The Glasswrights' Journeyman

Glasswright #3

by Mindy Klasky

With Morenia in ruins following a devastating fire, King Hal is desperate to ensure the future of his people by marrying the wealthy princess of Liantine and enlists the aid of Rani Trader to help him negotiate a deal, but the machinations of the Brotherhood are once again threatening the Guild. Original.

Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult, Fiction, Science Fiction Fantasy, Science Fiction, Young Adult Fantasy, High Fantasy

352 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 2002

About the author

Mindy 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.

Reviews

[r. · Rating 1 out of 5]

You know, I more or less forgave this series for its opening two books wherein the main character Rani was a little too passive for my taste as far as her ability to move the narrative by acting instead of being acted upon. In the third book, she picks up some agency and actually tries to take action on her (somewhat tiresome) fixation on restoring her guild.

But all that good will was completely destroyed by the author's inexplicable decision to involve BOTH of her main characters in relationships of dubious consent in this book. It was bad enough that Rani ends up sexually involved with a clingy and controlling man whom she had previously rejected again and again after he basically has her take some hallucinogens. But Klasky topped even that grossness by having King Hal not only flatly drugged and raped, but then made to believe that he was the attacker and thus manipulated into marrying one of the most despicable and irritating characters I've ever experienced in fiction.

I literally threw this book across the room when I finished it.

[The Tick · Rating 1 out of 5]

I skipped to the end because I wanted to make sure that a certain irritating character got what she deserved (preferably in the form of a painful death). But no, it turns out that she marries the king. Um, what?

[Barbara · Rating 5 out of 5]

Timing kept me from getting to this book, but it captured my interest better than the second book. Rani continues to train to be a glasswright and has traveled with King Hal to aid him in negotiations with the Liantune king for his daughter’s hand in marriage. Hal let his pride get in the way of using Rani to negotiate with the church for funds to rebuild Morenia’s burned out city, so he’s bound to a deal he can’t meet. Unless, he weds Liantine’s homely princess, he will fail. And the Fellowship has demanded massive funds for their continued support.
In this installment, we see Hal’s fallibility and lack of wisdom. This bugged me at first until I considered all the demands he’s dealing with and that he’s still an untrained statesman. Hal’s lack of court training and desire to appear wise may be his downfall. Rani is often wiser than him, but she makes some very poor decisions while in Liantine that will probably come back to haunt her.
Liantine offers insight into a spider guild and their luxurious silks and a theatrical team (Players) who might offer the opportunity to help Hal and Rani save Morenia.

[Susan Haseltine · Rating 2 out of 5]

Off on even more improbable endeavors, no matter what mistakes our young protagonist makes, no matter how little she knows of what she's getting into, it all sort of works out for her. The author has not shown any more familiarity with the way historical rulers ran their lives and households than in the first volume. The bizarre brashness of the young journey(wo)men is all this series has going for it.

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

The main character gets to follow her dream, while trying to juggle the world around her.

[Marsha Valance · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ranita Glasswright must bargain for her homeland's survival.

[Christina Yorke · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book.

[Peggy]

Others continue to get Ranita into tight spaces, she continues to wriggle her way out!

[Joshua Palmatier · Rating 4 out of 5]

I finished Glasswrights' Journeyman, the third book in Mindy L. Klasky's Glasswrights series about a week ago, but then got sidetracked by a convention before I had a chance to sit down and write up my review. The good news is that the book is still firmly in memory, which is a sign of how good this book is. I though the first book in this series was good. The second one suffered from the fabled "second book syndrome" in my opinion, dropping down a notch, but this third book not only recovers from that spectacularly, it surpasses the goodness of the first book by a long shot.

What I liked most about this book in comparison to the other two is two things: first, we travel to a new part of the world and visit a new society that has some immensely interesting aspects to it. The Spider Guild that is really the focus on this book was interesting and its power over the people (based on its monopoly on spider silk and its production) is easy to see and understand. I was interested in this part of the world and the guild that essentially controls it, even though there is a king and royal family here, and this kept me reading.

In addition, I was also caught up in the struggles of the two main characters, Rani and the king of Morenia, Hal. In the first book, they meet, but we don't see much interaction between them. Part of what I felt was lacking in the second book is that the two are separated for the majority of the book, so there was no tension between them. Here, however, we not only get them interacting with each other, but their entire relationship is tested again and again simply because of the circumstances and the fact that Hal is the king and subject to certain responsibilities and expectations.

