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Harbinger #1
Storm Glass
From the Wall Street Journal bestselling author of the Kingfountain Series comes the first novel in a bold and richly imagined world.
Theirs is a world of opposites. The privileged live in sky manors held aloft by a secretive magic known only as the Mysteries. Below, the earthbound poor are forced into factory work to maintain the engine of commerce. Only the wealthy can afford to learn the Mysteries, and they use their knowledge to further lock their hold on society.
Cettie Pratt is a waif doomed to the world below, until an admiral attempts to adopt her. But in her new home in the clouds, not everyone treats her as one of the family.
Sera Fitzempress is a princess born into power. She yearns to meet the orphan girl she has heard so much about, but her father deems the girl unworthy of his daughter’s curiosity.
Neither girl feels that she belongs. Each seeks to break free of imposed rules. Now, as Cettie dreams of living above and as Sera is drawn to the world below, they will follow the paths of their own choosing.
But both girls will be needed for the coming storm that threatens to overturn both their worlds.
French Version:
Dans cette aventure entre ciel et terre, où les manoirs flottent au milieu des nuages grâce à une magie énigmatique, faites la connaissance de Cettie et Séra, deux jeunes filles aussi courageuses qu’ingénieuses aux destinées hors du commun.Il existe deux mondes.L’un a conquis les nuages.L’autre a sombré dans le brouillard.
Abandonnée alors qu’elle était enfant, Cettie vit le ventre creux, dans la peur des fantômes qu’elle semble être la seule à voir. Elle réside dans le monde d’en bas, jusqu’à ce qu’un vice-amiral fortuné l’en délivre, lui offrant la vie dont elle a toujours rêvé, tout là-haut dans les nuages. Là où les manoirs flottent dans le ciel grâce à une magie énigmatique et où les privilégiés mènent des vies de rois.
Séra est la petite-fille de l’Empereur. Toutes envient sa place. Pourtant, seule avec sa gouvernante et ses parents, la jeune princesse n’a qu’un désir : explorer le monde qu’elle aperçoit tout juste depuis sa fenêtre.
La vie des deux jeunes filles est sur le point de changer à jamais.
Theirs is a world of opposites. The privileged live in sky manors held aloft by a secretive magic known only as the Mysteries. Below, the earthbound poor are forced into factory work to maintain the engine of commerce. Only the wealthy can afford to learn the Mysteries, and they use their knowledge to further lock their hold on society.
Cettie Pratt is a waif doomed to the world below, until an admiral attempts to adopt her. But in her new home in the clouds, not everyone treats her as one of the family.
Sera Fitzempress is a princess born into power. She yearns to meet the orphan girl she has heard so much about, but her father deems the girl unworthy of his daughter’s curiosity.
Neither girl feels that she belongs. Each seeks to break free of imposed rules. Now, as Cettie dreams of living above and as Sera is drawn to the world below, they will follow the paths of their own choosing.
But both girls will be needed for the coming storm that threatens to overturn both their worlds.
French Version:
Dans cette aventure entre ciel et terre, où les manoirs flottent au milieu des nuages grâce à une magie énigmatique, faites la connaissance de Cettie et Séra, deux jeunes filles aussi courageuses qu’ingénieuses aux destinées hors du commun.Il existe deux mondes.L’un a conquis les nuages.L’autre a sombré dans le brouillard.
Abandonnée alors qu’elle était enfant, Cettie vit le ventre creux, dans la peur des fantômes qu’elle semble être la seule à voir. Elle réside dans le monde d’en bas, jusqu’à ce qu’un vice-amiral fortuné l’en délivre, lui offrant la vie dont elle a toujours rêvé, tout là-haut dans les nuages. Là où les manoirs flottent dans le ciel grâce à une magie énigmatique et où les privilégiés mènent des vies de rois.
Séra est la petite-fille de l’Empereur. Toutes envient sa place. Pourtant, seule avec sa gouvernante et ses parents, la jeune princesse n’a qu’un désir : explorer le monde qu’elle aperçoit tout juste depuis sa fenêtre.
La vie des deux jeunes filles est sur le point de changer à jamais.
367 pages, Kindle Edition
First published June 19, 2018
8324 people are currently reading
22126 people want to read
About the author
Jeff Wheeler
127 books5,225 followersWall Street Journal bestselling author Jeff Wheeler took an early retirement from his career at Intel in 2014 to write full-time. He is a husband, father of five, and a devout member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Jeff lives in the Rocky Mountains.
Learn about Jeff’s many worlds at www.jeff-wheeler.com, or participate in one of his online writing classes through Writer’s Block (www.writersblock.biz).
Learn about Jeff’s many worlds at www.jeff-wheeler.com, or participate in one of his online writing classes through Writer’s Block (www.writersblock.biz).
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 1,281 reviews
March 26, 2018
Two young girls. Two distinct, opposite worlds. Cettie of the Fells lives in a dark world, a world of poverty, hunger and disease. Her clothing is threadbare and there are holes in her shoes. Stealing food is the only way to obtain nourishment. Sera Fitzempress lives in a floating manor in the upper world of wealth and privilege. Beautiful waterfalls are found on her estate in the clouds. The water turns to mist before it reaches the underbelly of society, the home of the poor and wretched. The floating manors and estates are controlled by the Mysteries. Neither Cettie nor Sera is comfortable in her world and each seeks freedom and control over her destiny.
Cettie hopes to qualify for the lottery through hard work. She yearns for a position in one of the floating manors. A chance meeting with Lord Fitzroy might be her way out. She attempts to speak to him, with deference, while begging him to adopt her. The first step would be for Fitzroy to buy her deed. Children down below are frequently signed away by their parents. Deeds can be transferred from owner to owner.
Sera lives a lonely life with only her governess, Hugilde, for companionship. She is an only child with no playmates. Her father has never let her experience life outside the manor. Sera is unable to focus on her studies. Why learn about life outside if she cannot experience it? Upon learning that Lord Fitzroy has brought Cettie home to his manor at Willow Fog, Sera is anxious to meet her. Sera's efforts are thwarted.
At age fourteen, privileged children are sent to school to learn the Mysteries. What are the Mysteries and how are they used? Why would Lord Fitzroy, a decorated hero, take waiflike Cettie aboard his skyship and fly her to his manor?
Determined citizens from down below strive for a better life. If successful they might have their time in the sun, their floating estate. Seemingly successful, well dressed members of society however can easily topple from grace. Despite the long hard climb to the top, a rapid decline can follow when other businessmen plot your economic destruction. They relish it! They relish your tumble back to the tenements.
I did not expect to be so captivated by this Sci Fi/ Fantasy read! "Storm Glass (Harbinger #1)" by Jeff Wheeler is the first book in a planned five book series. I anxiously await Harbinger #2! An excellent read.
Thank you 47North and Net Galley for the opportunity to read and review "Storm Glass".
Cettie hopes to qualify for the lottery through hard work. She yearns for a position in one of the floating manors. A chance meeting with Lord Fitzroy might be her way out. She attempts to speak to him, with deference, while begging him to adopt her. The first step would be for Fitzroy to buy her deed. Children down below are frequently signed away by their parents. Deeds can be transferred from owner to owner.
Sera lives a lonely life with only her governess, Hugilde, for companionship. She is an only child with no playmates. Her father has never let her experience life outside the manor. Sera is unable to focus on her studies. Why learn about life outside if she cannot experience it? Upon learning that Lord Fitzroy has brought Cettie home to his manor at Willow Fog, Sera is anxious to meet her. Sera's efforts are thwarted.
At age fourteen, privileged children are sent to school to learn the Mysteries. What are the Mysteries and how are they used? Why would Lord Fitzroy, a decorated hero, take waiflike Cettie aboard his skyship and fly her to his manor?
