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Glasswright #4
The Glasswrights' Test
Considered a traitor by the Glasswrights' Guild due to her role in their exile to Brianta, Rani Trader gets an unexpected opportunity to go to Brianta, at the behest of the Guild, where she plans on making amends, but instead, is forced to carry out a horrible mission that puts the lives of her loved ones in danger. Original.
352 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published June 3, 2003
7 people are currently reading
316 people want to read
About the author
Mindy Klasky
111 books541 followersMindy Klasky learned to read when her parents shoved a book in her hands and told her that she could travel anywhere in the world through stories. She never forgot that advice.
Mindy's travels took her through multiple careers, including copyright lawyer and law librarian. Mindy now writes full time. Her books fall in a number of genres -- including romantic comedies, paranormal romance, and traditional fantasy.
In her spare time, Mindy knits, quilts, and tries to tame the endless to-be-read shelf in her home library. Her husband and two cats do their best to fill the left-over minutes in her days.
Mindy's travels took her through multiple careers, including copyright lawyer and law librarian. Mindy now writes full time. Her books fall in a number of genres -- including romantic comedies, paranormal romance, and traditional fantasy.
In her spare time, Mindy knits, quilts, and tries to tame the endless to-be-read shelf in her home library. Her husband and two cats do their best to fill the left-over minutes in her days.
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
February 3, 2009
I made the age-old mistake of buying this at the same time as the book immediately prior not having suspected that said book, The Glasswright's Journeyman, would piss me off and offend me so much that I couldn't go on.
I believe I made it through one chapter, which was basically a refresher on everything that infuriated me about the last book, before the rage overtook me.
I believe I made it through one chapter, which was basically a refresher on everything that infuriated me about the last book, before the rage overtook me.
December 7, 2009
A book really can't be that good if you hated it enough to take over 2 years to read it...
January 30, 2018
A little too predictable, and the most horrifying of the series, at least in my mind. A good warning against rampaging religion.
August 30, 2021
berylina is a forever girl but the plot of this book is a mess
November 18, 2010
The Glasswrights' Test is the fourth book in the Glasswrights series by Mindy L. Klasky. I've been steadily working my way through the series these last few months, with my limited reading time. This series is set in a medieval fantasy world--so castles, kings, guilds, etc--but the main focus in on Ranita Glasswright, her quest to restore the Glasswrights' Guild after her actions in the first book caused it to be destroyed, and her own personal quest to become a mastet glasswright herself, since the guild was destroyed when she was a mere apprentice.
I thought the first book was good, the second book not as much, but the third book rocked. I liked the new land and culture that was visited in that book, and how the plot focused more on the relationships between Rani and those around her, in particular the King of Morenia, Hal. This book once again has Rani traveling to a new land, Brianta, which is full of religious fervor, and not a few fanatics. She is ostensibly there to escort Princess Berylina (introduced in the third book as one of Hal's potential brides)--who has somehow been touched by the gods so that she can see, hear, smell, and taste them--but her own personal goal is to be tested as a master of the glasswright craft. When the guild was destroyed, those who managed to survive the purging fled to Brianta and set up a temporary guild in its holy city. The master of the new guild has invited Rani to come take the test. Unknown to Rani, the guild is being manipulated by the Fellowship, a secret society that Rani and Hal are both members of, but who have never really seen eye-to-eye with.
So, we once again have a new land to explore and unlike the second book, some good interpersonal relationships and personal problems to deal with. I liked how these played out while the group was in Brianta, with Rani coming face to face with a guild full of people who hate her and the stress that it places on her relationships with those around her. She is not only placed at odds with her lover, but also her friend, Mair. As the book progresses, these stresses are increased when the Fellowship begins making its moves on both her, Hal, and Mair. (I can't say anthing more without spoiling things.) At the same time, Berylina faces the religious powers in the city, who don't view her special relationship to the gods with as much welcome as she would have thought.
All of this tension comes to a spectacular and satisfying head toward the end of the novel, and I was all ready to give the book a solid 4 and a better review than the third book . . . but then Rani returns to Morenia in the last few chapters, to finish off the last of the main plot. And this is where things go bad. The confrontation with Hal that she has upon her return is great at first, but during the entire fight I kept saying to myself (OK, I was really yelling at Rani through the book) to just tell him what was happening! She'd been put in this horrible position, but if she trusted him as much as she claims (and as much as we've seen throughout all of the books), then she should have just told him the situation and had him help her come up with a solution, especially since it involved him. Instead, she says nothing and tries to solve it on her own for no real reason. Decisions made by characters like this annoy me. It's the equivalent of the author gagging the character in order to create a false sense of tension. Something like this happens in the third book with Berylina, but in that book I could let it pass since it wasn't as significant to the main plot. Here, the entire end of the main plot depends on Rani and Hal's actions here, so this one little thing destroyed the ending of the book for me, because it made the ending feel contrived.
