Rating: 
Summary: Tris's latest adventure
Review: following the capers of Tris's foster siblings; Sandry, Briar, and Daja, the reader would expect that this continuation of the series would also be about the mage taking on a younger, less experienced and undisciplined student, but you are in for a surprise!
follow tris through the city and learn about the caste system, based on india's and how ignorance can effect the world around you.
Rating: 
Summary: Best of All
Review: I love all of T.P.'s works, but this one is one of the bests. I will not give annything away, but their are alot of interesting parts to this book and you get to know Tris better than you did in the Circle of Magic books. The end fight is not a great as Brier's in STREET MAGIC, but tris does get a new power, and some new freinds. Niko doe not play as big of role in this book but thats okay, he is in their. I have to say though, the best part is that it forshadows some things that will ocure in the next circle book, (which comes out in 2005, and you can learn more about it at T.P.'s website) and I can't wait for that one to come out.
Rating: 
Summary: OMGOMG YAYAYAYAYAYAYAY
Review: I really liked this. It was darker than a lot of T.P.'s other books, but it was better than Cold Fire or, in a way, Magic Steps, because the student, Kethlun Warder, was much more realistic, in ways. Well, maybe that's the wrong word. He was more human-seeming. I also didn't like, in other books, the way T.P. made them so well suited to the tasks set for them. In this, it's not Tris who's suited to the tasks, it's Kethlun. That seems more appropriate, in a way.
Rating:
Summary: Tammy does it again!
Review: Next to the street rat Briar, Trisana "Tris" Chandler has always been my favorite member of the circle. There's something about this fiery redheaded weather witch that just fascinates me. In this book Tamora Piece takes one of my favorite mages and gives her a great book to star in. Like every other book in the circle opens trilogy, Shatterglass deals with the members of the circle finding a mage student, and a crime. Street Magic had gangs. Cold Fire had an arsonist. Magic Steps has the mob. Shatterglass takes it a step father and introduces a serial killer.Tris is staying in Tharios so her mage teacher, Niko Goldeye can take place in a conference on wind scrying. Tris enjoys Tharios and the glassmakers that live there but she hates the mistreatment of the prathmuni, the lowest class who deals with death and garbage. One day she stumbles upon a glass mage named Keth who, from an experience involving being stuck by lightning, has had his glass magic contaminated by lightning magic. Because of this he can no longer fulfill his job as a journeymen glassmaker. Tris realizes that he is a mage right away but Keth won't believe it, at first. Suddenly, as one of the few lightning mages, Tris finds herself as Keth, a grown man's, new teacher. Meanwhile a series is murders is taking place in Tharios. The city's entertainers, the yakedasi, are being killed and then displayed in public places. This greatly hurts the Tharian culture which places so much on purity. Tris and Keth accidentally realize that with Keth's lighting and glass ability, he can really help find the killer. Unfortunately in order for him to do this he not only needs to get his new found magic under control, but get rid of his fear of lighting. Can Tris and Keth find the killer before he kills someone close to them? I absolutely loved this book! Once again Tamora Pierce does not disappoint. Tris and Keth's story is suspenseful and a tab shade darker than the other books in the series. The setting of Tharios is very new and different. It's such a city that considers themselves to be democratic, but only if your int he higher classes does your opinion count for anything. I would highly recommend this book. In fact, the Circle Opens quartet is my favorite series by Tamora Piece so far. It's a shame that we'll have to wait a couple more years until we receive another Circle book. Until then, I can't wait until her new Tortall book, Trickster's Choice, comes out this fall! I hope you enjoyed this book as much as I did!
Rating:
Summary: OMGOMG YAYAYAYAYAYAYAY
Review: Oh my gosh! In my opion this is her best book yet. I love the way she uses crafts, magic, and justice all tied in. Like magistrate magic, thread, wether, and crimes. I mean, you can get in trouble in religious families for reading too much about magic, but this isn't witches or anything evil. "magic itself isn't evil, but it can be used for evil" Everyone would benifit from reading her books, but I advise you to start at the beginning of the Circle of Magic. Then if you like the first one you can skip around. I am dead serious. "I don't joke. It makes my head hurt"
Rating:
Summary: A disappointement...
Review: Shatterglass is the fourth and final book in The Circle Opens quartet written by Tamora Pierce. Like all the other books in this series, it focuses on young mage (Tris) who discovers an ambient mage and ends up teaching him/her. However, this book is different than the others because Tris must teach a grown man. At the same time, a murderer, nicknamed, the "Ghost" is killing yaskedasi and Dema must find the culprit. How are these events related? Read the book and find out!
Even though Tris is the least likeable out of all the mages, she is my favourite character. Tamora describes her very well and her sarcastic comments often make me laugh. Chime, the glass dragon Tris adopts, is another perfect example of Pierce's skill. Chime was such a strong and vibrant character that I immediately fell in love with her. Another great asset was that the book deals with social classes, which made it very realistic.