The basic premise of this book is that Hal must find resources (meaning money) after the capitol city of Morenia is destroyed by a fire. He is also being pressured to find a royal wife. The two converge when it is revealed that there is a suitable, if young, bride available in far off Liantine. The bride's dowry might be enough to help Hal rebuild Morenia after the fire. He, along with Rani (ostensibly to help him barter for the best dowry), depart for Liantine in hopes of solidifying ties with the Liantine king.

And this is where pressure is put on the relationship between Hal and Rani, because they do have feelings for each other and yet both know that they cannot act on those feeling, and that realistically they can never be together simply because Hal is the king. So how can Rani barter objectively for Hal's future wife? How can Hal expect that of her? And how can Rani sit by and watch it happen if she isn't part of the process? The reason that this book works so effectively for me is because of all of this emotional turmoil. We didn't have this in the second book. Factor in the intriguing aspects of the new land and the slew of other characters that they meet once they arrive and the book takes off and holds you until the end.

So far, this is the best book in the series. I'm moving on to the fourth book, The Glasswrights' Test now and I'm hoping that the emotional struggles of the characters continue there.

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Glasswrights' Journeyman is the third book in Mindy L. Klasky's Glasswrights' Guild series, featuring smart and resourceful heroine Rani Trader.

It's been three years since glasswright apprentice Rani Trader saved hundreds of children from the evil Sin Hazar in The Glasswrights' Progress. Now at the age of 18, Rani is more than ready to rebuild her beloved guild from the ground up, especially considering her guild was destroyed and disbanded years ago after King Hal's brother was assassinated.

However, since a mysterious fire has ravaged the entire city of Morenia, rebuilding the Glasswrights' Guild is hardly a high priority. Lacking the funds and resources to get Morenia back on its feet, King Hal's best option for saving his kingdom is to marry the ugly and shy, cross-eyed princess of Liantine for her dowry.

After traveling to Liantine with King Hal and the rest of the Morenian court, Rani realizes that the largest opportunity for making money lies with the Octolaris Spiderguild. Using her knowledge and experience as a marketplace negotiator, Rani devises a plot to save the kingdom of Morenia using the valuable silk-spinning spiders, especially if it means that the Glasswright's Guild can also be reinstated.

Klasky's Glasswright series keeps getting better and better with each book. Since Rani and Mair are now adults, the ongoing storylines (especially the romances!) grow steadily more intense with each chapter. Klasky's rich, complex world will keep you on your toes - there is nothing at all predictable about these books, and the characters in them.

With new characters constantly being introduced to the series, Rani now appears to be juggling several ongoing love interests. It'll definitely be interesting to see who Rani ends up with from a relationship standpoint, although I'm still rooting for King Hal. Is it even possible that they can be together? Probably not.

Many unanswered questions linger after The Glasswrights' Journeyman. Who started the fire that ruined Morenia? Does King Hal truly love Rani although he won't admit it, and vice versa? Does the Fellowship have good intentions, or are they really evil? The aching desire to have these questions answered will leave readers anxious for the next book in the series.

Visit http://dreamworldbooks.com to read more book reviews.

[Jamie (Books and Ladders) · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't think this book was a strong as the others in the series. The last book switched between points of view, but it felt clumsy this time rather than purposeful. The storyline wrapped up too neatly for my liking -- it was just too coincidental that Hal will be able to get everything he needs and not have any real consequences of his actions. I also seriously hope that Crestman is not a slave for the remainder of this series because he has sacrificed too much to be reduced to that. Honestly, I was not happy that Serena was reintroduced only to be killed off for no real purpose and if the same thing happens to Crestman, I will be furious.

Tovin was not an interesting character and I feel like he didn't really serve a purpose except to give Rani a love interest now that Hal is occupied with Mareka. Mareka is such a flat character as well and is not worth the storyline or the heartache that she is going to cause Hal and Moren. And this stupid spider storyline makes me want to scream. The Fellowship storyline in general is stupid and the fact that the only way to continue it was through this spider nonsense makes me want to rip my hair out. I was really enjoying the series up until now and the only reason I will be continuing it is because I already purchased the other books.

Overall: 2.5/5 stars but rounded up for the star counter. Mostly because I didn't like Crestman enough to offset Tovin and Mareka.

[Donna · Rating 3 out of 5]

After a fire decimates the capitol city, Rani and Hal travel to a foreign nation to look for the money to rebuild. They also hope to find a way to free the enslaved members of the Little Army. Hal courts a foreign princess, determined to do what it takes to help his people. But it seems as if he may have reason to regret trusting a member of the spider guild, even considering how the book turns out.

