The Shadow Glass

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Winning hasn’t just written a great fantasy novel, he has created a complex pedestal for family relationships during childhood and how these can be rooted in grief. Bob has left behind information and popular merchandise for not only the in-book nerds to pine over but ourselves. This is an interaction that was perfectly executed. Winning has shown us that things are to be shared and loved by a community. This isn’t just the work of Bob Corman but of his fans and now Winnings fans that are left to interpret this whole story. I already knew Rin’s writing was spectacular but this book took it to a whole new level. While all of the kingdoms are mentioned throughout the books, I never expected to get the opportunity to travel to all of them but the author ensures we do and this makes for a great journey and an awesome job at more expansive world building - each kingdom unique in its own way. The writing in this book is so layered, each chapter uncovering some manipulation or treachery, the anticipation only building up more because of the way the two timelines are alternately written and surprising us every step of the way. There are liars and traitors in the guise of elders and friends and while I had some doubts, I never could guess their identities confidently. That’s why the reveals had a very high impact. The plot also moves much faster in this book because there is a lot riding on Tea’s shoulders, and there are even more amazing action sequences than the previous books. I continued to be impressed but the last few chapters really gutted me but it was also so perfectly tied up. In a forgotten time, in a forgotten world, deep within a forgotten chamber few have ever seen, the Shadow Glass sees all.’ Bob Corman’s 1986 feature debut, The Shadow Glass, was a flop at the box office. The “puppet-animated fantasy adventure” has since gained a cult following but Bob’s son, who was one of The Shadow Glass’ first super-fans, wants nothing to do with it. It is so well done I am slightly sorry that this enchanting series is over and am curious to see if any of Rin Chupeco’s storytelling calls to me in the way this series did as I’d truly love to read more but tend to be wary of YA (at my big age) and despite aforementioned age Horror genre’s never speak to me 🙈

I had a tough time reading this book. I took a bit of a break from it midway because I wasn't that into it (which is really odd considering I gave The Heart Forger 5 stars). Now that I've finished it, I feel quite underwhelmed with it as a conclusion but it's difficult to explain why.

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You’re probably not surprised if I say I can’t really think of anything to criticize about this book because I was already so invested in the series I kinda get blind to any flaws there might be haha. This is why reviewing favorites is hard. Shadowglass was a great book, a great ending and I can’t wait to get my own copy so I can have all three all pretty in my shelf. I caught on to The Bone Witch late, over a year after is had been published, but when I listened to the audio, I went directly on to The Heart Forger as well, knowing that I would have to wait a year for The Shadowglass audio to become available at my library. I could have requested - and probably received - an ARC, but I wanted it to be read to me. I regret nothing. We also get to explore other kingdoms as Istera, the Yadosha City States and Drycht. Furthermore, the rest of the daevas finally make an appearance in the past timeline. And there are a couple of interesting plot-twists. I actually guessed who the traitor was and the identity of certain Faceless at some point around the middle of the book, but I didn’t connect all the dots until the author showed her hand. This story is told in my favorite format ever, which is half of it being told in present day from a bard, where you see the ramifications of everything that has happened in the past, where Tea appears to be the villain, but the other half is the past, from Tea’s perspective, where we get to slowly see the events unfold to bring us up to date with current day. Two timelines brilliantly woven together to give us the most epic finale of all time and truly is a masterpiece. There’s so much to lub about this book. I lub the erplings. I lub kettu. I lub lubs. I even lub Kunin Yillda.

Un homenaje genial a las pelis de fantasía de los 80 como Cristal oscuro, Dentro del laberinto o La historia interminable. Esta novela rinde tributo claramente a Jim Henson y su imaginación que encandilo a muchos niños de esa generación entre los que me incluyo. There are also some beautiful side stories in here, with some positive trans rep which was so wonderful to see. I also loved Fox and who he was, and his whole relationship unfolding here, because he deserves all the happiness in the world. Bringing together an artful blend of nostalgic references, emotionally-wrenching characterisation, and stunning worldbuilding, Josh Winning’s “The Shadow Glass” is a delight of a debut.”—Tori Bovalino, author of The Devil Makes Three and Not Good For Maidens Tea’s character development is just amazing throughout the entire trilogy and I’m still trying to wrap my mind around everything that happened to her since The Bone Witch. And I completely love her dynamic with all the characters, especially with Fox, Khaled, Kalen, Likh and Zoya, although the latter appears much less in The Shadowglass than in The Bone Witch and The Heart Forger. Shadi, Mykaela and Inessa also have less presence and I missed more scenes with them. Other aspect I adored about this book is Likh’s journey accepting her identity as a woman and the consequent change of pronouns. And it made me beyond happy how the rest of the characters accept and respect Likh’s transition with total normality, as it should be.

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The Shadow Glass will probably be someones favorite book this year. Its charming, well written, and really, everything that Ready Player One wanted to be. My 3 stars reflects my own enjoyment of it, but I want to be clear, this will be someone's 5 star read. A story only kept going if people remembered it, if they lived it over and over again. If it was forgotten, it evaporated. Shadowglass is the last book in The Bone Witch trilogy, the author did an amazing job concluding this series. There was no loose ends or plot holes. Since this book is a conclusion to the series there were a lot of revelations here, we finally know why Tea got exiled, what the Faceless actually wanted to do,the events that made Fox dislike her, what happened to Kalen and who the traitor is. The plot started immediately from where The Heart Forger ended. Tea has finally acquired Shadowglass with the help of Khalad, now she is taking the war to the Faceless. The last leg on Tea’s journey rendered me speechless. Though I anticipated what’s coming for her, I sobbed like a baby. It was heart-wrenching especially Tea shared a strong bond with everyone. You can’t help rooting for her throughout the book.

I received this book for free from Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review. A somewhat rote fantasy adventure that will live or die on the strength of its nostalgia appeal. Filled with familiar-feeling characters, plot beats and ideas, The Shadow Glass is certainly not pushing anything new or exciting. The result may be either comfortingly familiar or tediously unoriginal, possibly depending somewhat on your relationship to the 80s fantasy movies that we’re playing with here- The Dark Crystal, Labyrinth, The Neverending Story etc. Now I’ve seen all these movies and many more of that era and genre, many when I was younger. And I enjoyed them, and I remember enjoying them and specific parts of them that gave me specific emotional responses, and specific parts of them that were interesting; cool world-building elements or lovable/hateable characters. The issue with the particular flavour of nostalgia found in The Shadow Glass is that it does nothing more than remind you of all of these other works, works that stand on their own merits. It never adds anything fresh to the conversation, never builds on or extends the original works in any way. Ultimately, we end up with Ready Player One, but with 80s films instead of 80s games. Pros: Fresh spin on the portal fantasy trope/puppet fantasy genre with grown-up protagonists. Stuffed (pun intended) with action and heart. Reads like an impassioned love letter to '80s cinema (and fandom of any kind), but will resonate with anyone regardless of age.It’s fairly common for me to finish a book and immediately want to see the movie adaptation of it, whether it currently exists or not. I need a movie of this book but I also need Bob Corman’s original 1986 movie in my life. ‘It’s real and scary and it’s not safe.’ Thank you so much to NetGalley and Titan Books for the opportunity to fall in lub with Iri. The narrator, Colin Mace, was very good. Just the right voice for this kind of story. I enjoyed his narration.