Spy Glass (Opal Cowan Trilogy: Book 3) (The Glass Trilogy) [Paperback]

In 'Spy Glass' we return to the wonderfully vibrant and alive world of Sita and Ixia and to the epic story of Opal Cowan. [some spoilers for previous books in the trilogy follow...]

In previous instalments we have seen Opal grow awkwardly into her magical abilities, endure the loss of her sister, tortured at the hands of Daviian Warpers who wanted her power for their own evil plans and finally the ultimate sacrifice of her power to protect those she loves. After all of that, I could not wait to get my hands on the final book in the trilogy and see how it all turned out!

We rejoin Opal at home as she prepares for her sister, Mara's wedding to Leif. In the midst of her grief (and moping) for her lost powers, she learns that the warpers who had taken her, had also stolen her blood - blood which may allow her to regain her magical abilities once more, if she can find it. And so she sets out on yet another epic and relentless adventure, jam packed with action, twists, passion and many of our favourite faces from the past!

Ultimately, I admit to being a little torn about this book for a while. I, of course, love the world and the characters within and I've not been able to put it down for long thanks to the amazing pace and excitement M.V. Snyder builds and maintains throughout. With this being the final instalment, it was lovely to see so many of the characters making an appearance too - each of them really is worthy of a novel to themselves! I am a great fan of Snyder's work and I really enjoyed the book - it's just as an addictive and gripping read as any other in the series - but at times I found myself a bit frustrated with it.

Occasionally things were just a little bit too relentless, with Opal rushing from one place to the next almost instantly, it sometimes felt as though everything was being crammed in at once -which was both confusing and unnecessary. There were things that just didn't seem fully explored and I could easily have seen the book split into two! This rushing about can of course be explained simply by the nature of Opal's character, but it was a trait that did not stand out quite so much in earlier books. Opal herself has of course grown and changed thanks to the experiences she had endured and one of the reasons I love Snyder's work is her excellent character development. Admittedly though, at times, I found myself not liking some of the changes in Opal and the decisions she made, which was a little jarring.

I wont give anything away but I will say that in the end, M.V.Snyder knows her characters best and ultimately, the series couldn't have ended in a better way. It is true to the character of Opal.

Enjoy it :)

Firstly please note that I am reviewing Spy Glass as a stand alone novel and not as part of a series. Spy Glass is the third and final book of Maria V. Snyder's Glass Trilogy.

Having said that, I thought Spy Glass is more about adventure than suspense. Granted, it's one very dangerous adventure, but there was not as much suspense as I would have expected. Again, my lack of knowledge about previous books played a big role in what I think is my failure to grasp the importance of the turn of events. The plot was easy enough to follow - really, the plot is solid for a stand alone novel, but there is a lot of references that felt like they have implied meaning and relevance, as well as actions, words and phrases that appears to mean more that what I understood. Most of the characters were very easy to read about - however, there are a few characters who I felt weighed more than two sentences' worth of introduction. There was not much depth in as these characters have been written about in the previous books. For those reasons, I felt that my reading experience was not complete.

Opal is a spirited character - she's independent, smart, sometimes rash, but brave. I'm not very fond of her, and she's not very likeable. I disliked many of her decisions, especially those that pertain to her safety and those which has to do with love. With a mind of her own, she often has the tendency to overestimate or underestimate, but never right. She's fiery to a fault, and I dislike the way she seems selfish in that she forgets the people around her, but I grant that she's her own character.

I am big on commitment and loyalty, and as much as I love romance, I was heavily disappointed in Opal's actions in Spy Glass. I might be getting her wrong, but there commitment is commitment and in a relationship, it is very fundamental. I'm in no position to comment as to who she ends up with, as I don't feel like I know their characters in depth, but I do know that whether the man in question is right for you or not, I think it is basic courtesy to end the relationship before diving into another one. She got that one incredibly wrong, and I did not feel like she had the chance to feel remorseful. Of course, she's entitled to make mistakes, but it rattled me, I suppose.

Spy Glass has a strong mythology, only one I cannot relate to. I personally think the book works as a stand alone novel. However, even I can appreciate the beauty of its fantasy world and the strength of its plot. I'm not certain if those who have been following this series will find it an excellent novel as I have no frame of reference of the previous books, but I'm sure more than a few will. So while I don't recommend reading this as a standalone, I would encourage readers to have a go at the series, in order of course.

I abosultely love this series. Plot and mudered and yet there is the little romance between Devlen and Opal, are they for real? What about Kade? it seems Opal got herself into a triangle love affair. Great deal of twists and turns and is a cliffhanger alright. I couldn't put it down and I missed my train station reading it. I finished reading it last night. I will read it again as a treat.

Jane Court