The Glasswrights' Apprentice

Rating:
Summary: Excellent portrayal of the abuse of power
Review: The Story: Ms Klasky's story revolves around a young lady who just turned 13 and is an apprentice in a Glasswright's guild. The society she lives in is loosely based on a caste system. While carrying out her apprentice duties, she accidentally becomes embroiled in an assasination. Unfortunately she knows many of the main players. But the King is unaware of her innocence and has every guard and citizen looking for her. Somehow she must not only prove her own innocence, but that of her family and the glasswright's guild she once belonged to. While doing so, she will also expose the true assassins. The Book: Ms Klasky deftly illustrates the effects of a caste system of government on it's citizens. Much of the main character's confusion in her young life is brought about because she is forced to cross caste lines in her efforts to stay alive and safe. A good part of the book's plot involves the conflict between a caste form of society as opposed to an open society. The Character(s): I thought Ms Klasky developed her characters well. None of them had any suddenly special characteristics or abilities. Ms Klasky's main character, Rani (one of her many names), is well developed as the 13-year old child she is. Throughout the novel Rani is manipulated to commit acts she sometimes wisely questions but seldom avoids. Her quest for group/social acceptance leads her into many misadventures, but it all comes out well in the end. As the reader, you could see what Rani could not. Many was the time I wished I could call out to her to reassure or warn. If you really get into the characters of a book, be warned. These will completely engulf you, especially Rani.

Rating:
Summary: quick read with some smart points
Review: The world in the Glasswrights' Apprentice is well-structured and interesting. Klasky has clearly given the city a lot of thought, and has a flair for working out its design. She also gets a lot of credit for not weighing down the book with an unwieldy amount of magic. The characters are significantly less well-developed, and their motivations and ideas are clearly secondary to the plot and the ideas with which Klasky began the book. Unlike other readers, I found no real problem with the character of Rani as such. I think that she becomes unsympathetic largely because we see what happens to her rather than what she makes happen.

Glasswright is still a quick and entertaining read. There is enough promise here to pick up the second.

Rating:
Summary: Could Have Been
Review: This book has a lovely cover, and a smart premise. The main character, 13 year old Rani lives in a kingdom with strict castes. Her family, a merchant family manages to buy her into the Glasswright's Guild, a step up the social ladder. However, she's in the wrong place in the wrong time when she witnesses history altering assassination along with a hundred other people. She however, knows more about the assassin than the rest of the populace because the assassins come from her guild.

The fantasy world was very interesting with its social system, its castes, and its royalty. The politics thrown in, the monarchy, the guilds, etc. were nice touches that give good situations for neat characters. The lowest caste- the Touched, a couple of Princes, people that died. . .Unfortunately many of the characters weren't as fleshed out as I'd liked them to be, but that's probably because the story is told in the point of view of Rani who doesn't seem to be able to judge people all that well. Or because some were killed before they got interesting.

I was drawn to Rani's situation as much as her world. She's the underdog, hunted for murder, living by her wits, surviving by being smart. Her talent is in her art of stained glass and recognizing patterns. Unfortunately, you don't see much of that intelligence in her mad dash from one debacle to another. She blunders from one caste to another seeking shelter and family, but after awhile, one would think she'd learn a little so that she wouldn't HAVE to join every underground organization in the city and end up betraying everyone. I don't mind the sort of anti-hero that does anything to survive, kill, betray, lie, steal, etc, but they at least have to know why they're doing it! She reacts to everything and everyone and is used throughout the book with no mitigating twist in the end. She is still as powerless in a most unsatisfying ending. I would still read the sequal because there's enough in the story to make it interesting. The writing is well done and while I didn't like the way Rani handled many things, it could be described as realistic. She IS only 13 and can't be expected to see through all the conspiracies and make all the right decisions, though I'd like to see a *little* triumph in the end. . . I can only hope that the sequal will unveil a much more mature and smart Rani that can manipulate puppet strings as well as she dances from them.

Rating:
Summary: Not so good...
Review: This book has a realy good cover but gets realy boaring. I started this book three different times and was only able to make it half way. The turn of events just isn't that interesting.

Rating:
Summary: Very Good Reading
Review: This book is a murder conspiracy set in a fictional world contolled by societies classes. The Prince is murdered in a reglious service and the 13 year old main character is forced into hiding after her guild is distroyed and her family executed.

Rating:
Summary: not at all what i expected
Review: This book started out with the biggest onslought of action I have ever read and then didn't really stop till close to the end. If you like constant action then i sujest this book but if you like a little bit more substance and power then don't read this. I whent out and bought the intire series(on account of my library not having it) and was sadly dissapointed. The main character ended up being an absolute sef sentered idiot! I kept looking for some significant grouth of maturaty as the book progressed. This significant change in maturaty and decision making is normaly what happens when you start off whith a character that stupid and unable to see the differednt sides of situations but that growth never happened. I was constantly being frustrated by the main character's desecions to the point where I would groan aloud. The only thing that kept me reading was the need to know what happened. I read the rest of the series hoping the situation would improve but it didn't. The only book in Klasky's entire Glasswright series I acctually thought was worth reading was the Progress. It wasnt a boring book it just wasntvery well writen and didnt envolve me like other actually well writen books. Unfortunitly I probably have expectations which are far too high and the majority of teen readers will probably like this book.

