Michelle Sagara

Elantra once again entrances!

Raven lived in the Warrens. She collected glass no-one could see. She had a companion Robin but he’d disappeared. He had been recruited to the Academia, a place of learning that had been asleep but now returned and is governed by the Dragon chancellor, Lord Tiamaris. Tiamaris sees Academia as his horde. Never get between a dragon and his horde!
Raven couldn’t remember her past, her name, names of objects, anything, she was a blank slate. Robin had named her. The two had survived in the Warrens, looking out for each other from an early age. Robin vaguely, fleetingly remembers another life. Robin wants Raven to come to Academia, but when she arrives those in charge are alarmed by her.
Death is stalking the halls of Academia.
Who or what is Raven? Who is Robin? Who is the old woman Giselle?
This is an independent title that has seemingly grown out of Cast in Wisdom. I love the way Raven interacts with the giant spider Starrante, a Wevaran, and one of the three librarians of Academia.
Some of the lost Barrani cohort who now live with Kylin Neya are present, particularly Terrano who most people can’t see but Raven and Giselle can.
Sagara has an underlying current running through this novel that explores questions around waking thoughts and what dreams might be. The reality of fears, anxieties and wishes as they pertain to dreams. Fascinating!
Another stunning novel of Elantra that pulled me into the mystery of Raven and Robin, and more broadly into the lost cohort of Baranni’s.

A Harlequin Trade ARC via NetGalley.
Many thanks to the author and publisher.… (more)

SHARDS OF GLASS is set in the same world as the Chronicles of Elantra series and has some of the same characters. This story takes place at the recently rediscovered Academia which was once a center of learning for the world but was shifted out of its timeline in the battle to defeat Shadow which was set to consume the world.

Young Robin was kidnapped from the Warrens when it was discovered that Academia needed students to complete its recovery. After the defeat of the people who wanted to use Academia to build their own powers and a new Chancellor was chosen, the quest for new students began.

Robin proposed the friend who kept him alive in the Warrens when he was a child. Raven was a strange person who knew how to survive and chose to help Robin survive too. Robin is the one who named this child Raven and who acted as her interpreter to the world since she was almost completely nonverbal when they first paired up.

Robin hoped that bringing Raven to Academia would provide the safety, food, and shelter that were so scarce in the Warrens. He wasn't expecting to drop her in the middle of a campus where random students were being murdered.

Robin has been making new friends among the students including three of the Cohort of Barrani who were rescued from captivity in an earlier book of the Chronicles of Elantra. Serralyn loved the Academia especially its endless library staffed by Arbiters from three ancient, immortal races. And Terrano was another friend who was most changed by their captivity and now has very non-Barrani abilities. Robin is even friends with Starrante who is one of the librarians and a Wevaran who looks like a giant spider.

As Robin and Raven work together to solve the murders and preserve this new home they learn more about each other and more about the pasts that are impacting their presents.

This was an excellent, complex fantasy filled with magic and magical beings. Robin seems to be an ordinary human but one with a potential magical ability. Raven is anything but human which comes as a surprise to Robin. The Chancellor of the Academia is a dragon. The Arbiters are a Wevaran, an Ancient, and a Barrani. There are sentient buildings and human mages.

But beyond the fantastical elements, this is a story of friendship and love and finding a home. I really enjoyed it and would be eager for more stories in this world.… (more)