Rating: 
Summary: Curious imagery, but needs editing and simplification badly.
Review: Picked this up used after seeing the glowing Kirkus review and came away really disappointed. There are basically 3 plot lines here that don't necessarily mesh - a bitter hero, an teenage heroine, and a less-than-kingly king. They're all trying to save the kingdom from some evil big guy with powers to brainwash. Sound familiar anyone?I give Ms. Leith some credit for relatively interesting images and magical concepts - and why this isn't rated one star. The problem is that the various plots usually get lost badly within her attempts to neo-worldbuild, which unfortunately aren't consistent. (The image of the castle where they start off with having doors and corridors magically shift around is really an appropriate metaphor for her plot writing). A good editor could have sliced 50 pages from it and more importantly, make it make some sense. This is also a book that isn't sure what its audience should be. From the reviews, the YA crowd likes the immature female protagonist, but the lurid sex scenes in this would make most parents cringe (and aren't particularly well written). The bitter hero has promise for the older crowd, but the scooby-gang plotline makes one grimace. Overall, a pretty lousy attempt.
Rating: 
Summary: A unique and exciting piece of fantasy writing!
Review: The Company of Glass brought to mind the Tolkien trilogy, "Lord of the Rings". Like Tolkien's story, this story takes place in a land inhabited by creatures both human and non-human, and describes the battle of "good" (the Clans of Everien) vs. "evil" (the Sekks) - which battle includes the hunt for magical icons that are a part of "the Knowledge". I found the characters at once to be both likable and plausible, in both their actions and their reactions to events around them. I felt that there were some very unique and creative touches in the story that definitely added to the reading experience; for example (without giving anything away) the kingdom of Jai Khalar, Ice, and the Floating Lands. You'll have to read the story to know what I mean, but believe me, you will put this book down wanting more. While the story reaches a definite conclusion, there are enough "loose-ends" and unanswered questions to more than fill the coming sequel. I, for one, can't wait!
Rating:
Summary: A unique and exciting piece of fantasy writing!
Review: The Company of Glass brought to mind the Tolkien trilogy, "Lord of the Rings". Like Tolkien's story, this story takes place in a land inhabited by creatures both human and non-human, and describes the battle of "good" (the Clans of Everien) vs. "evil" (the Sekks) - which battle includes the hunt for magical icons that are a part of "the Knowledge". I found the characters at once to be both likable and plausible, in both their actions and their reactions to events around them. I felt that there were some very unique and creative touches in the story that definitely added to the reading experience; for example (without giving anything away) the kingdom of Jai Khalar, Ice, and the Floating Lands. You'll have to read the story to know what I mean, but believe me, you will put this book down wanting more. While the story reaches a definite conclusion, there are enough "loose-ends" and unanswered questions to more than fill the coming sequel. I, for one, can't wait!
Rating:
Summary: Excellent
Review: The Company of Glass by Valery Leith was a very good book. The book combined a sense of reality weaved in a world where nothing was what it seemed. The character development was great and by the end of the book I knew every character inside and out. This book is a must buy!
Rating:
Summary: Everien
Review: The Company of Glass is one of those books that readers will either love or hate. There's really no middle ground. Leith's imagery and writing style is eloquent and provides an easily visualized setting. Leith also does a wonderful job of fleshing out characters. They become frustrated or sad and react accordingly, in other words, their emotions feel real, and it's easy for the reader to relate to them. There are three major plots that tie together: Istar the Seahawk warrior woman leads a small band of warriors on a quest to the floating lands; the exact quest that her father undertook nine years before. Tarquin the Free, Istar's adoptive father, seeks to warn Everien's king of an army of invading Pharicians and in the process encounters the enemy that devastated his company years ago. Istar's mother Mhani deals with an interfering influence in the Eye of Glass and discovers that the problem is something much worse than she had initially believed it to be.
Sometimes the plot drags, but those points are few and far between. The Company of Glass is quest style fantasy, and as such follows the tried and true formula set down by Tolkien. However, the author has added their own unique touch to the storyline so that similarities aren't really noticeable.
All in all, this debut is excellent and well worth reading.
Rating:
Summary: Everien
Review: The Company of Glass is one of those books that readers will either love or hate. There's really no middle ground. Leith's imagery and writing style is eloquent and provides an easily visualized setting. Leith also does a wonderful job of fleshing out characters. They become frustrated or sad and react accordingly, in other words, their emotions feel real, and it's easy for the reader to relate to them. There are three major plots that tie together: Istar the Seahawk warrior woman leads a small band of warriors on a quest to the floating lands; the exact quest that her father undertook nine years before. Tarquin the Free, Istar's adoptive father, seeks to warn Everien's king of an army of invading Pharicians and in the process encounters the enemy that devastated his company years ago. Istar's mother Mhani deals with an interfering influence in the Eye of Glass and discovers that the problem is something much worse than she had initially believed it to be.
Sometimes the plot drags, but those points are few and far between. The Company of Glass is quest style fantasy, and as such follows the tried and true formula set down by Tolkien. However, the author has added their own unique touch to the storyline so that similarities aren't really noticeable.
All in all, this debut is excellent and well worth reading.
Rating:
Summary: It made me laugh, cry, and feel just like the characters.
Review: This book is one of the best books I have ever read. I really like books that focus on the unexplainable and midevil subjects. They let you use your imagination so freely. Valery Leith wrote a very good book. She intertwined the traditional view of women it the time we think of as "midevil" and the quest to save a world. She gave enough information to tell the story, but I thought of so many other stories that could come off of this one. In the end, I say that this book is great!
Rating: 
Summary: An interestingly complex fantasy adventure
Review: This fantasy book's setting is unusul, it feels like ancient lands or perhaps a low tech future. The Clans of Everien are fighting the mind enslaving Sekk with artifacts found in the floating city of Jai Pendu, which appears for one day every nine years. A group of adventurers, including the female fighter Istar, want to go to Jai Pendu to find another artifact. An older swordsman, Tarquin, is trying to recover from his Company's quest there eighteen years earlier. The writing is good and I cared for the characters. Some sequences, though creative, are cryptically strange. There are unexplained mysteries, but this is just book one of the series.
Rating:
Summary: Very Imaginative
Review: What struck me most about the The Company of Glass was the incredible imagination behind it. The story takes place in a very complex world, and the characters meddle with ancient forces that they don't understand. Leith doesn't explain them either, so the reader is left to puzzle them on his own. Hopefully, more will be explained in future books. Character development was minimal; once again, the reader hopes he will see the characters grow and change more in book two. I am rating this book at 4 stars because Leith's world is so creative and interesting, but could also see it as a 3 based on characterization and development.
Rating:
Summary: Very Imaginative
Review: What struck me most about the The Company of Glass was the incredible imagination behind it. The story takes place in a very complex world, and the characters meddle with ancient forces that they don't understand. Leith doesn't explain them either, so the reader is left to puzzle them on his own. Hopefully, more will be explained in future books. Character development was minimal; once again, the reader hopes he will see the characters grow and change more in book two. I am rating this book at 4 stars because Leith's world is so creative and interesting, but could also see it as a 3 based on characterization and development.
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