Rating:
Summary: Much better than Season of Sacrifice
Review: This book, "The Glasswright's Apprentice," is much better than the already reviewed "Season of Sacrifice," and thankfully so. It has an interesting plot, a likable heroine (Rani Trader), and believable themes. It even has a prince that is reminiscent of Poor Tom in King Lear, who rises to the occasion at the end.

I think I liked this book more because of the prince, Hal (with a much longer royal name), than I did because of Rani. Still, Rani wasn't a bad character, exactly; too easily led in some ways, as when she killed the soldier, but not bad.

Btw, killing the soldier was a totally unexpected move; how could she have been that naive? Trusting the Brotherhood, whether her last relation was in it or not, was not a smart move; she already knew Guildmistress Salina, who'd betrayed her much earlier in the book, was a member of the Brotherhood. So, why do it?

That was one really bad, bad move, and a totally unexpected one.

The ending, however, was not as "unexpected" as I'd been led to believe by the color blurbs. Basically, Hal had to do something; he liked Rani, knew she wasn't bad, and revealing himself as a sort of uber-guardian wasn't all that surprising to me.

Btw, the characterizations of the Touched (the casteless folks who run the streets, and who are treated terribly poorly) was spot-on; most people in the medieval era, as now, prefer not to think of those less fortunate than themselves. Yet the Touched here are very, very believable, complex characters; hardly bums, they're trying for meaning in the only way open to them.

I'll definitely give the next "Glasswright's" book a try, because this book was a strong effort. And, I want to see what happens to the new King Hal . . . he seemed to have enormous promise as a character.

Rating:
Summary: Much better than Season of Sacrifice
Review: This book, "The Glasswright's Apprentice," is much better than the already reviewed "Season of Sacrifice," and thankfully so. It has an interesting plot, a likable heroine (Rani Trader), and believable themes. It even has a prince that is reminiscent of Poor Tom in King Lear, who rises to the occasion at the end.

I think I liked this book more because of the prince, Hal (with a much longer royal name), than I did because of Rani. Still, Rani wasn't a bad character, exactly; too easily led in some ways, as when she killed the soldier, but not bad.

Btw, killing the soldier was a totally unexpected move; how could she have been that naive? Trusting the Brotherhood, whether her last relation was in it or not, was not a smart move; she already knew Guildmistress Salina, who'd betrayed her much earlier in the book, was a member of the Brotherhood. So, why do it?

That was one really bad, bad move, and a totally unexpected one.

The ending, however, was not as "unexpected" as I'd been led to believe by the color blurbs. Basically, Hal had to do something; he liked Rani, knew she wasn't bad, and revealing himself as a sort of uber-guardian wasn't all that surprising to me.

Btw, the characterizations of the Touched (the casteless folks who run the streets, and who are treated terribly poorly) was spot-on; most people in the medieval era, as now, prefer not to think of those less fortunate than themselves. Yet the Touched here are very, very believable, complex characters; hardly bums, they're trying for meaning in the only way open to them.

I'll definitely give the next "Glasswright's" book a try, because this book was a strong effort. And, I want to see what happens to the new King Hal . . . he seemed to have enormous promise as a character.

Rating:
Summary: Girl at the well
Review: This tale is cute in the disappointing sense. Although the flyer for it reads well, the story line is very trite. Every culture seems to have a tale about a girl/woman at a well that is looked down upon by others; yet, that same low caste person is elevated by a religious figure later in the tale. That is in essence what this tale embodies. I would recommend the book to younger readers, but not for a well read person. It could be useful in a college prep English class where readers must constantly be aware of the smallest symbology so that they can write a paper. This book is overloaded with things that can be referred to in a book report, but not of much interest otherwise.

Rating:
Summary: A wonderful, entertaining read!
Review: When Rani Trader finds herself wanted for the murder of the Prince, she flees from her condemned guild house and takes to the city streets, disguising herself along the way, and desperately seeking the truth behind the vile crime that everyone believes she is responsible for. But lies and treachery abound and Rani unknowingly becomes a pawn in an evil plot that centers on The Brotherhood, a secret organization that has been growing for years and encompasses her guild, her family, and even as high up as the royal household.

I really loved this book! I stayed up all night to read it from the first page to the last. I couldn't turn the pages fast enough, and there wasn't a single dull moment where you can say to yourself, "Okay, here's a good spot to take a break and come back later." I found myself completely wrapped up in Rani's plight, and followed right along in her footsteps, trying to puzzle out what was really going on and who to trust. Ms. Klasky did a wonderful job of describing the very interesting caste system she's created, and the important role of the Gods in these people's lives.

This book has it all; mystery and intrigue, lies and deception, love and loss, friendship and betrayal, action and suspense, and ultimate truth and atonement. The world was real and believable, the characters were intriguing, and the plot was expertly woven together, with nice little twists and turns along the way. It was also a roller-coaster of emotions that even coaxed forth some tears. If a book can make me cry, it's definitely a keeper! And even though things are wrapped up nicely at the end, I still can't wait to dive into the next book in the series (The Glasswrights' Progress) to see what happens next for this plucky little heroine!