Book Review: Sea Glass by Maria V. Snyder

Sea Glasscontinues the story of Opal, who has discovered new and powerful uses for her glass magic. Though she has been commanded by the council to return immediately, she delays that return, seeking out Ulrick, hoping he will want to have his soul returned to its body. When she does return to the Magician's Keep, she is kept under house arrest and the council is doing its best to control her, but even her friends seem to have turned against her when she tries to explain about Ulrick. Will she convince them in time, or will she become a victim of her own magical power?

Things I Liked:
Oh, Snyder, you have done it again! Despite my somewhat annoyance with Opal's first story (Storm Glass), I really enjoyed this book. The story is fast-paced and Opal is a lot more confident this time around, which is something that annoyed me in the first book. I absolutely love the supporting characters, Janco in particular, not to mention Leif. I really enjoyed them more than Opal, I'm afraid. But, I liked the plot, with its intrigue and the complex problems that arose. And, of course, the writing.

"Time dripped. Each second hung as if it were on the end of an icicle, fattening until t grew too big to hold on. Then splat - another second gone." p.53

A taste of my Janco love:

"Sandseed horses are very intelligent, and he's one beautiful, bright boy."
"And he allowed you to saddle him!" I said in an excited whisper. "How?"
He shrugged. "I introduced myself, and told him what was going on. Guess meeting the greatest swordsman in Ixia awed him into submission."
"A swordsman who can't handle a horsewhip. He probably felt sorry for you." p. 66

Things I Didn't Like:
Some sections seemed totally unrelated, though they are probably being used to set up future books. Still, I found them disrupting to the plot of this book. It also seemed like there were too many stories going on at once.

Read-alikes:
Start with the Study trilogy by Snyder and then the first about Opal, Storm Glass
They remind me of Robin McKinley's The Blue Sword and The Hero and the Crown

BOOK CONTENT RATINGS:
s-factor: !
a handful

mrg-factor: XX
some implied situations, nothing explicit

v-factor: ->->
fighting, blood, etc

Overall rating: ****

Who is your favorite character from Snyder's series?

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