syllable, marked her origins as a Touched street urchin. Apparently two syllables, such as Rani, come from the merchant class. Ranita Glasswright indicates her membership in a guild. Four syllables; I'm not sure.
The story is becoming rather tedious. So much torture, maiming and death. I don't think there are any happy moments in this book.
The Glasswrights' Master: Rani is delusional. "...struggling to find her way back into the guild that had betrayed her." Really? As I recall she is the culprit that caused the guild to be destroyed and its members either maimed or killed. She did not have the courage to turn herself in to the authorities which would have (hopefully) prevented the devastation. She might have become a martyr instead of being called "The Traitor." (I tend to agree with that descriptor)
So Brianta and Liantine have attacked Morenia*, forcing Hal and some of his loyal followers to flee the city. They travel to Sarmonia to hopefully enlist its king into aiding their retaking of Morenia. Once there, however, it becomes abundantly clear that the Fellowship has infiltrated Sarmonia's government and that it would be suicide to reveal their identities. Tovin Player, a former lover of Rani, is able to assist in their identity deception and additionally keep them from being punished for camping in the King's forest.
*I assume Liantine has been looking for any excuse to reclaim the spiders that had been smuggled to Morenia by Mareka and the Morenians. Otherwise, since they are using the excuse to declare war due to Berylina's death, it would make more sense to attack Brianta, since its religious fanatics are the ones who killed her.
I found the ending implausible. Why couldn't Berylina have employed the Thousand Gods to not only save herself but have them respond as they did for Rani to retake Morenia from the Fellowship?
Did Liantine recover the spiders that had been smuggled to Morenia? This wasn't addressed. I hope King Hamid will be able to resume his throne and that Hal followed through with his promise of granting him a significant reward for his aid in retaking Morenia.
What ever happened to Hal's sisters? They were never referred to after the first book.
I am especially disappointed in how Mair was depicted. Overall, this story was too dark a read for me.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 28, 2017
What to say about these books?
Not sure overall. There's no magic, no power, not much in the fantasy. It is a world that is not ours, and the politics, the culture, history, and behaviour of the citizens is just very different from ours.
At the same time it feels like a history lesson somehow.
Despite this huge lack of magic and awesomess, the books are amazingly well written, the story is always great, the books never end in a cliffhanger, and the characters are always multifaceted an believable.
It's a really good collection overall, and I loved it a lot.
Not sure overall. There's no magic, no power, not much in the fantasy. It is a world that is not ours, and the politics, the culture, history, and behaviour of the citizens is just very different from ours.
At the same time it feels like a history lesson somehow.
Despite this huge lack of magic and awesomess, the books are amazingly well written, the story is always great, the books never end in a cliffhanger, and the characters are always multifaceted an believable.
It's a really good collection overall, and I loved it a lot.
April 11, 2019
I was a little disappointed in this series - the title had led me to hope that it would be far more immersed in the day-to-day life of a glasswright working her way through the ranks. The protagonist does indeed start off as an apprentice glasswright, but the series focuses far more on her involvement in the kingdom's political intrigues and machinations. Other than that, it was a fun and entertaining series that kept me wanting to read more, and the conclusion was satisfying.
August 31, 2018
Solid read
Books followed each other well. Not a sit on the edge of your seat book, but a steady follow thru.
Books followed each other well. Not a sit on the edge of your seat book, but a steady follow thru.
December 14, 2019
Alright. Not worth a second read but I was willing to finish it for the story.
June 11, 2017
This was a hard review to write. I thought about writing a paragraph about each book and then some overall notes. But the books are available separately, with quite a few reviews for each. What I concerned myself with was delineating why the series is great. This bundle is when you want/need all of it at once. It’d certainly be a good thing to pick up before a long relaxing holiday.
I had no idea what I was getting into when I requested an early review copy. I left it a little late, because these books are quite dense. Going by the titles, I thought this would be a cute YA series in the vein of things like the Midwife’s Apprentice or maybe something more complex and serious but still rather whimsical, like Fly by Night. Silly me.
The Glasswright books are not YA. The main character Rani begins at the age of thirteen, but time passes quickly from book to book, and the themes and events of the book are intense and incredibly dark. There are consequences throughout for deaths that occur in the first book. The second book has a child army, which I felt a bit dubious about at first, since it felt unsustainable and a bit ham-handed for drama, but it took a turn I didn’t actually expect. As a whole, this series is great at delivering surprises. I never knew what to expect, usually in a good way.