Don't get me wrong though. My only real issue with the entire book was this one thing that happens within the last 50 pages of the novel. I loved everything that happened before this, and liked where the book leaves Rani and Hal and the others. I would recommend this book to those that have read the first three, but you'll likely have to bite your tongue a little at the end. The contrivance is a little hard to get over.
I'll certainly go on and read the fifth book, because I want to know how Rani's story ends. In particular, I'd like to see what becomes of the Fellowship, since I've hated them for at least two books now, feeling that their manipulations have NOT been in the interests of all of their own members.
I thought the first book was good, the second book not as much, but the third book rocked. I liked the new land and culture that was visited in that book, and how the plot focused more on the relationships between Rani and those around her, in particular the King of Morenia, Hal. This book once again has Rani traveling to a new land, Brianta, which is full of religious fervor, and not a few fanatics. She is ostensibly there to escort Princess Berylina (introduced in the third book as one of Hal's potential brides)--who has somehow been touched by the gods so that she can see, hear, smell, and taste them--but her own personal goal is to be tested as a master of the glasswright craft. When the guild was destroyed, those who managed to survive the purging fled to Brianta and set up a temporary guild in its holy city. The master of the new guild has invited Rani to come take the test. Unknown to Rani, the guild is being manipulated by the Fellowship, a secret society that Rani and Hal are both members of, but who have never really seen eye-to-eye with.
So, we once again have a new land to explore and unlike the second book, some good interpersonal relationships and personal problems to deal with. I liked how these played out while the group was in Brianta, with Rani coming face to face with a guild full of people who hate her and the stress that it places on her relationships with those around her. She is not only placed at odds with her lover, but also her friend, Mair. As the book progresses, these stresses are increased when the Fellowship begins making its moves on both her, Hal, and Mair. (I can't say anthing more without spoiling things.) At the same time, Berylina faces the religious powers in the city, who don't view her special relationship to the gods with as much welcome as she would have thought.
All of this tension comes to a spectacular and satisfying head toward the end of the novel, and I was all ready to give the book a solid 4 and a better review than the third book . . . but then Rani returns to Morenia in the last few chapters, to finish off the last of the main plot. And this is where things go bad. The confrontation with Hal that she has upon her return is great at first, but during the entire fight I kept saying to myself (OK, I was really yelling at Rani through the book) to just tell him what was happening! She'd been put in this horrible position, but if she trusted him as much as she claims (and as much as we've seen throughout all of the books), then she should have just told him the situation and had him help her come up with a solution, especially since it involved him. Instead, she says nothing and tries to solve it on her own for no real reason. Decisions made by characters like this annoy me. It's the equivalent of the author gagging the character in order to create a false sense of tension. Something like this happens in the third book with Berylina, but in that book I could let it pass since it wasn't as significant to the main plot. Here, the entire end of the main plot depends on Rani and Hal's actions here, so this one little thing destroyed the ending of the book for me, because it made the ending feel contrived.
Don't get me wrong though. My only real issue with the entire book was this one thing that happens within the last 50 pages of the novel. I loved everything that happened before this, and liked where the book leaves Rani and Hal and the others. I would recommend this book to those that have read the first three, but you'll likely have to bite your tongue a little at the end. The contrivance is a little hard to get over.
I'll certainly go on and read the fifth book, because I want to know how Rani's story ends. In particular, I'd like to see what becomes of the Fellowship, since I've hated them for at least two books now, feeling that their manipulations have NOT been in the interests of all of their own members.
January 8, 2012
I almost always finish a book once I've started it, but with this one, I could barely get through two pages before I found something better to do. Like watching paint dry. It was excruciatingly plodding and dull.
In the first book, I thought Rani's actions when her fellow Glasswrights were being mutilated daily were despicable, and that's why I couldn't get into this book. I sympathized with the Glasswrights guild. They, especially the thumbless journeymen, have every reason to loathe her and want revenge; I was with them one hundred percent. Rani barely seems to have a conscience most days, certainly she doesn't let murder or the fate of her former fellow apprentices bother her overly much, she just goes on her merry way, being everyone's puppet.
It's hard to get into a book when you're well on your way to despising the doormat of a main character. It really doesn't help that the other characters, her friends, are just as unsympathetic and in many cases, boring.