Determined citizens from down below strive for a better life. If successful they might have their time in the sun, their floating estate. Seemingly successful, well dressed members of society however can easily topple from grace. Despite the long hard climb to the top, a rapid decline can follow when other businessmen plot your economic destruction. They relish it! They relish your tumble back to the tenements.
I did not expect to be so captivated by this Sci Fi/ Fantasy read! "Storm Glass (Harbinger #1)" by Jeff Wheeler is the first book in a planned five book series. I anxiously await Harbinger #2! An excellent read.
Thank you 47North and Net Galley for the opportunity to read and review "Storm Glass".
February 6, 2023
Two young girls live very opposite lives. One’s rich and lives on a floating island in the sky. The other lives a poor and homeless life down below. And they both want to break free.
The cover is really stunning. The fantasy world building is really cool. The characters are fleshed out pretty well. And it’s shockingly well written.
But in terms of plot … It took me 100 pages before I noticed nothing had happened. And 200 pages before I started getting annoyed by the lack of plot advancement. Basically, if you read the blurb you can pretty much skip the first 300 pages. Which is a bit sad for a book that’s only about 350 pages long.
The cover is really stunning. The fantasy world building is really cool. The characters are fleshed out pretty well. And it’s shockingly well written.
But in terms of plot … It took me 100 pages before I noticed nothing had happened. And 200 pages before I started getting annoyed by the lack of plot advancement. Basically, if you read the blurb you can pretty much skip the first 300 pages. Which is a bit sad for a book that’s only about 350 pages long.
February 25, 2019
Storm Glass by Jeff Wheeler and narrated by Kate Rudd is a fabulous world that is fleshed out magnificently! Floating mountain cities, the poor people and the life they live on the ground, the magic that keeps things going they call the "Mysteries" , and the ship's that soar through the sky! It is all so cool!
The characters are well developed and either terrifying or wonderful. Sure their are others but all are unique!
The narration is excellent too! I will certainly follow this series!
The characters are well developed and either terrifying or wonderful. Sure their are others but all are unique!
The narration is excellent too! I will certainly follow this series!
December 2, 2020
I don’t feel like writing a full review. It had its moments but I wasn’t invested in any of the characters. I may continue the series because I have KU and I definitely want to watch the antagonists lose.
January 4, 2019
"We all learn, little woman, that before we can be old and wise, we must at first be very young and foolish."
This is marketed as young adult, and while the writing style and pacing were definitely of that genre, the main characters were both 12 throughout the entire novel, which was surprising to me at first. The plot was well paced, though, and the characters well rounded, so it was not a bad thing by any means.
I was drawn into the story and the world as soon as Cettie's character was introduced. She had a gothic quality to her that reminded me of Jane Eyre, and her storyline gave me strong Mansfield Park vibes, which I really liked and appreciated.
Unfortunately, I did not feel such about our other heroine, Sera, at least not for a long while. I found her initially more along the lines of the princess part of Barbie's The Princess and the Pauper: whiney, ungrateful, and ~so unconventional~ But after some hardships, her character really blossomed into someone I genuinely cared about.
"Some knowledge, important knowledge, requires a price to be paid before it is learned. The secrets must be guarded. But they can be learned."
I was not a huge fan of the unnecessary love interests, as they made the 12 year old protagonists feel much older, especially since their respective love interests were both a few years older than them. The other secondary characters, such as Sera's governess Hugilde, Mr Durrant (an iconic gem of a man), and Anna were all great additions that helped to populate the world and expand the breadth of the characters.
I did not like the random thoughts from a seemingly unimportant character, Lady Corrine of Pavenham Sky, as they were largely unrelated to the themes of the novel, and served only to reiterate worldbuilding, spew pointless philosophy, and distract from the plot. The character in question, when she did appear, did not seem even remotely like her philosophical self.
The malevolent spirits and their influence in Cettie's life, as well as Fitzroy's apparent ability to ward them off, was immediately compelling and I was dying to know more about them. I loved the worldbuilding as a whole and was fascinated by the mixture of myth and science. It reminded me a lot of one of my favorite underrated novels, Dominion by Shane Arbuthnott, with its historical feel and steampunk mixed with otherworldly fantasy aspects.
"That's the thing about stories. They can touch on truths that some people are not ready to hear."
Read this review and more on my blog here!
August 14, 2018
Storm Glass is set in a Dickensian world where the the wealthy live in manors magically suspended in the sky by means of something called the 'mysteries", something only the sky-dwellers are privy to learn and understand. The unfortunate, impoverished people live below in "the Fells", where their short lives are marked by hard work, hunger, and meager means. This duality is explored through two characters: Seraphin Fitzempress, heir to the throne, who is kept isolated from everyone by her father and battles loneliness as a result; and Cettie Pratt, a girl who lived in the Fells with a negligent guardian until she meets Vice Admiral Fitzroy, who agrees to take her to his sky manor when she pleaded with him to take her away from her miserable home—only to have to contend with his Keeper of the House, Mrs. Pullman, who wants Cettie back in the Fells where she belongs.
I was completely enchanted with this novel. The story is told alternately from Cettie and Seraphin's points of view, and it was easy to see the similarities between the two girls, despite how different their lives were. I enjoyed reading about both of them, though I must admit I was most sympathetic to Cettie—it was hard not to be, since she definitely had a harder life than Seraphin.
There are many things that happened in the story regarding the Mysteries (not to mention, people involved in the girls lives) that I would love to discuss in this review, but since these things aren't referenced in the blurb, I feel like it would be bordering on spoiling to talk about these things in detail. That's a crying shame, too, because oh my goodness these things are some of the best portions of the book! Suffice to say that a LOT of things happened that were (depending on the event in question) exciting, frightening, and even heartbreaking.
I am thrilled beyond measure that Storm Glass is the first in a series of books, because I can't wait to visit this captivating world again.
This is the first time I've read a book written by Jeff Wheeler, but it definitely won't be the last!
I highly recommend this book to anyone who loves reading young adult fantasy... and I hope you'll love it as much as I did!
(The second book in the series, Mirror Gate, will be released on August 28, 2018.)
I received an advance reading copy of this book courtesy of 47North via Netgalley.
I was completely enchanted with this novel. The story is told alternately from Cettie and Seraphin's points of view, and it was easy to see the similarities between the two girls, despite how different their lives were. I enjoyed reading about both of them, though I must admit I was most sympathetic to Cettie—it was hard not to be, since she definitely had a harder life than Seraphin.
There are many things that happened in the story regarding the Mysteries (not to mention, people involved in the girls lives) that I would love to discuss in this review, but since these things aren't referenced in the blurb, I feel like it would be bordering on spoiling to talk about these things in detail. That's a crying shame, too, because oh my goodness these things are some of the best portions of the book! Suffice to say that a LOT of things happened that were (depending on the event in question) exciting, frightening, and even heartbreaking.
I am thrilled beyond measure that Storm Glass is the first in a series of books, because I can't wait to visit this captivating world again.
This is the first time I've read a book written by Jeff Wheeler, but it definitely won't be the last!
I highly recommend this book to anyone who loves reading young adult fantasy... and I hope you'll love it as much as I did!
(The second book in the series, Mirror Gate, will be released on August 28, 2018.)
I received an advance reading copy of this book courtesy of 47North via Netgalley.
January 10, 2020
Whew! This book really surprised me. The main two girls POV we get are so well done. The economic and social lessons are brilliant. The plot is fast and interesting. I would love to see this picked up by a major publisher so it isn’t restricted to Kindle. Because of the kindle only format, I had to read this book on my phone instead of my e-reader. However it’s a testament to how well done it is that I didn’t mind reading on my phone one bit.
World Building
Normally what Jeff Wheeler has done to simplify any complex world building that might be needed would bug me. For some reason in this structure and with our younger lead gals I didn't mind that the answer to everything supernatural, unknown or unexplained (ie: floating islands, floating buildings, etc.) being:
"Of course, it was all explained by the Mysteries, which meant it wasn’t to be explained at all.”
I mean could you leave yourself any more room to be vague and have things just magically happen? I dunno if it's because of our younger lead characters, or just because Wheeler convinced me, but I didn't hate this explanation. Also perhaps I tolerate this answer because there is promise that the Mysteries are explained to those who pass certain educational milestones and that our lead gals might each get there. Which just makes me want to keep reading the books in this series! So maybe Wheeler is just clever and knew how to hook me in.
Lead Girls
The two point of views (first person) that we get in Storm Glass are from two younger girls (I think they were 10-12). One whom is very privileged and one who has come from the dirt of nothing up to privilege in the blink of an eye. At first I wanted more of the poorer girl's story from before she was 'saved'. But as time went by I realized that Wheeler was telling those stories in small snippets as our poorer gal experiences the grandeur of the privileged society she is thinking the stories of her past; which we then experience. Both girls are relatable and likeable in their own ways.
Each chapter with their POV tended to go on fairly long and everytime I didn't want to leave that girl's POV; until I got a couple pages in to the next POV and felt the same again. Wheeler has very compelling writing.
Genre Novel
For sure Wheeler has given us the beginning of the series (called Harbinger) that is fairly genre typical. We have some characters who differ, a fantasy world, socio-economics, and the ever endearing politics of said world. Then we have the fantastical Mysteries, some shady folks, and some really fun locations to visit. Storm Glass felt like a book I'd read a thousand times and would love to read a thousand times more. It was comfortable and felt like it fit in my brain nicely not unlike: LOTR, Shannara, WoT, and other (slightly older) fantasy does. For this reason some may find it 'dated' in its style. But for this girl, who was born in 1983 and read GoT at 16, it felt perfect.
Overall
The biggest downfall to this book is that I can't get it on my Kobo as it's Kindle only. Seriously TOR or Orbit need to jump on this series like now!
I am however going to order myself the series in paperback so I can enjoy it in all it's printed glory. I'm very happy to have found a unique but comfortable series to fall into.
Please note: I received an eARC of this book from the publisher via NetGalley. This is an honest and unbiased review.
World Building
Normally what Jeff Wheeler has done to simplify any complex world building that might be needed would bug me. For some reason in this structure and with our younger lead gals I didn't mind that the answer to everything supernatural, unknown or unexplained (ie: floating islands, floating buildings, etc.) being:
"Of course, it was all explained by the Mysteries, which meant it wasn’t to be explained at all.”
I mean could you leave yourself any more room to be vague and have things just magically happen? I dunno if it's because of our younger lead characters, or just because Wheeler convinced me, but I didn't hate this explanation. Also perhaps I tolerate this answer because there is promise that the Mysteries are explained to those who pass certain educational milestones and that our lead gals might each get there. Which just makes me want to keep reading the books in this series! So maybe Wheeler is just clever and knew how to hook me in.
Lead Girls
The two point of views (first person) that we get in Storm Glass are from two younger girls (I think they were 10-12). One whom is very privileged and one who has come from the dirt of nothing up to privilege in the blink of an eye. At first I wanted more of the poorer girl's story from before she was 'saved'. But as time went by I realized that Wheeler was telling those stories in small snippets as our poorer gal experiences the grandeur of the privileged society she is thinking the stories of her past; which we then experience. Both girls are relatable and likeable in their own ways.
Each chapter with their POV tended to go on fairly long and everytime I didn't want to leave that girl's POV; until I got a couple pages in to the next POV and felt the same again. Wheeler has very compelling writing.
Genre Novel
For sure Wheeler has given us the beginning of the series (called Harbinger) that is fairly genre typical. We have some characters who differ, a fantasy world, socio-economics, and the ever endearing politics of said world. Then we have the fantastical Mysteries, some shady folks, and some really fun locations to visit. Storm Glass felt like a book I'd read a thousand times and would love to read a thousand times more. It was comfortable and felt like it fit in my brain nicely not unlike: LOTR, Shannara, WoT, and other (slightly older) fantasy does. For this reason some may find it 'dated' in its style. But for this girl, who was born in 1983 and read GoT at 16, it felt perfect.
Overall
The biggest downfall to this book is that I can't get it on my Kobo as it's Kindle only. Seriously TOR or Orbit need to jump on this series like now!
I am however going to order myself the series in paperback so I can enjoy it in all it's printed glory. I'm very happy to have found a unique but comfortable series to fall into.
Please note: I received an eARC of this book from the publisher via NetGalley. This is an honest and unbiased review.
November 26, 2019
“No one truly belongs anywhere, Cettie. We each are given a life to live. And we live it as best we can.”
― Jeff Wheeler, Storm Glass
I try to express only my most honest opinion in a spoiler free way. If you feel anything in my review is a spoiler and is not already hidden in spoiler brackets please let me know. Thank you.
― Jeff Wheeler, Storm Glass
I try to express only my most honest opinion in a spoiler free way. If you feel anything in my review is a spoiler and is not already hidden in spoiler brackets please let me know. Thank you.
12 year old Cettie is parentless, hungry, and scared. Till a man comes. He can see her ghosts too, and he can banish them. After a plea from her, she is off to stay with him in his manor in the sky with hopes of being adopted. While some of the household welcomes her with open arms. Some do not. Then there is Sera. A princess. While her life may seem perfect, she is a prisoner in her own way. With hopes and dreams to be free and able to help the poor of the fells. After her father is made prince regent. Things begin to change in her world. And certain information will turn everything she's known upside down.
I listened to this one the KU audio. The narrator wasn't bad. I'm unsure though if my rating is due fully to the story though. I think without it being on audio, I may have given it a lower rating. There really wasn't a whole lot to the story. I think its because it was setting the series up and that's what makes it feel so uneventful to me. That being said though, the story did have its high points and in the end I will listen to the next book in the series as well with high hopes that the story progresses and get better. I liked the characters. They were each so different and unique in there own ways.
How I choose my rating:
1* Did not finish, or hated it but forced myself to finish.
2** Didn't really like it. Didn't hate it but not sure why I finished it other then for some closure.
3*** I liked it. I had some issues with it, but as a whole it was good. I probably won't reread again ever, but there is a chance I might finish the series. (If part of one) But if not it's not a huge loss.
4**** I really liked this book. Maybe not a work of genius, but highly entertaining. I might reread this again, and I will finish the series. (If part of one) I would recommend to those I know hold interest in this books content.
5***** I loved this book. I found little to no issues with it at all. I will definitely be rereading this and probably more than once. I will finish the series and reread it multiple times. (If part of one) I will recommend this book to EVERYONE!!!!
December 24, 2018
Intrigued to bored to OMG IT'S OVER!
Storm Glass was an interesting book. I found the cover to be cool looking and the synopsis to be interesting.. and so I dove into it. However, after diving into it I was going through the roller coaster of this is boring to ooooo I am intrigued. I will also admit that this book had some good twists and turns that I didn't always see coming. Especially that ending.
Cettie and Sera were adorable. I liked how they were constantly intrigued and up for the challenge. I also really liked how they weren't so cliche - in a way? Cettie was a poor orphan girl and Sera was a princess. Now Sera was kind of like Jasmine from Aladdin (again, in a way?) because she wanted to somehow give the poor rights. If she is Jasmine.. then Cettie is like Aladdin. Again, they were adorable and even though I was starting to ship them - I still couldn't believe my eyes with that ending.
Other than all of that, I felt like the book was rather slow-paced.. or maybe it was just me and my reading habits. I just couldn't get into the book at times.. and other moments were just me not wanting to read this book because I had other beautiful babies to dive into.
Overall, I'm glad that I stuck with it because it was a pretty good book. I'm definitely intrigued to dive into the next one - just hoping that it's a bit more fast paced.
Storm Glass was an interesting book. I found the cover to be cool looking and the synopsis to be interesting.. and so I dove into it. However, after diving into it I was going through the roller coaster of this is boring to ooooo I am intrigued. I will also admit that this book had some good twists and turns that I didn't always see coming. Especially that ending.
Cettie and Sera were adorable. I liked how they were constantly intrigued and up for the challenge. I also really liked how they weren't so cliche - in a way? Cettie was a poor orphan girl and Sera was a princess. Now Sera was kind of like Jasmine from Aladdin (again, in a way?) because she wanted to somehow give the poor rights. If she is Jasmine.. then Cettie is like Aladdin. Again, they were adorable and even though I was starting to ship them - I still couldn't believe my eyes with that ending.
Other than all of that, I felt like the book was rather slow-paced.. or maybe it was just me and my reading habits. I just couldn't get into the book at times.. and other moments were just me not wanting to read this book because I had other beautiful babies to dive into.
Overall, I'm glad that I stuck with it because it was a pretty good book. I'm definitely intrigued to dive into the next one - just hoping that it's a bit more fast paced.
January 7, 2019
Netgalley #64
Many thanks to Jeff Wheeler, 47 North, and Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for my unbiased review.
Jeff Wheeler is the father of clean fantasy. I love his Kingfountain series. So when I saw he was created a new world I jumped at the chance to read about it. This one is set above the clouds. And on the dirty ground. Guess who's rich and in power? We find an orphan, Cettie, with an ability to sense ghosts rescued by a brilliant politician, Fitzroy, who takes her home and prepares to adopt her as part of his family.
I found the cloud city fascinating, especially when people went bankrupt. There was a symbiotic relationship between the two levels. One could not exist fully without the other. And I was intrigued by the spirit world and how it's controlled. I want to learn more about that. Really I just want to read this entire series. This is a fantastic start!
Many thanks to Jeff Wheeler, 47 North, and Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for my unbiased review.
Jeff Wheeler is the father of clean fantasy. I love his Kingfountain series. So when I saw he was created a new world I jumped at the chance to read about it. This one is set above the clouds. And on the dirty ground. Guess who's rich and in power? We find an orphan, Cettie, with an ability to sense ghosts rescued by a brilliant politician, Fitzroy, who takes her home and prepares to adopt her as part of his family.
I found the cloud city fascinating, especially when people went bankrupt. There was a symbiotic relationship between the two levels. One could not exist fully without the other. And I was intrigued by the spirit world and how it's controlled. I want to learn more about that. Really I just want to read this entire series. This is a fantastic start!
January 16, 2025
3.5 stars rounded up to 4.
A well crafted story that I felt had echoes of Studio Ghibli and a bit of 1960's Star Trek thrown in.
The Ghibli reference would be to Laputa - Castle in the Sky.
The Star Trek reference I'm talking about is the episode where the upper classes live in the city in the clouds while the ordinary people work in the mines on the planet's surface with no privileges.
I enjoyed this book and will be going on to read the whole series back to back on my kindle.
Thanks for reading.
A well crafted story that I felt had echoes of Studio Ghibli and a bit of 1960's Star Trek thrown in.
The Ghibli reference would be to Laputa - Castle in the Sky.
The Star Trek reference I'm talking about is the episode where the upper classes live in the city in the clouds while the ordinary people work in the mines on the planet's surface with no privileges.
I enjoyed this book and will be going on to read the whole series back to back on my kindle.
Thanks for reading.
Read
August 11, 2018Absolutely nothing happens in the first 70% of this book. The next 25% has an actual plot, and the last 5% is "hey, there's definitely going to be a sequel, yo."
August 30, 2018
You can also read my review here: https://devouringbooks2017.wordpress....
Storm Glass was a cool fantasy novel that followed the lives of two young girls who came from very different parts of the fantasy world created in the book. Sera was a princess and lived on a floating manor in the sky and Cettie was practically homeless and living with the poor in the world down below.
The fantasy world created was quite fascinating. Although there are many modern inventions such as zephers, which are like flying spaceships, the time period seemed to emulate the 1800's with fancy dresses and balls, but also the poverty that you would expect in a Dicken's novel. There were also magical Mysteries that people studied, which added to the fantasy element.
The characters were interesting. I found them to be a bit younger than I typically read about. I read a lot of young adult novels, but in this story the two main characters were only 12 years old. I did find them interesting though. Cettie and Sera were both inquisitive young girls that had a lot of integrity. There were many injustices against the poor and rather than be a spoiled little girl, Sera, the princess, wanted to fight for the rights of the poor.
The plot was okay. It certainly wasn't predictable, at no point did I know where this book was going. But I expected a better plot, but the book was more about the world building then the events. I think the plot could have been more interesting and been done better. It was slow-moving and at times lost my interest. I did not see how the two girls stories were related for the majority of the novel.
It was full of very good world building and if it were to become a series I would be interested to see where it goes. As a stand alone it falls a little flat though. The plot could have been done much better, but the world building was so fascinating that I continued reading. This would not be at the top of my list for young adult fantasy, but I wouldn't count it out because the world building was so cool.
Storm Glass was a cool fantasy novel that followed the lives of two young girls who came from very different parts of the fantasy world created in the book. Sera was a princess and lived on a floating manor in the sky and Cettie was practically homeless and living with the poor in the world down below.
The fantasy world created was quite fascinating. Although there are many modern inventions such as zephers, which are like flying spaceships, the time period seemed to emulate the 1800's with fancy dresses and balls, but also the poverty that you would expect in a Dicken's novel. There were also magical Mysteries that people studied, which added to the fantasy element.
The characters were interesting. I found them to be a bit younger than I typically read about. I read a lot of young adult novels, but in this story the two main characters were only 12 years old. I did find them interesting though. Cettie and Sera were both inquisitive young girls that had a lot of integrity. There were many injustices against the poor and rather than be a spoiled little girl, Sera, the princess, wanted to fight for the rights of the poor.
The plot was okay. It certainly wasn't predictable, at no point did I know where this book was going. But I expected a better plot, but the book was more about the world building then the events. I think the plot could have been more interesting and been done better. It was slow-moving and at times lost my interest. I did not see how the two girls stories were related for the majority of the novel.
It was full of very good world building and if it were to become a series I would be interested to see where it goes. As a stand alone it falls a little flat though. The plot could have been done much better, but the world building was so fascinating that I continued reading. This would not be at the top of my list for young adult fantasy, but I wouldn't count it out because the world building was so cool.
December 6, 2022
How do I keep accidentally reading steampunk? I loathe it. It's so friggin dull. That's my bad, folks.
All the same, this was an audio book I was happy to only half-listen to. It's a classic Annie situation where the poor girl gets adopted by a rich dude and all of a sudden she's the mark of a changing future. But of course there are plenty of people to bully her and remind her she doesn't belong. Nothing new, here.
I did like the concept of the floating islands, but even that's been done before. And I don't really care for steampunk questions of how they float. Just give me your floating islands and be done with it. (See this is why I need pure fantasy instead of steampunk. Don't take the magic away from me!)
Cettie is our orphan and Sera is the contrasting rich kid obsessed with all things grimy and poor. Somehow across the course of this five-book series we know they're going to change the world as they know it. Good luck to them.
I had a lot of trouble with them being 12, especially because the narrator sounds like a 30-something. Nothing about these kids supports their being 12. I didn't buy it. I actually kept forgetting.
The story was pretty dull to me, but that's because it's so focused on mechanical ideas and political scheming which is really not my thing. I was planning on throwing this book a bonus star for the, 'it's not you, it's me' factor, because I found this book really dull but if you're into steampunk you'll probably appreciate it more than I did. BUT! Read that blurb and tell me I didn't get conned.
There were actually some decent lines in here and Fitzroy is a pretty pure character, so I don't think the writing was terrible. That being said, the narrator did not do it any favours.
Maybe I would have liked this book more if I'd just read it, but honestly I don't think it was anything original enough to have made a big difference. I've read so many rags-to-riches story that I need a real interesting angle to draw me in, and steampunk is not that angle, I'm afraid.
Not for me, this one, and I'm kind of annoyed at the blurb for promising me magic and giving me steampunk. NOT COOL. But if you're into that kinda thing, maybe it'll work for you.
All the same, this was an audio book I was happy to only half-listen to. It's a classic Annie situation where the poor girl gets adopted by a rich dude and all of a sudden she's the mark of a changing future. But of course there are plenty of people to bully her and remind her she doesn't belong. Nothing new, here.
I did like the concept of the floating islands, but even that's been done before. And I don't really care for steampunk questions of how they float. Just give me your floating islands and be done with it. (See this is why I need pure fantasy instead of steampunk. Don't take the magic away from me!)
Cettie is our orphan and Sera is the contrasting rich kid obsessed with all things grimy and poor. Somehow across the course of this five-book series we know they're going to change the world as they know it. Good luck to them.
I had a lot of trouble with them being 12, especially because the narrator sounds like a 30-something. Nothing about these kids supports their being 12. I didn't buy it. I actually kept forgetting.
The story was pretty dull to me, but that's because it's so focused on mechanical ideas and political scheming which is really not my thing. I was planning on throwing this book a bonus star for the, 'it's not you, it's me' factor, because I found this book really dull but if you're into steampunk you'll probably appreciate it more than I did. BUT! Read that blurb and tell me I didn't get conned.
There were actually some decent lines in here and Fitzroy is a pretty pure character, so I don't think the writing was terrible. That being said, the narrator did not do it any favours.
Maybe I would have liked this book more if I'd just read it, but honestly I don't think it was anything original enough to have made a big difference. I've read so many rags-to-riches story that I need a real interesting angle to draw me in, and steampunk is not that angle, I'm afraid.
Not for me, this one, and I'm kind of annoyed at the blurb for promising me magic and giving me steampunk. NOT COOL. But if you're into that kinda thing, maybe it'll work for you.
July 12, 2018
This is somewhere between 2.5 and 3 for me. Low end because the writing was not my favorite. I felt like the author did a lot of “telling” - it made me, as a reader, feel like the author assumed we (readers) would be stupid. Maybe this book is suppose to be for an audience who doesn’t pick up on things easily, but even if I was 16, I think I would still feel almost insulted by this writing style. Give the reader a little credit, ya know? Needless to say, it wasn’t for me.
What DID work for this book was the premise. The world building and the plot were not bad. The ending was a little rushed, but not horrible. The split world, one in the sky, one on the ground, separated by class and money- it’s really intriguing. It seems like this is the first of a series and the author does set it up that there’s plenty of material and world building left that I could see the reader still learning new things by the 3rd book or however long it will be. I think the idea behind this book is really strong, but someone should have told him he was being too obvious.
Not sure if I’ll read the rest of the series...
(I was provided a copy of this book by NetGalley in exchange for a review)
What DID work for this book was the premise. The world building and the plot were not bad. The ending was a little rushed, but not horrible. The split world, one in the sky, one on the ground, separated by class and money- it’s really intriguing. It seems like this is the first of a series and the author does set it up that there’s plenty of material and world building left that I could see the reader still learning new things by the 3rd book or however long it will be. I think the idea behind this book is really strong, but someone should have told him he was being too obvious.
Not sure if I’ll read the rest of the series...
(I was provided a copy of this book by NetGalley in exchange for a review)
June 18, 2019
18/06/2019
Copy provided by netgalley in Exchange for an honest review
Just because something doesn't happen constantly doesn't mean it won't happen at all. Many of the consequences we face are delayed.
3.75 stars
Going into this I only saw positive reviews, so my attention was immediately grabbed. The whole mysteries thing was really interesting to me.
I enjoyed it enough, and it was nice to read from the perspective of two young girls. However the plot didn’t really grip me. It took me while before I realized what the plot even was, and to be fair I'm not really sure still. I was afraid that there would be some romance involved, and I'm glad it didn't: the girls talked about are 12. That would have been a big no for me.
Three things bothered me in the end:
1) Why did Ms. Pullmann hate Cettie so much? Was it just because she came from the Fells, or was it because she is so powerful? This confused me to no end.
2) The ending wrapped up waaaay too neatly. Also: Fitzroy had to be blind to not see that Cettie got worse after she had to go back to that little attic room.
3) The ghosts are real and the people in the Fells know they are. Why do the people in the sky not believe them? There's enough evidence that they in fact exist.
I'm glad that I decided to power through this one. I enjoyed myself enough, even if not that much happened. I am looking forward to the next installment, since I do want to go back to this world and figure this whole mysteries thing out. Also: the ending showed that the next book will be in a schoolsetting, and boy do i like me a good schoolsetting.
The possibility of gaining riches stimulates the mind of rich and poor alike. Both strive for it. Some people gamble with coin. Some gamble with reputation.
Copy provided by netgalley in Exchange for an honest review
Just because something doesn't happen constantly doesn't mean it won't happen at all. Many of the consequences we face are delayed.
3.75 stars
Going into this I only saw positive reviews, so my attention was immediately grabbed. The whole mysteries thing was really interesting to me.
I enjoyed it enough, and it was nice to read from the perspective of two young girls. However the plot didn’t really grip me. It took me while before I realized what the plot even was, and to be fair I'm not really sure still. I was afraid that there would be some romance involved, and I'm glad it didn't: the girls talked about are 12. That would have been a big no for me.
Three things bothered me in the end:
1) Why did Ms. Pullmann hate Cettie so much? Was it just because she came from the Fells, or was it because she is so powerful? This confused me to no end.
2) The ending wrapped up waaaay too neatly. Also: Fitzroy had to be blind to not see that Cettie got worse after she had to go back to that little attic room.
3) The ghosts are real and the people in the Fells know they are. Why do the people in the sky not believe them? There's enough evidence that they in fact exist.
I'm glad that I decided to power through this one. I enjoyed myself enough, even if not that much happened. I am looking forward to the next installment, since I do want to go back to this world and figure this whole mysteries thing out. Also: the ending showed that the next book will be in a schoolsetting, and boy do i like me a good schoolsetting.
The possibility of gaining riches stimulates the mind of rich and poor alike. Both strive for it. Some people gamble with coin. Some gamble with reputation.
July 24, 2019
What a fabulous start to a new to me series! I've recently been dipping my feet into the fantasy genre more and more and I'm finding little gems all over the place! This one was a little different from other ones I've read ; the two main characters are young girls aged 12/13 ish but the book they never felt that young at all, I felt throughout the story they were in their teens. There were floating castles and air ships ! And not air ships like future sci-fi stuff.. but like sailing ships from way back when that sail through the air. It was so flippin cool! Then there's the lower caste of people that live on the land beneath the floating castles/lands and your home can easily crash to the ground if you lose your money. And there's magic! Yep, this was a VERY COOL story and i'm moving right into book 2. I think in the next book several years have passed and our protagonist will be mid /late teens so I'm looking forward to see what happens next.
P.S. This was on the Kindle Unlimited READ AND LISTEN FOR FREE and the narration was really good!
P.S. This was on the Kindle Unlimited READ AND LISTEN FOR FREE and the narration was really good!
May 13, 2018
Floating cities levitating above the muck and mire of the downcast. So begins a new series by Jeff Wheeler, which is set centuries after his lauded Covenant of Muirwood series.
The two main protagonists are the young girls, Cettie and Sera, representing the dichotomous nature of society, in a world whose nature is not too dissimilar to our own.
This world is imbued with rites of power, which are as Delphic as they are complex. This power is only studied by the privileged few with four major schools: the Mysteries of War, the Mysteries of Wind, the Mysteries of Law and the Mysteries of Thought.
This is my first Jeff Wheeler novel and I really enjoyed his light, breezy writing style. While this series is clearly Young Adult fiction, it belies the depth of his characters that can be quite insightful in their observations.
I am most definitely looking forward to exploring this world further through the upcoming books as well as Jeff Wheeler's previous series.
The two main protagonists are the young girls, Cettie and Sera, representing the dichotomous nature of society, in a world whose nature is not too dissimilar to our own.
This world is imbued with rites of power, which are as Delphic as they are complex. This power is only studied by the privileged few with four major schools: the Mysteries of War, the Mysteries of Wind, the Mysteries of Law and the Mysteries of Thought.
This is my first Jeff Wheeler novel and I really enjoyed his light, breezy writing style. While this series is clearly Young Adult fiction, it belies the depth of his characters that can be quite insightful in their observations.
I am most definitely looking forward to exploring this world further through the upcoming books as well as Jeff Wheeler's previous series.
April 13, 2022
Well i flew through that in T-24 hours with a mix of reading and listening. I like his idea of imposing regency England style on a fantasy setting of floating cities and estates, huge social hierarchy, and the poor struggling below.
Two strong young protagonists with opposite upbringings but similar end goals. How to help the poor when the entire system is designed to keep people down and in debt?
A host of side characters worth mentioning. Mysteries of the world, again tied into morality it seems. I see a huge Muirwood tie in coming.
Speaking of, it was wild to see Maia mentioned some 200 years later and learn that this is happening in the much later world of Muirwood (and the Abbey, I think i am right about the major tie-in)
Fleshed out RTC but by all means definitely recommend this series so far
Two strong young protagonists with opposite upbringings but similar end goals. How to help the poor when the entire system is designed to keep people down and in debt?
A host of side characters worth mentioning. Mysteries of the world, again tied into morality it seems. I see a huge Muirwood tie in coming.
Speaking of, it was wild to see Maia mentioned some 200 years later and learn that this is happening in the much later world of Muirwood (and the Abbey, I think i am right about the major tie-in)
Fleshed out RTC but by all means definitely recommend this series so far
July 2, 2021
This was a really good.
I usually like a more of a fast paced book but this book although not fast held my interest from start to finish with great world building and the loveable Cettie, a little girl who although hungry and cold herself try to give comfort and warmth to the younger children in the house of unwanted children.
Cettie was then taken away early in the story to face even more challenges just when things were starting to look up, having to face yet more problems with the new family that wanted to adopt her. The story was just so interesting I found it hard to put down.
I usually like a more of a fast paced book but this book although not fast held my interest from start to finish with great world building and the loveable Cettie, a little girl who although hungry and cold herself try to give comfort and warmth to the younger children in the house of unwanted children.
Cettie was then taken away early in the story to face even more challenges just when things were starting to look up, having to face yet more problems with the new family that wanted to adopt her. The story was just so interesting I found it hard to put down.
June 18, 2018
I received this ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. I have to say that I have never read anything with a world quite like this one. Mansions in the sky held by a “Mysteries” system that no one seems to fully understand and a society where the rich live above and the poor live below.
Cettie is from the Fells, a poverish and dangerous place, while Sera lives in the sky. From a rich royal family, Sera longs for companionship and wants to figure out a way to help those “below” and seems to be the only one in her family interested in doing so. Cettie only wishes for the ghosts in the night to leave her alone. When she lucks out and is taken home by a very sweet gentleman, some of his children aren’t so welcoming, and with Ms. Pullman (an absolutely horrid character in the best way) in the wings watching closely, she does everything she can to hold on to her new life.
Cettie and Sera both have their obsticles to overcome and I can’t wait to see what they get in to in the next book.
This story about friendship, family, and trust, “Stormglass” was very entertaining and set the groundwork for the next book which I am eager to read.
Cettie is from the Fells, a poverish and dangerous place, while Sera lives in the sky. From a rich royal family, Sera longs for companionship and wants to figure out a way to help those “below” and seems to be the only one in her family interested in doing so. Cettie only wishes for the ghosts in the night to leave her alone. When she lucks out and is taken home by a very sweet gentleman, some of his children aren’t so welcoming, and with Ms. Pullman (an absolutely horrid character in the best way) in the wings watching closely, she does everything she can to hold on to her new life.
Cettie and Sera both have their obsticles to overcome and I can’t wait to see what they get in to in the next book.
This story about friendship, family, and trust, “Stormglass” was very entertaining and set the groundwork for the next book which I am eager to read.
August 19, 2019
Another Christian allegory that once again wasn't made obvious until book five. I really need to research my author better.
August 29, 2019
Omg omg omg! Jeff Wheeler says this is a stand alone series but OMGGGGG!!! Flails! Muirwood!
May 21, 2020
Theirs is a world of opposites. The privileged live in sky manors held aloft by a secretive magic known only as the Mysteries. Below, the earthbound poor are forced into factory work to maintain the engine of commerce. Only the wealthy can afford to learn the Mysteries, and they use their knowledge to further lock their hold on society.
Cettie Pratt is a waif doomed to the world below, until an admiral attempts to adopt her. But in her new home in the clouds, not everyone treats her as one of the family.
Sera Fitzempress is a princess born into power. She yearns to meet the orphan girl she has heard so much about, but her father deems the girl unworthy of his daughter’s curiosity.
Neither girl feels that she belongs. Each seeks to break free of imposed rules. Now, as Cettie dreams of living above and as Sera is drawn to the world below, they will follow the paths of their own choosing.
But both girls will be needed for the coming storm that threatens to overturn both their worlds.
This was our book club read for April and I thoroughly enjoyed it. The chapters switch back and forth between two girls, Ceti and Sera, who live vastly different lives. Ceti is in an orphanage and is being mistreated and neglected by the woman who is supposed to be her caretaker. Sera is a princess who is very dissatisfied with her life, because she isn't given the freedom to interact with other children, or leave the palace grounds. In the beginning I liked Ceti a lot more than Sera. Sera came off as spoiled and unappreciative of the things she had, but she was also ignorant and sheltered about the rest of the world, and I could sympathize with her wanting the freedom to do more. She grew on me over time. It takes a good portion of the book before their stories intersect, but it is worth it.
While the plot of this book was ok, I think where it really shines is in the world building. The way the more well-to-do lived up in the sky and the lower classes lived on the ground, reminded me slightly of Wool by Hugh Howey, and the way the wealthy lived on the upper levels of the silo in that series. There is some mysterious power that keeps the cities in the sky afloat, and also affects a lot of other things, but we don't get much info on this. It seems most people are pretty ignorant of these so called 'mysteries' and I am eager to find out more. I'm sure more will be revealed in the next book. This book did feel mostly like a setup story, but I could say the same thing about Wheeler's other book that I've read as well, The Queen's Poisoner. I don't think it's a bad thing though. One thing I was not expecting is how Wheeler has tied his worlds together into the same universe. Sort of like Sanderson has done with his Cosmere. This series is set in the same universe as Legends of Muirwood, and the Kingfountain series. This makes me want to read all three of these series now. With only three books down out of two of them, I have a lot more reading to do!
Review also posted at Writings of a Reader
Cettie Pratt is a waif doomed to the world below, until an admiral attempts to adopt her. But in her new home in the clouds, not everyone treats her as one of the family.
Sera Fitzempress is a princess born into power. She yearns to meet the orphan girl she has heard so much about, but her father deems the girl unworthy of his daughter’s curiosity.
Neither girl feels that she belongs. Each seeks to break free of imposed rules. Now, as Cettie dreams of living above and as Sera is drawn to the world below, they will follow the paths of their own choosing.
But both girls will be needed for the coming storm that threatens to overturn both their worlds.
This was our book club read for April and I thoroughly enjoyed it. The chapters switch back and forth between two girls, Ceti and Sera, who live vastly different lives. Ceti is in an orphanage and is being mistreated and neglected by the woman who is supposed to be her caretaker. Sera is a princess who is very dissatisfied with her life, because she isn't given the freedom to interact with other children, or leave the palace grounds. In the beginning I liked Ceti a lot more than Sera. Sera came off as spoiled and unappreciative of the things she had, but she was also ignorant and sheltered about the rest of the world, and I could sympathize with her wanting the freedom to do more. She grew on me over time. It takes a good portion of the book before their stories intersect, but it is worth it.
While the plot of this book was ok, I think where it really shines is in the world building. The way the more well-to-do lived up in the sky and the lower classes lived on the ground, reminded me slightly of Wool by Hugh Howey, and the way the wealthy lived on the upper levels of the silo in that series. There is some mysterious power that keeps the cities in the sky afloat, and also affects a lot of other things, but we don't get much info on this. It seems most people are pretty ignorant of these so called 'mysteries' and I am eager to find out more. I'm sure more will be revealed in the next book. This book did feel mostly like a setup story, but I could say the same thing about Wheeler's other book that I've read as well, The Queen's Poisoner. I don't think it's a bad thing though. One thing I was not expecting is how Wheeler has tied his worlds together into the same universe. Sort of like Sanderson has done with his Cosmere. This series is set in the same universe as Legends of Muirwood, and the Kingfountain series. This makes me want to read all three of these series now. With only three books down out of two of them, I have a lot more reading to do!
Review also posted at Writings of a Reader
April 17, 2020
What's this? A steampunk book that ISN'T so far up it's own ass that it can see teeth? Sign me up!
My biggest problem with Steampunk books is that they take themselves WAY TOO SERIOUSLY, are often pretentious as shit, and are rarely ever well written. This book is like if Steampunk and Fantasy had a one night stand and were too drunk to use protection. It has elements of both genres and they're mixed together in a pretty fun way. I quite enjoyed the setting and the characters, though the book is a little light on plot, and a little heavy on heavy handed social commentary for a mid grade fantasy book.
I did have two issues with the book. First the villain of the book, a glorified housekeeper, is pure evil, and yet her motivations for being evil do not make any sense at all, either within the context of the story or without. I mean, if you want an evil, mustache-twirling villain just for the hell of it who never states her motive, go for it. There can be a place for those kinds of villains in fiction. But an evil, mustache-twirling villain who gives her motives, and those motives make you even more confused about her, maybe you should head back to the drawing board with the character and work something else out? And my other issue is that neither the viewpoint characters nor their stories intersect with each other in a meaningful enough way to justify both of them being included in the book. You basically have two separate books that take place in the same setting at the same time, and they're intercut with each other because reasons, and to get the word count up to that magic 90k number. They really don't have anything to do with each other, and the two characters don't even meet until the very last line of the book. They needed to be a bit more interwoven with each other. These characters needed to meet early, and strike up the friendship that is clearly going to happen in the next book. Otherwise it's just two separate stories that don't really belong together in the same book.
I mean, they're not like HUGE problems with the book, but they were things that were bugging me throughout, and the reason I'm giving the book 4 stars instead of 5.
All in all, I quite enjoyed it, and I'm planning to pick up the next couple in the series with my audible credits next month.
My biggest problem with Steampunk books is that they take themselves WAY TOO SERIOUSLY, are often pretentious as shit, and are rarely ever well written. This book is like if Steampunk and Fantasy had a one night stand and were too drunk to use protection. It has elements of both genres and they're mixed together in a pretty fun way. I quite enjoyed the setting and the characters, though the book is a little light on plot, and a little heavy on heavy handed social commentary for a mid grade fantasy book.
I did have two issues with the book. First the villain of the book, a glorified housekeeper, is pure evil, and yet her motivations for being evil do not make any sense at all, either within the context of the story or without. I mean, if you want an evil, mustache-twirling villain just for the hell of it who never states her motive, go for it. There can be a place for those kinds of villains in fiction. But an evil, mustache-twirling villain who gives her motives, and those motives make you even more confused about her, maybe you should head back to the drawing board with the character and work something else out? And my other issue is that neither the viewpoint characters nor their stories intersect with each other in a meaningful enough way to justify both of them being included in the book. You basically have two separate books that take place in the same setting at the same time, and they're intercut with each other because reasons, and to get the word count up to that magic 90k number. They really don't have anything to do with each other, and the two characters don't even meet until the very last line of the book. They needed to be a bit more interwoven with each other. These characters needed to meet early, and strike up the friendship that is clearly going to happen in the next book. Otherwise it's just two separate stories that don't really belong together in the same book.
I mean, they're not like HUGE problems with the book, but they were things that were bugging me throughout, and the reason I'm giving the book 4 stars instead of 5.
All in all, I quite enjoyed it, and I'm planning to pick up the next couple in the series with my audible credits next month.
April 27, 2018
Okay... For the most part I really enjoyed this book. I liked the two different perspectives in social class and wealth. The contrast made it an exceptional story. I also have always loved the idea of living on floating castles and cities. It was no surprise that I was drawn to such a storyline. This definitely felt like a coming of age story in the sense both girls are struggling with their place in the world and who they are. Of course it leads to a journey of self discovery but it's not as simple as it seems. The character development was not on par as I would like but overall was good. The storyline was steady and evenly paced. The fantasy world was generally well developed and easy to understand. I would recommend for a light easy read. I received this book free for unbiased review through NetGalley and publisher.
July 3, 2023
I have enjoyed this series.
I am new to this author so I felt a bit overwhelmed which book to read first as I believe there are connections between tye series but I don't think it really matters.
There are 2 female characters that the story centers around, both in very different circumstances to each other.
There are hints and suspicion, who is friend or foe.
Interesting plot.
I am new to this author so I felt a bit overwhelmed which book to read first as I believe there are connections between tye series but I don't think it really matters.
There are 2 female characters that the story centers around, both in very different circumstances to each other.
There are hints and suspicion, who is friend or foe.
Interesting plot.
July 3, 2018
I enjoyed Storm Glass more than I thought I would when I first started. For whatever reason, I’m not aboard the young adult fantasy train right now, which is a shame, because there’s plenty of young adult fantasy I want to read, but I’m hesitant to go into it until I’m in the right mood! Still, I received this from NetGalley in exchange for a review, so a reading and a review it will get!
Imagine, if you will, a Regency England in which the rich live in floating manors and the poor live in the Fells, down below on the ground. Oh, and there are airships (obviously there are airships). This is the world Jeff Wheeler has us visit in Storm Glass. If you’re rich enough, you learn one of the four schools of Mysteries—Wind, War, Law, or Thought—which are kind of an arcane cross of magic and actual science. If you’re not rich, well, typically your parents are going to sell your deed (read: indentured servitude) and you’re not going to have any control over your destiny. So, you know, typical world with a fantasy twist.
Cettie has only ever known life in the Fells. Cettie can see ghosts. One day, her life changes forever: Vice Admiral Brant Fitzroy agrees to try to adopt her. From then on, Cettie will live in his floating manor of Fog Willows and want for noth—wait, sorry, no, that’s not right. Cettie tries to settle into Fog Willows, but there is an antagonist (the evil Mrs. Pullman), not to mention the whole of society frowning at Fitzroy’s scandalous eccentricity. Meanwhile, the other half of the narrative follows Sera Fitzempress, a second precocious 12-year-old, one who stands to inherit the empire if her father doesn’t get his way and who has a penchant for beneficence that will probably get her in trouble.
