The Glasswrights' Test (Glasswright, #4)

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The Glasswrights' Test (Glasswright #4)

by Mindy Klasky (Goodreads Author)

3.7 of 5 stars 3.70 · rating details · 296 ratings · 10 reviews

Glass artisan Rani's loyalty to the Glasswright Fellowship is tested when she's asked to kill the Morenian Queen.

Paperback, 352 pages

Published June 3rd 2003 by Roc

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Jan 08, 2012 Liz rated it 1 of 5 stars

I almost always finish a book once I've started it, but with this one, I could barely get through two pages before I found something better to do. Like watching paint dry. It was excruciatingly plodding and dull.

In the first book, I thought Rani's actions when her fellow Glasswrights were being mutilated daily were despicable, and that's why I couldn't get into this book. I sympathized with the Glasswrights guild. They, especially the thumbless journeymen, have every reason to loathe her and wan...more

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Nov 18, 2010 Joshua Palmatier rated it 3 of 5 stars

The Glasswrights' Test is the fourth book in the Glasswrights series by Mindy L. Klasky. I've been steadily working my way through the series these last few months, with my limited reading time. This series is set in a medieval fantasy world--so castles, kings, guilds, etc--but the main focus in on Ranita Glasswright, her quest to restore the Glasswrights' Guild after her actions in the first book caused it to be destroyed, and her own personal quest to become a mastet glasswright herself, since...more The Glasswrights' Test is the fourth book in the Glasswrights series by Mindy L. Klasky. I've been steadily working my way through the series these last few months, with my limited reading time. This series is set in a medieval fantasy world--so castles, kings, guilds, etc--but the main focus in on Ranita Glasswright, her quest to restore the Glasswrights' Guild after her actions in the first book caused it to be destroyed, and her own personal quest to become a mastet glasswright herself, since the guild was destroyed when she was a mere apprentice.

I thought the first book was good, the second book not as much, but the third book rocked. I liked the new land and culture that was visited in that book, and how the plot focused more on the relationships between Rani and those around her, in particular the King of Morenia, Hal. This book once again has Rani traveling to a new land, Brianta, which is full of religious fervor, and not a few fanatics. She is ostensibly there to escort Princess Berylina (introduced in the third book as one of Hal's potential brides)--who has somehow been touched by the gods so that she can see, hear, smell, and taste them--but her own personal goal is to be tested as a master of the glasswright craft. When the guild was destroyed, those who managed to survive the purging fled to Brianta and set up a temporary guild in its holy city. The master of the new guild has invited Rani to come take the test. Unknown to Rani, the guild is being manipulated by the Fellowship, a secret society that Rani and Hal are both members of, but who have never really seen eye-to-eye with.

So, we once again have a new land to explore and unlike the second book, some good interpersonal relationships and personal problems to deal with. I liked how these played out while the group was in Brianta, with Rani coming face to face with a guild full of people who hate her and the stress that it places on her relationships with those around her. She is not only placed at odds with her lover, but also her friend, Mair. As the book progresses, these stresses are increased when the Fellowship begins making its moves on both her, Hal, and Mair. (I can't say anthing more without spoiling things.) At the same time, Berylina faces the religious powers in the city, who don't view her special relationship to the gods with as much welcome as she would have thought.

All of this tension comes to a spectacular and satisfying head toward the end of the novel, and I was all ready to give the book a solid 4 and a better review than the third book . . . but then Rani returns to Morenia in the last few chapters, to finish off the last of the main plot. And this is where things go bad. The confrontation with Hal that she has upon her return is great at first, but during the entire fight I kept saying to myself (OK, I was really yelling at Rani through the book) to just tell him what was happening! She'd been put in this horrible position, but if she trusted him as much as she claims (and as much as we've seen throughout all of the books), then she should have just told him the situation and had him help her come up with a solution, especially since it involved him. Instead, she says nothing and tries to solve it on her own for no real reason. Decisions made by characters like this annoy me. It's the equivalent of the author gagging the character in order to create a false sense of tension. Something like this happens in the third book with Berylina, but in that book I could let it pass since it wasn't as significant to the main plot. Here, the entire end of the main plot depends on Rani and Hal's actions here, so this one little thing destroyed the ending of the book for me, because it made the ending feel contrived.