All that aside, the narration was so slowly paced and so tedious that I nearly fell asleep any time I tried to keep reading past a couple pages. It was a struggle that, in the end, wasn't worth it. I returned this one to the library unfinished, and was thrilled that I hadn't shelled out actual money for this waste of time.
In the first book, I thought Rani's actions when her fellow Glasswrights were being mutilated daily were despicable, and that's why I couldn't get into this book. I sympathized with the Glasswrights guild. They, especially the thumbless journeymen, have every reason to loathe her and want revenge; I was with them one hundred percent. Rani barely seems to have a conscience most days, certainly she doesn't let murder or the fate of her former fellow apprentices bother her overly much, she just goes on her merry way, being everyone's puppet.
It's hard to get into a book when you're well on your way to despising the doormat of a main character. It really doesn't help that the other characters, her friends, are just as unsympathetic and in many cases, boring.
All that aside, the narration was so slowly paced and so tedious that I nearly fell asleep any time I tried to keep reading past a couple pages. It was a struggle that, in the end, wasn't worth it. I returned this one to the library unfinished, and was thrilled that I hadn't shelled out actual money for this waste of time.
May 17, 2015
The storyline for this novel did not seem to make sense to me. It was all over the place. At first I thought we got to see things from Berylina's point of view because she would be instrumental to The Fellowship, but then she died. And I thought maybe Crestman reappearing would mean that Rani and Hal would be able to bring the Little Army home, but nope he's gone rogue. It seemed like the characters were all very out of character throughout this whole novel. I feel like the author was like, hm there are too many options for Rani so let's make sure they all become her enemy and/or die.
The whole story of Rani going to Britani for this test when the glasswrights hate her was just ridiculous. It felt like such a waste of my time to read this, even moreso than the last novel. The whole thing felt static except for the last two chapters where the story FINALLY progressed. I think that part of the problem has been the jumping in years between novels in which we don't see progress of the characters but they still seem to be the same people just with different background relationships.
Overall: 2/5 stars. I'm glad this is over soon. It was a bit ridiculous if you ask me to have an entire novel based on this test and in the pov of two people who die. But what do I know.
The whole story of Rani going to Britani for this test when the glasswrights hate her was just ridiculous. It felt like such a waste of my time to read this, even moreso than the last novel. The whole thing felt static except for the last two chapters where the story FINALLY progressed. I think that part of the problem has been the jumping in years between novels in which we don't see progress of the characters but they still seem to be the same people just with different background relationships.
Overall: 2/5 stars. I'm glad this is over soon. It was a bit ridiculous if you ask me to have an entire novel based on this test and in the pov of two people who die. But what do I know.
November 10, 2008
Rani travels to yet another foreign land, where she's been asked to look after a princess making a pilgrimage. Instead she spends most of her time trying to be accepted by the remnants of the Glasswright guild, who still (irrationally) see her as a traitor who caused most of their problems.
I found myself losing patience with this book. The princess became a main focus of the story out of nowhere. Rani regressed as a character, repeating some of her mistakes of previous books. She made some terrible decisions, but the consequences mostly fell on others. The relationship drama also seemed overdone.
I still like the style of the writing, but can't say I'm happy about the direction the story is going.
I found myself losing patience with this book. The princess became a main focus of the story out of nowhere. Rani regressed as a character, repeating some of her mistakes of previous books. She made some terrible decisions, but the consequences mostly fell on others. The relationship drama also seemed overdone.
I still like the style of the writing, but can't say I'm happy about the direction the story is going.
September 3, 2015
It wasn't bad. To be fair, I haven't read the others in the series.
I liked that the representations of gods were different and unique (tastes, sounds, feelings, etc that didn't necessarily go with the concept, like a nightingale song for the god of water).
But I didn't have any particular investment in the characters while I was reading either.
I liked that the representations of gods were different and unique (tastes, sounds, feelings, etc that didn't necessarily go with the concept, like a nightingale song for the god of water).
But I didn't have any particular investment in the characters while I was reading either.
May 11, 2013
I ended up skipping over the boring areas. I'm frustrated with Hal. Rani has given him everything and he still doubts her loyalty. Rani I felt was weak in this book. She knows what a journeyman's job is supposed to be but she let her guild use and abuse her.
June 19, 2008
I also have a signed ARC of this.
February 2, 2012
Somehow I skipped the third one...
October 16, 2012
Um...I'm farther behind in book updating than I thought...LOL This was a good 4th book but parts of it were a touch annoying.
April 19, 2013
Love Mindy Klasky. A unique writing voice and believable world. I feel for her characters and I fear her antagonists.
January 1, 2014
This series keeps getting better and better - and darker. Read my full review at Dreamworld Book Reviews: http://www.dreamworldbooks.com/2014/0....
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews