{First of 5 in Glass Thorns series; fantasy} (2012)

The people of the kingdom of Albeyn have a thoroughly mixed heritage of goblin, elf, troll, wizard, human etcetera with no pure-bloods of any race left. Even if someone might be referred to as a troll, it is not a racial slur because everyone has such mixed blood. However, someone perceived as being an elf might be discriminated against in the further reaches of the kingdom because the elves refused to use magic or take sides in the devastating war that the Archduke lost to the king a generation ago.

Cade Silversun, together with his friends Rafe and Jeska, has formed a group of players and though they are talented they need to find a good glisker with enough elfen blood and who fits with their talents to be able to perform their magical plays effectively. The book throws you in at the deep end with the names of each profession, but a group of players consists of four men: a tregetour (who writes the plays and imbues the glass withies (glass twigs) with magic), a fettler (who keeps control of the magic), a masquer (who acts out all the parts) and a glisker (who uses the magic to create atmosphere, emotions, landscapes, the faces the masquer wears and so on). (There is a glossary of most of the unusual terms Rawn uses at the back of the e-book I borrowed.) The story begins as they meet the exuberant Mieka, who turns out to be the perfect fit as their glisker, and their theatre group finally takes off and becomes a roaring success.

However, even though they have begun their favoured career quite young (they’re all aged between seventeen and twenty one), not everything is perfect. Cade has that rarest of heritages, fae blood, which causes him to have random visions of potential futures which, for several reasons, he has to keep secret. He has managed to use the information to alter his own future, such as deliberately sabotaging careers early on (with, for example, a wine merchant) since he was determined to be a player - but he does not always know what to change for longer range futures and he cannot make those kinds of choices when it comes to other people’s lives. One such decision involved the group's name and eventually they decided on 'Touchstone'. In some of his visions, their group was a brief shining success but in a few, they were a long-running staple of the theatre scene and much of the difference depends on what Mieka will do. That kind of dilemma has driven some of his relatives mad, whose fae blood also manifested. And, to add to this story of the theatre troupe there is a larger story in which the current Archduke, son of the villain of the war, seems to be planning something sinister.

Since they are still young, the boys still live at home and I enjoyed seeing their families too; Cade's much younger brother who has a wise head on his shoulders, Rafe's mother who is one of the best bakers in Gallantrybanks and always makes sure the friends are well-fed, Mieka's large family - all twins, and their friend Blye whose glass crafter father is cruelly dying from the after-effects of the magical weapons from the war and who, though her glass work rivals any master glass crafter, cannot inherit her father's glassworks nor get her own crafter's stamp because she is female.

I remember reading Rawn's Dragon Prince series long years ago and this was very different. It wasn't what I was expecting, being about a magical theatre group rather than large sorceries and kingdom-saving battles, but it was fun. I wasn't a fan of the casual drug use, though. Cade experiments with various drugs in an attempt to avoid seeing his visions even though he sees that the worst of the potential futures are spoiled by Mieka's drug abuse which ruins his talent. It being my personal opinion that drug use should not be presented as acceptable or desirable, I am docking half a star for that.

August 2021
(3.5-4) 3-3.5 stars ( )

Good read. Enjoyed the world she has created in this series and am looking forward to book 2!!! ( )

Good read. Enjoyed the world she has created in this series and am looking forward to book 2!!! ( )

I plowed through it because I've loved the author's other works, but this was a slow march to nowhere. The plot was almost non-existent and nothing made me care about any of the characters. I won't be reading any of the other books in the series. ( )

Sort of young druggie rock stars in a fantasy rpg milieu. Different enough to intrigue, familiar enough that not everything needs to be explained or held in mind for later integration. Good flow and great characters. ( )