Don't get me wrong though. My only real issue with the entire book was this one thing that happens within the last 50 pages of the novel. I loved everything that happened before this, and liked where the book leaves Rani and Hal and the others. I would recommend this book to those that have read the first three, but you'll likely have to bite your tongue a little at the end. The contrivance is a little hard to get over.

I'll certainly go on and read the fifth book, because I want to know how Rani's story ends. In particular, I'd like to see what becomes of the Fellowship, since I've hated them for at least two books now, feeling that their manipulations have NOT been in the interests of all of their own members.(less)

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May 11, 2013 Summer Peterson rated it 3 of 5 stars

I ended up skipping over the boring areas. I'm frustrated with Hal. Rani has given him everything and he still doubts her loyalty. Rani I felt was weak in this book. She knows what a journeyman's job is supposed to be but she let her guild use and abuse her.

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Nov 09, 2008 Donna rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: fantasy, library

Rani travels to yet another foreign land, where she's been asked to look after a princess making a pilgrimage. Instead she spends most of her time trying to be accepted by the remnants of the Glasswright guild, who still (irrationally) see her as a traitor who caused most of their problems.

I found myself losing patience with this book. The princess became a main focus of the story out of nowhere. Rani regressed as a character, repeating some of her mistakes of previous books. She made some terri...more

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Feb 02, 2012 Gretchen rated it 3 of 5 stars

Somehow I skipped the third one...

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Feb 03, 2009 Rawles rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: ragequit, fantasy, time-contemporary

I made the age-old mistake of buying this at the same time as the book immediately prior not having suspected that said book, The Glasswright's Journeyman, would piss me off and offend me so much that I couldn't go on.

I believe I made it through one chapter, which was basically a refresher on everything that infuriated me about the last book, before the rage overtook me.

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Apr 19, 2013 Susan Tietjen rated it 4 of 5 stars

Love Mindy Klasky. A unique writing voice and believable world. I feel for her characters and I fear her antagonists.

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Oct 15, 2012 John rated it 4 of 5 stars

Um...I'm farther behind in book updating than I thought...LOL This was a good 4th book but parts of it were a touch annoying.

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Dec 07, 2009 Keri (JD) rated it 2 of 5 stars

A book really can't be that good if you hated it enough to take over 2 years to read it...

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Jun 19, 2008 Jacqueline rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: fantasy, series, own, pre-2006

I also have a signed ARC of this.

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May 20, 2013 Matthew Denton marked it as to-read

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May 15, 2013 Warneke Reading rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: fantasy

May 15, 2013 Jamie rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: owned

May 11, 2013 Nikki rated it 4 of 5 stars

May 03, 2013 Karen marked it as to-read

May 02, 2013 Caitlin rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: stuff-my-younger-self-read

Apr 28, 2013 Cindy marked it as to-read

Apr 22, 2013 Jessica rated it 4 of 5 stars

Apr 17, 2013 Lucinidm rated it 3 of 5 stars

Apr 12, 2013 Kate Perry rated it 5 of 5 stars

Apr 09, 2013 Jason Bryant rated it 4 of 5 stars

Apr 08, 2013 Jodie marked it as to-read

Apr 04, 2013 Zesh rated it 5 of 5 stars

Mar 31, 2013 Charissa Vela marked it as to-read

Mar 31, 2013 Tabitha Tomala marked it as to-read

Mar 28, 2013 Amy Fuller rated it 2 of 5 stars

Mar 27, 2013 Hayley rated it 3 of 5 stars

Mar 27, 2013 Jenny marked it as to-read

Mar 26, 2013 Bonnie marked it as to-read

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About Mindy Klasky

Mindy Klasky learned to read when her parents shoved a book in her hands and told her that she could travel anywhere in the world through stories. She never forgot that advice.

Mindy's travels took her through multiple careers, including copyright lawyer and law librarian. Mindy now writes full time. Her books fall in a number of genres -- including traditional fantasy, urban fantasy, and category...more

More about Mindy Klasky...

Books by Mindy Klasky

Girl's Guide to Witchcraft (Jane Madison, #1)

Sorcery and the Single Girl (Jane Madison, #2)

Magic and the Modern Girl (Jane Madison, #3)

The Glasswrights' Apprentice (Glasswright, #1)

The Glasswrights' Progress (Glasswright, #2)

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The Glasswrights' Test (Glasswright #4)

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