However, I didn't like the fact that we heard very little of Nikaren Goldeye, Tris's teacher. He was rarely present and Tris and Niko didn't really seem to bond and their friendship didn't seem to evolve. I was very excited to find out more about wind scrying, but I found the concept was very badly described and uninteresting. I was also hoping that the murderer's personality would be as complex as that of the arsonist in Cold Fire, but I found he lacked dimension.
I supposed I was just excpecting Shatterglass to be as good as Cold Fire, or even Tris's Book, but I was disappointed. However, if you have read the other books in the series, I suggest you purchase this one anyways to complete the quartet.
Rating:
Summary: Shatterglass excellent!
Review: Shatterglass was an excellent followup to the prior Circle Opens quartet. I guess I identify most with Tris, even though I am much, much older. I've had a wicked temper I've fought all my life, and it is interesting to weave temper control into her magic. Actually, I'm a huge fan of Tamora Pierce, even though I'm a 50+ year old woman...her books in many ways remind me of the best of Andre Norton. They are suitable for younger folk, but interesting and somewhat intriguing for us older readers. There isn't a book in any of her series that I would rate below 4 stars! And her determination to make her characters strong, but flawed, and with emphasis on females in uncharacteristic roles is a great way to give role models to our young readers.
Rating:
Summary: Shatterglass excellent!
Review: Shatterglass was an excellent followup to the prior Circle Opens quartet. I guess I identify most with Tris, even though I am much, much older. I've had a wicked temper I've fought all my life, and it is interesting to weave temper control into her magic. Actually, I'm a huge fan of Tamora Pierce, even though I'm a 50+ year old woman...her books in many ways remind me of the best of Andre Norton. They are suitable for younger folk, but interesting and somewhat intriguing for us older readers. There isn't a book in any of her series that I would rate below 4 stars! And her determination to make her characters strong, but flawed, and with emphasis on females in uncharacteristic roles is a great way to give role models to our young readers.
Rating:
Summary: A satisfying conclusion to the quartet
Review: Shatterglass, the conclusion to Tamora Pierce's "The Circle Opens" quartet, follows in the footsteps of the other three books in the series. I felt some inclination to skim over a bit of the early plot development because I knew that the book would fit the established pattern; that Tris would discover an untrained mage who desperately needs help to establish control over his magic. That said, I DIDN'T skim any of this book because I enjoy Ms. Pierce's writing so much. It is engaging and even when she chooses a potentially predictable plot, she infuses it with something all her own. I found myself reading this book all the time, even when I had other things-enjoyable things!-to do. The character development in this book, particularly of Tris and Keth, is excellent, with compelling motivation presented in a way that involves the reader. Some of the more minor characters are not so multifaceted, but it is appropriate in a young adult novel of this length. Like the other books in the quartet, this book delves right into murder and mayhem. I would direct most younger readers to start reading "The Song of the Lioness" quartet and move on to these later, because there are some darker parts in this series. This particular book is set in a very interesting culture. The language and the setting seem to have their roots in ancient Greece, but with some interesting emphases. The class system is in full effect here. Tris and Keth, both foreigners, cannot understand the culture's obsession with spiritual and physical cleanliness, and consider most of it folly, but the author does a good job of presenting the other side of the story as well. The main reason I didn't give this book five stars is that, at the end, I felt that there were still some significant mysteries to be cleared up. That is not to say that I have to have everything neatly tied up at the end of a book (indeed, that usually makes the book seem fake), but there were some fundamental questions that are never answered. (For instance, WHY does Keth's magic predict crimes? The question is brought up but never seriously addressed. Perhaps it's a subject for another book? Well, for the sake of the fans, I hope so.) Despite this one complaint, I found the book fast moving, intriguing, and generally enjoyable. I'll be recommending this and Tamora Pierce's other novels to the patrons I work with, and of course continuing to read everything new she releases. Hope you enjoy the book as much as I did!
Rating:
Summary: Shatterglass
Review: The seventh yaskedasi was dead, according to Dema. Dema was the one to investigate the murders of the preformers (yaskedasi), helped by some lightning mages named Tris and Keth. Intrigued? Will they find the killer? Will Keth be able to make a glass globe that will show the killer's face? Or will it again be covered with lightning? Will Tris be able to help Keth master his powers before the killer strikes again? Tris and her teacher, Niko, come to Khapik to study the magic in glass making, but end up with more than they bargained for. But for Tris to help Keth, Keth must put aside the fact that Tris is only 14 years old and he is an adult. Tris is a very impatient girl who keeps magic in her braids.
But what about the killer? You'll have to read and find out!
|