This is the first novel in the series where it really feels like Rani's desire to rebuild her guild plays much of a role, so that's a nice change. I hope that Rani's journeyman status will settle her down some, because she was behaving like a huge brat at times. And I'm more than ready for her to settle on formally using one damn name.

I liked the players and the concept of the spider guild. But I did think that the early parts of the novel about those guild members didn't fit all in that well, no matter how important to the story they ended up becoming.

I'm getting pretty bored with the Fellowship. It's getting harder and harder to believe that so many people are willing to work for an erratic, demanding group they know nothing about, especially now that their rival secret society appears to be out of the picture. They don't serve much of a function in this book beyond frustrating Hal with additional obligations.

[Jai · Rating 3 out of 5]

ook #3 in the Glasswright series. In Glasswrights' Progress I felt that we see how caught up in the tide Rani's life can be. She is human and prone to mistakes. In the Glasswrights' Journeyman I felt that now Hal and his doubts about himself and his choices as king are brought to light. But both of them have the interests of Morenia at heart, and have to make sacrifices for the greater good. Both now have a huge influence on the future of their country. A fire has decimated much of the city of Moren, and Hal and Rani must find a way to pay for rebuilding it, for treating the sick, and for paying back debts as well. They journey to Liantine to negotiate for help, but they are both aware that they don't have much to negotiate with. Meanwhile much of the Little Army, all children, is still in Liantine and Crestman would like them returned home, which is another thing that Rani and Hal must consider in their negotiations, and let's not forget the ever present Fellowship.

[SFReader · Rating 3 out of 5]

I finished Glasswrights' Journeyman, the third book in Mindy L. Klasky's Glasswrights series about a week ago, but then got sidetracked by a convention before I had a chance to sit down and write up my review. The good news is that the book is still firmly in memory, which is a sign of how good this book is. I though the first book in this series was good. The second one suffered from the fabled "second book syndrome" in my opinion, dropping down a notch, but this third book not only recovers from that spectacularly, it surpasses the goodness of the first book by a long shot.

The Glasswrights' Journeyman review at SFReader.com

[Chris Gregory · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a fantasy adventure story a bit lacking in adventure. The action is slow, and when it picks up, generally it's not plausibly. Still, I rather enjoyed the novel, so let me describe why. The character development is extensive. A secondary character, Mareka Octolaris, is the most entertaining and believable. She is a young Spiderguild apprentice and makes several foolish but quite believable mistakes. The descriptions of place, scenery, and sensory experiences in general in the novel are detailed and well worded. The guild system and social information are entertaining. Mareka again provides the most interesting example. I have been waggling my fingers at things all week since I read the book, to signal dominance, not prey. The troupe of Players is also we'll described.

[Aurora · Rating 4 out of 5]

May be spoilers. I think it's just a few notes.

Every book seems to have yet another love interest for the girl. Rani still has difficulty with communication.

Mair has found one love and seems to hold true to it

Hal seems like he's getting dumber by the book.

Berrilyna (I've already put the book away, so spelling. ) Seems very interesting and I would be excited to see how she fairs in the future. The ability to speak to and paint the thousand gods is fascinating to me.

This is not a review. Just a few notes, since I'm trying to make more notes about the books I read.

[Corinne · Rating 2 out of 5]

It gets worse and worse. In this part, Rani and the young king of Morenia both find a new love interest, although I'm confident that they will love each other in the final book. Let's see if I'm right... . However, there are still aspects and twists in this book I find intriguing and I want to read the other two novels as well to finish the whole series!

[Hilary · Rating 4 out of 5]

oooo .... spiders .... ick.

And yet, reading this series is compulsive! Sacrifice is a recurring theme (no, not human sacrifice to the spiders -- yuk!) -- but personal sacrifices on Hal and Rani's parts. How much personal sacrifice is "enough" (it's a good question, but it isn't answered here)?

[John · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oops - finished this and forgot to update. Liked this one more than the last but the characters are still rather clueless at times and things that seem like they should be obvious just aren't. But it's still something I'd recommend. :)

[A'ledyn · Rating 2 out of 5]

I honestly wanted to MURDER the main character by then end of this book. Love the overall story. But she is such a bitch.

[Cynthisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

The series losses steam as it goes, but still an interesting read.

[Summer Peterson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was so disappointed by Hal's behavior. I thought he was really smart and thought things through but this book he was hasty and really didn't know what to do.

[idiomatic · Rating 4 out of 5]

this series is harmlessly boring on a good page, painful to read on a bad, but upstart spider queen mareka octolaris is a fave