I would have liked more about glassmaking and the guild, which I think could be a common sentiment among readers. I wasn’t always into the romantic subplots, however, I got the feeling that they were an extension of other uncomfortable things in the books. They made me think. Just like a lot of Rani’s more despicable or harsh actions. She makes a lot of bad decisions. This could get frustrating, except when she got hit with the consequences for them.
There were many locations, and they all had their own cultures, with the unifying theme of different kinds of castes. I loved all of the faction and political intrigue, although I was confused whenever the good guys were characterised by their desire to keep the oppressive status quo, and the first book’s villainous organisation was characterised by the desire to break down the caste system and allow the people to live as equals. Perhaps it’s simply my culture showing, but that didn’t make any sense to me. The antagonists were threatening evil villains, but their goal was noble and not really diminished by any of their behaviour. Of course, things turned out to go deeper than that.
If I were to compare this series to anything, it would be classic fantasy of the 80s as well as more modern dark fantasy. The only weird thing is that there were previews for the next book after the last chapter/epilogue of each book. That worked out quite nicely for me though--I tended to finish a book in the wee hours of the morning, so I couldn’t get to the next one right away without losing more sleep than was technically healthy. How nice that I could force myself to stop at the end of the preview and pass out.
(I received an ARC from NetGalley in return for an honest review.)
I had no idea what I was getting into when I requested an early review copy. I left it a little late, because these books are quite dense. Going by the titles, I thought this would be a cute YA series in the vein of things like the Midwife’s Apprentice or maybe something more complex and serious but still rather whimsical, like Fly by Night. Silly me.
The Glasswright books are not YA. The main character Rani begins at the age of thirteen, but time passes quickly from book to book, and the themes and events of the book are intense and incredibly dark. There are consequences throughout for deaths that occur in the first book. The second book has a child army, which I felt a bit dubious about at first, since it felt unsustainable and a bit ham-handed for drama, but it took a turn I didn’t actually expect. As a whole, this series is great at delivering surprises. I never knew what to expect, usually in a good way.
I would have liked more about glassmaking and the guild, which I think could be a common sentiment among readers. I wasn’t always into the romantic subplots, however, I got the feeling that they were an extension of other uncomfortable things in the books. They made me think. Just like a lot of Rani’s more despicable or harsh actions. She makes a lot of bad decisions. This could get frustrating, except when she got hit with the consequences for them.
There were many locations, and they all had their own cultures, with the unifying theme of different kinds of castes. I loved all of the faction and political intrigue, although I was confused whenever the good guys were characterised by their desire to keep the oppressive status quo, and the first book’s villainous organisation was characterised by the desire to break down the caste system and allow the people to live as equals. Perhaps it’s simply my culture showing, but that didn’t make any sense to me. The antagonists were threatening evil villains, but their goal was noble and not really diminished by any of their behaviour. Of course, things turned out to go deeper than that.
If I were to compare this series to anything, it would be classic fantasy of the 80s as well as more modern dark fantasy. The only weird thing is that there were previews for the next book after the last chapter/epilogue of each book. That worked out quite nicely for me though--I tended to finish a book in the wee hours of the morning, so I couldn’t get to the next one right away without losing more sleep than was technically healthy. How nice that I could force myself to stop at the end of the preview and pass out.
(I received an ARC from NetGalley in return for an honest review.)
July 3, 2017
I received a copy of this book from Netgalley for an honest review.
I first read these books about 15 years ago when I was a lot younger. I remember picking the first book out because I really liked the cover. It was one of the first fantasy books I read.
I remember liking the series, being disappointed in the ending and finding it really depressing. Well on the second read, my opinion hasn't much changed, surprisingly, so many years later. I still enjoyed the story, although it plays out more as a bunch of short stories put together rather than a series. I had nostalgia with Mair and prince Hal but I still found the ending lack luster. After all the bad things that happen throughout the series I wish the ending would have been more...happy?...uplifting?..some kind of rewarding experience for getting to the end?
I will still keep my stars at 4 because Mindy introduced me to the fantasy genre and overall I enjoyed it, then and now.
I first read these books about 15 years ago when I was a lot younger. I remember picking the first book out because I really liked the cover. It was one of the first fantasy books I read.
I remember liking the series, being disappointed in the ending and finding it really depressing. Well on the second read, my opinion hasn't much changed, surprisingly, so many years later. I still enjoyed the story, although it plays out more as a bunch of short stories put together rather than a series. I had nostalgia with Mair and prince Hal but I still found the ending lack luster. After all the bad things that happen throughout the series I wish the ending would have been more...happy?...uplifting?..some kind of rewarding experience for getting to the end?
I will still keep my stars at 4 because Mindy introduced me to the fantasy genre and overall I enjoyed it, then and now.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews