Rating: 
Summary: Fascinating and Extremely Well-Written
Review: I really loved this book. I was impressed with how well done it was, since it is a first novel. The author has created a rich and unique world inhabited by interesting, fully developed characters. I completely lost myself in reading about Rani's difficulties and adventures. I was amazed at some of her actions, but she is a complex and very real character. She was, after all, a young person with strong beliefs and convictions who was manipulated by very bad people. I read mostly fantasies, and it is refreshing to read one which really does not try to mimic any of the standard or traditional plot lines. I can't wait for future books.
Rating: 
Summary: Interesting but flawed
Review: I wanted to like this book but found that it fell short of my expectations. The main character is mostly passive throughout the book, only going where she is pushed and rarely taking initiative. While this is probably realistic, it doesn't make for much of an entertaining character.The plot is decently done, and the "whodunnit" is moderately difficult to guess until near the end of the book. Unfortunately most of the villains aren't well developed enough for them to be more than stereotypical "plotting for the throne" cardboard characters. In spite of all that I didn't like about this book, I'd say that most of it is probably due to immature writing style. There are occasional gems in this book, but this is probably not the author's master work.
Rating:
Summary: Refreshing New Voice
Review: I was surprised to read comments about the clunkiness of this new fantasy novel - I thoroughly enjoyed the richness of the new world and the depth of the characters. The details of the city and the castes were completely drawn and consistently depicted. Rani Trader IS a character forced to juggle good and evil, and she doesn't always act the way a wise contemporary adult would. I can't wait to see a sequel!
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful book
Review: I would have to disagree with most of the reviewers. I found this book rather tantalizing. It not only had action, adventure, love it also gave you something to think about. Rani Trader has grown up in a town where everyone has their own group and their own classification. Everyone usually stays within that class and doesn't mingle with the others. But Rani is put in a situation in which she will have to pretend she is in all the classes at one time or another. She finds that even though what she has been told, everyone is somewhat the same no matter what class. There is a lot more to the book as well. Give it a try!
Rating: 
Summary: A couple of good ideas, but...
Review: I'm a big fantasy reader, and I picked this book up because the book quote on the first page absolutely intrigued me. However, the plot goes somthing like this: An apprentice to an artisan's guild is framed in the prince's murder and subsequently brings down everyone around her, and then has to work her way back up. The basis was great, I really liked some of Klasky's ideas. One of the little details I loved was the set up of the caste system in Rani's (the heroine's) world, and I also enjoyed the set up of the princes murder. But after that, the book really petered out on me. The plot stumbled about aimlessly, and the end left me UTTERLY unfulfilled. I really truly got the feeling that Klasky got bored with the book and wanted to finish it off really quickly (I know I did), so just whisked out a cardboard ending. Still, it was a good learning experience for me on what makes or breaks a book.
Rating:
Summary: Grean debut -looks like a great fantasy series
Review: In the Kingdom of Morenia, the caste system is sacred so when Rani Trader showed talent as a glasswright, her family beggared themselves to buy her an apprenticeship. Although Rani understands the honor bestowed on her by her family and the importance of performing her duties, she remains a young teenager who wants some fun. Rani visits the Cathedral to see the pomp and circumstances as the very popular Prince Tuvashanoran assumes the mantle of Defender of the Faith. While watching the festivities, Rani observes an archer aiming his weapon at the Prince. She shouts out a warning that is too late to save Tuvashanoran's life. Everyone misunderstands Rani's role in the tragedy, believing she is a conspirator. Rani escape and heads back to the guild followed by soldiers. The Glasswrights' Guild is declared as outlaws. Rani manages to sneak away again even as she realizes the entire nation hunts her down as a murderous traitor. While seeking shelter in an unsafe world, Rani stumbles across the secrets of the Brotherhood, a group wanting to eradicate the caste system. Rani tries to balance staying alive with doing the right thing for her family, her king, and her country. Mindy L. Klasky has written a fine fantasy novel that explores the culture of another world with many similarities to that of our own. The tale is a fast-paced action thriller that has wide appeal to readers who enjoy well-designed political and social backgrounds in their fictions. Rani is a wonderful heroine overcoming many obstacles just to remain alive, but clearly this novel is a winner because of the depth of the culture described by Ms. Klasky which makes for a real world setting. Harriet Klausner
Rating: 
Summary: Enjoyable reading
Review: Interesting setting and background for the storyline.
Rating:
Summary: Thrills, and great fun
Review: It was difficult to put this book down so I read most of it in one day -- running, strutting, hiding with the heroine-of-many-names through narrow streets and palace halls, mingling with lowest and highest where few main characters are as they appear...action-adventure superbly crafted...I felt myself take on a magical shrewdness midway into the book. The very modern heroine is wise beyond her years, unbounded by dogma, challenged by the boundaries of her own responsibility. Quite an adventure!
Rating:
Summary: Interesting, ambitious, but ultimately frustrating
Review: Klasky's first novel is set in a single city, rigidly divided into castes. Rani Trader falls afoul of the royal family and must use all her wits to survive. I wanted very much to like this book. I enjoyed the atypical paucity of magic (although, contrary to a few other reviewers' comments, there is a minute amount of magic). Rani is an interesting, resourceful character whose effectiveness as a protagonist is somewhat hampered by her virtual amorality. Yet Klasky doesn't cast Rani as an anti-hero; rather, her deeds are apparently meant to give the impression that Rani is a good person struggling in difficult circumstances. While the social setting was initially intriguingly described, it didn't seem to me that it held up well under scrutiny. I was disappointed by the ease with which Rani moves between the supposedly rigid castes, and I couldn't understand why the ruling family, described as ruthless and calculating, was apparently so vulnerable to outside attack. I also thought that the characters' motives were frequently unclear or unrealistic. Klasky's writing is competent but not stellar. She frequently repeats words or phrases, and uses an enormous number of clunky dialogue attributions. (One character "grunted" two or three times on a single page.) The book was engrossing, although I frequently found myself shaking my head, and I would recommend it primarily to die-hard fantasy fans or to aspiring fantasy authors.
Rating:
Summary: Good Plot, Disappointing Herione
Review: Mindy Klasky's first novel, The Glasswright's Apprentice, tells the story of Rani, a merchant girl in a caste-controlled society whose family sacrifices most of its wealth to buy her way into the guild. The book opens with Rani mostly feeling sorry for herself due to mistreatment by the guild instructors. In a moment of rebellion, she decides not to return to the guild one afternoon after being sent on a errand, and goes instead to the glamorous religious ceremony honoring the realm's prince. In an unfortunate twist of fate she finds herself the accidental accomplice in the assassination of the prince, and a sudden fugitive from the king's justice. She goes into hiding in the city streets both to survive, and with the hope of clearing her name by unraveling the conspiracy that murdered the popular prince. She will discover the conspiracy is far more complex than she would suspect, involving a secret Brotherhood who seem to have members everywhere she turns. I enjoyed the book for the most part. The many twists of the murder conspiracy kept the book interesting and the fantasy kingdom of Morenia, or at least this one city, was well-drawn. However, I had a hard time finding Rani a likeable heroine. As she moves from caste to caste, person to person, throughout the book, she makes and betrays loyalties, steals, lies, and even kills without too much of a backward glance. She also seems to get over too easily the deaths, mutilations and misfortunes that her family and friends suffer in her name. I'm sure we're meant to admire her for her "survive at all costs" attitude, and survive she does, but I found her to be a bit too cold-blooded and self-serving. The end of the book tries to patch more of a conscience onto her character a little too late. Traditional fantasy fans may also be a tad disappointed to discover there isn't a scrap of magic or any fantastic elements to the tale other than that it is set in a fantasy kingdom with its own religion and pantheon of a Thousand Gods. I don't need magic to find a fantasy satisfying, but without it, and without a lovable character to cheer for, too much depends on the plot alone. Still, it is an enjoyable book and an admirable first effort.
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