At the centre of this story, I suppose, is the premise that life is horribly unfair, and that once you realize this, you can do one of two things: you can lean into it, embrace the unfairness, and do your best to “get yours”; or, you can work to try to level the playing field, even if that makes things harder for you along the way. People who take the former tack are not necessarily “evil” but might be misguided; likewise, those who try for the latter aren’t inherently “good” but may have good intentions. Both Cettie and Sera must learn to navigate this unfair world and start making choices for themselves in terms of how they want to interact with it.
I think that’s where Storm Glass piqued my interest: agency. Cettie and Sera both have it, though Sera’s is severely curtailed in how she can exercise it. In both cases, however, the two protagonists are their own people. Plenty of characters tell Cettie what she should do, how she should think or behave—but she always resolves to do what she believes is right. I like that, even when it means she makes a mistake.
That’s where Storm Glass doesn’t quite come through for me, though: mistakes. Or maybe more accurately, just “the stakes”. Now, Wheeler threatens us with pretty high stakes, to be sure, for both girls. I love Mrs. Pullman as an antagonist: she is so delightfully convinced of her own rectitude that it doesn’t even cross her mind that what she is doing is wrong. I’m less enamoured with Sera’s father—he seems too one-dimensionally cruel. Both threaten their respective charges with harsh consequences. But just when the going gets tough, the climax of the book hits, and everything seems to wrap up too soon. I guess I was hoping for a bit more struggle, a bit more hardship, a need to be more clever.
Another dimension that didn’t bother me too much but might bother some people is the vagueness of the magic system here. The Mysteries refer both to knowledge that one learns in school as well as aptitude for various forms of magic. It’s largely based on force of will, it seems—Cettie is able to exercise some elements of it, despite having never been initiated into the Mysteries—but there isn’t much time spent on developing how this works any further. I actually like that Wheeler doesn’t bog down the book with a lot of exposition; we get precious little explanation of the political system, or the way the Mysteries work in conjunction with the rest of society—you have to do a lot of filling in between the lines. And I’m fine with that. Still, this attitude applied to the magic system means that we’re basically in a situation where magic can do whatever the plot needs (and maybe that’s why I’m dissatisfied with how the story resolves).
Overall, this is what I’d deem a competent fantasy novel. It ticks a lot of the right boxes. I enjoyed it, enjoyed the energy, liked the climax, stayed interested. It hasn’t stuck with me. I’m not sure I’d read a sequel. Your mileage, as always, will vary.
Imagine, if you will, a Regency England in which the rich live in floating manors and the poor live in the Fells, down below on the ground. Oh, and there are airships (obviously there are airships). This is the world Jeff Wheeler has us visit in Storm Glass. If you’re rich enough, you learn one of the four schools of Mysteries—Wind, War, Law, or Thought—which are kind of an arcane cross of magic and actual science. If you’re not rich, well, typically your parents are going to sell your deed (read: indentured servitude) and you’re not going to have any control over your destiny. So, you know, typical world with a fantasy twist.
Cettie has only ever known life in the Fells. Cettie can see ghosts. One day, her life changes forever: Vice Admiral Brant Fitzroy agrees to try to adopt her. From then on, Cettie will live in his floating manor of Fog Willows and want for noth—wait, sorry, no, that’s not right. Cettie tries to settle into Fog Willows, but there is an antagonist (the evil Mrs. Pullman), not to mention the whole of society frowning at Fitzroy’s scandalous eccentricity. Meanwhile, the other half of the narrative follows Sera Fitzempress, a second precocious 12-year-old, one who stands to inherit the empire if her father doesn’t get his way and who has a penchant for beneficence that will probably get her in trouble.
At the centre of this story, I suppose, is the premise that life is horribly unfair, and that once you realize this, you can do one of two things: you can lean into it, embrace the unfairness, and do your best to “get yours”; or, you can work to try to level the playing field, even if that makes things harder for you along the way. People who take the former tack are not necessarily “evil” but might be misguided; likewise, those who try for the latter aren’t inherently “good” but may have good intentions. Both Cettie and Sera must learn to navigate this unfair world and start making choices for themselves in terms of how they want to interact with it.
I think that’s where Storm Glass piqued my interest: agency. Cettie and Sera both have it, though Sera’s is severely curtailed in how she can exercise it. In both cases, however, the two protagonists are their own people. Plenty of characters tell Cettie what she should do, how she should think or behave—but she always resolves to do what she believes is right. I like that, even when it means she makes a mistake.
That’s where Storm Glass doesn’t quite come through for me, though: mistakes. Or maybe more accurately, just “the stakes”. Now, Wheeler threatens us with pretty high stakes, to be sure, for both girls. I love Mrs. Pullman as an antagonist: she is so delightfully convinced of her own rectitude that it doesn’t even cross her mind that what she is doing is wrong. I’m less enamoured with Sera’s father—he seems too one-dimensionally cruel. Both threaten their respective charges with harsh consequences. But just when the going gets tough, the climax of the book hits, and everything seems to wrap up too soon. I guess I was hoping for a bit more struggle, a bit more hardship, a need to be more clever.
Another dimension that didn’t bother me too much but might bother some people is the vagueness of the magic system here. The Mysteries refer both to knowledge that one learns in school as well as aptitude for various forms of magic. It’s largely based on force of will, it seems—Cettie is able to exercise some elements of it, despite having never been initiated into the Mysteries—but there isn’t much time spent on developing how this works any further. I actually like that Wheeler doesn’t bog down the book with a lot of exposition; we get precious little explanation of the political system, or the way the Mysteries work in conjunction with the rest of society—you have to do a lot of filling in between the lines. And I’m fine with that. Still, this attitude applied to the magic system means that we’re basically in a situation where magic can do whatever the plot needs (and maybe that’s why I’m dissatisfied with how the story resolves).
Overall, this is what I’d deem a competent fantasy novel. It ticks a lot of the right boxes. I enjoyed it, enjoyed the energy, liked the climax, stayed interested. It hasn’t stuck with me. I’m not sure I’d read a sequel. Your mileage, as always, will vary.
January 23, 2019
Gave up at 50%. I have only so much tolerance for shallow politics and morality. A few especially annoying points:
- All nobles who care about etiquette and fashion are shallow.
- Poverty seems to be there because nobles LIKE people being poor. Hurray for a nuanced worldview.
- Heiress to the empire is the only person in her family who "cares about the poor". Isn't it convenient when everyone is evil except for your main characters.
- Working class life is endless, uninterrupted misery, with no apparent variation.
While the fantasy elements seem fairly interesting, the plot is going nowhere, characters are painfully clichéd, and I'm seriously tired of the political soapboxing. I hate DNFing books, but won't waste another minute on this one.
- All nobles who care about etiquette and fashion are shallow.
- Poverty seems to be there because nobles LIKE people being poor. Hurray for a nuanced worldview.
- Heiress to the empire is the only person in her family who "cares about the poor". Isn't it convenient when everyone is evil except for your main characters.
- Working class life is endless, uninterrupted misery, with no apparent variation.
While the fantasy elements seem fairly interesting, the plot is going nowhere, characters are painfully clichéd, and I'm seriously tired of the political soapboxing. I hate DNFing books, but won't waste another minute on this one.
September 5, 2018
Another wonderful addition to the world of Muirwood Abbey. Once again Mr Wheeler has delighted me with the wisdom, magic, and love that he shares through the teachings of the Mastons. I can't wait to read the next one in the series.
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