Format: Paperback, 512 pages
Release Date: November 28, 2023
Publisher: MIRA
Source: Publisher
Genre: Fantasy
Michelle Sagara is the New York Times bestselling author of The Chronicles of Elantra series. Shards of Glass is loosely connected to Sagara's Elantra series, and centers on Raven, a new student at a Magic School that has been frozen in time and space. To reawaken and survive, the Academia needs students—but someone seems bent on killing them.
"This magical thrill-ride is a treat." —Publishers Weekly on Cast in WisdomThe Academia, once an elite proving ground for the rulers of the world, has been frozen for centuries. Now its strange slumber has ended, and a new Chancellor, an orange-eyed dragon, has reopened its lecture halls and readied its dorms. In order to thrive once more, however, the Academia needs fresh blood—new students with a passion and talent for learning.
One such student, Robin, has the perfect recruit in mind: his friend Raven, an orphan who lives in the dangerous Warrens. Robin grew up in the Warrens, and he wouldn't have made it if not for Raven. He knows she’ll be safe at the Academia, where her unusual gifts can be appreciated.
But when students start turning up dead, the campus threatens to collapse completely. Raven and Robin will not let that happen to their new home…if they can survive long enough to figure out who—or what—is trying to kill them.
Michelle Sagara's Shard of Glass is set in the authors Chronicles of Elantra world. This book is set at the Academia, which you might be familiar with if you read Cast in Wisdom featuring Corporal Kaylin Neya. Kaylin was the one who discovered the Academia after it was lost for so long. The school, both as an institution and in the person of its sentient building and grounds, Killianas, is recovering, but it appears someone is trying to belay that recovery.
This story does not focus on Kaylin, rather Robin, who we met in Cast in Wisdom, and Raven, a new character who is obsessed with collecting glass pieces, and was Robin's only friend until he disappeared. Raven, like Robin, lived in the Warrens. Raven is very much a mysterious character for most of the story with her obsession with finding glass shards that nobody but her can see. It was Robin who gave her the name she now carries.
It was Raven who protected Robin when they were living on the streets of Elantra running errands for the Grey Lady. But Robin was apparently stolen by powerful people and taken to the Academia where he was stuck for years while the outside world moved on without him. Raven, though, never forget. Raven knows that people in the Warrens have been disappearing and not returning. She knows to stay away from the Barrani because they are dangerous.
She knows that those who were taken will never be missed never missed. Those like Robin who became an orphan after tragedy took his entire family away from him. Until one day, Giselle, the Grey Lady takes Raven to the Academia where she reunites with a Robin. Because of her curiosity, Robin knows that Raven will be safe at the Academia, and it is a good thing that she shows up when she does. Raven is the one who finds clues nobody can see. Raven is the one who finds hidden rooms that even Killian can't see, and he can't see Raven.
The Academia, once an elite proving ground for the rulers of the world, was frozen for centuries. Now its strange slumber has ended, and a new Chancellor, an orange-eyed dragon known as Lannagaros, has reopened its lecture halls and readied its dorms. In order to thrive once more, however, the Academia needs fresh blood—new students with a passion and talent for learning. But when students start turning up dead, the campus threatens to collapse completely.
Raven and Robin will not let that happen to their new home; if they can survive long enough to figure out who—or what—is trying to kill them. Robin and Raven will have to work with some characters you should know if you have read the reset of the authors Elantra series. Characters like: Terrano, who always seems to get in trouble. Starrante, the Arbiter from the Library who looks like a giant spider. Serralyn, one of the Barrani along with Valliant who chose to attend the Academia. There is also an appearance by Barrani Hawk Teela and Sedarias who is the leader of the Barrani who were stuck together for a century.
*Thoughts* So, let's not say this story is a spin-off. It's a side show that happens at the same time as the authors Kaylin Neya series. As I said, Kaylin does not appear in this story, but she is mentioned as the one who found the Academia. While the story does focus on the school, and the fact that someone is killing students, the key here is Robin. Robin vaguely, fleetingly remembers another life. Another life with a mother, a sister, and a brother. Another life that didn't involve struggling to survive while living in the Warrens. But it has been years since he's been in stuck in the Academia and his memories of who he is, and what happened to his family finally awakens with the arrival of Raven and the Gray Lady. Raven is a really interesting and complex character in that you really need to pay attention to the things she does, especially she she starts seeing things nobody else can see.
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