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Lord of the Isles #7
The Fortress of Glass
The Fortress of Glass is the first in the Crown of the Isles trilogy, which will conclude the epic Lord of the Isles series. A true trilogy, the action extends over the whole three-book arc. The Fortress of Glass begins the story of how the new kingdom of the Isles is finally brought into being by the group of heroes and heroines who have been central to all the books in the series. The group includes Prince Garric, heir to the throne of the Isles; his consort Liane; his sister, Sharina; her herculean sweetheart, Cashel; his sister, Ilna, with her adopted child Merota; and piratical Chalcus. On giant triremes filled with soldiers and diplomats, they journey to the small kingdoms of the Isles to confirm the succession of Garric and to subdue, if necessary, any local rulers too fond of their own kingship to pledge fealty to Garric.
All this is being done in a time when the powers of magic in the Isles have flooded to a thousand-year peak, and even local magicians can perform powerful spells normally beyond their control. Fantastic forces from all angles try to keep them apart and unable to continue the reunification of the Isles. So, separately and together, they must fight their way back to the same time and place to combat the mysterious and supernatural menace of The Green Woman in her Fortress of Glass.
All this is being done in a time when the powers of magic in the Isles have flooded to a thousand-year peak, and even local magicians can perform powerful spells normally beyond their control. Fantastic forces from all angles try to keep them apart and unable to continue the reunification of the Isles. So, separately and together, they must fight their way back to the same time and place to combat the mysterious and supernatural menace of The Green Woman in her Fortress of Glass.
384 pages, Hardcover
First published April 1, 2006
4 people are currently reading
405 people want to read
About the author
David Drake
306 books886 followersDavid Drake is an American author of science fiction and fantasy literature. A Vietnam War veteran who has worked as a lawyer, he is now one of the major authors of the military science fiction genre.
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Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews
February 15, 2023
Väldigt unik berättelse. Jag tror att det var en mittbok, snarare än ett fristående verk, men intressant nog.
December 11, 2011
Wizards battle for supremacy with no real regard for anyone but themselves. The book is okay, but the predicaments that face the cast of heroes gets too much at times.
December 26, 2019
Sometimes when I go to the bookstore, I'll grab a random fantasy book I've never heard of and otherwise probably wouldn't have heard about and bring it home. This was the case with The Fortress of Glass. Knowing nothing about the book, I didn't realize that the "Crown of the Isles" trilogy is part of a larger series, but I jumped in anyway.
Fortress of Glass did a good job describing the characters and painted the picture for a world that seemed cool enough, and it was easy to get into and enjoyable even without prior knowledge of the series. Though it was a fun read, I did find a lot of stuff I don't like mixed with what I did like, and it sort of balanced to a 3-star rating in my book.
There is a much too big use of ex machina. There are plenty of tense moments that got me excited to see what happens next, just to be disappointed by a magical wave of a wand (or in this case incantation) and the problem suddenly is resolved without the characters having to rely on any real problem solving.
The plot is divided across 4 different pov characters. Each has their own adventure. I can tell the author put significantly more effort into some than others. I found Sharina and Garric to have interesting stories, where Cashel's entire story is just him walking. That's it, he's just sort of walking with different people telling him where to walk.
Over all it was alright, I already bought the whole trilogy so I don't see why not jump into the 2nd book.
Fortress of Glass did a good job describing the characters and painted the picture for a world that seemed cool enough, and it was easy to get into and enjoyable even without prior knowledge of the series. Though it was a fun read, I did find a lot of stuff I don't like mixed with what I did like, and it sort of balanced to a 3-star rating in my book.
There is a much too big use of ex machina. There are plenty of tense moments that got me excited to see what happens next, just to be disappointed by a magical wave of a wand (or in this case incantation) and the problem suddenly is resolved without the characters having to rely on any real problem solving.
The plot is divided across 4 different pov characters. Each has their own adventure. I can tell the author put significantly more effort into some than others. I found Sharina and Garric to have interesting stories, where Cashel's entire story is just him walking. That's it, he's just sort of walking with different people telling him where to walk.
Over all it was alright, I already bought the whole trilogy so I don't see why not jump into the 2nd book.
June 6, 2021
This book is 7th out of 9 in a series. Don't be fooled by it being listed as 1st in a trilogy. The writer does a good job introducing everyone and bringing you up to speed, but this book is a bridge between the story, and I wouldn't recommend reading it unless you're enjoying all the others.
Rather exactly like book 6, magic and portals between other worlds/time, used to separate the main characters into several parallel and unrelated stories through much of the book, which all come together in an unlikely and unsatisfying 'hey now the problem is solved' fashion in the last few pages.
I enjoyed the prose, and the characters, but found the book kind of unsatisfying otherwise. In particular, this book has a wizard who basically railroads the plot, removing any agency many of the characters might have. It feels like a bad D&D game. "It is necessary!"
Rather exactly like book 6, magic and portals between other worlds/time, used to separate the main characters into several parallel and unrelated stories through much of the book, which all come together in an unlikely and unsatisfying 'hey now the problem is solved' fashion in the last few pages.
I enjoyed the prose, and the characters, but found the book kind of unsatisfying otherwise. In particular, this book has a wizard who basically railroads the plot, removing any agency many of the characters might have. It feels like a bad D&D game. "It is necessary!"
January 3, 2022
Fortress of Glass by David Drake
This is the first book in the Crown of the Isles series. A word of caution, it bounces all over the place. Drake leaves a group of characters in a cliff hanger and moves to the next bunch and does the same to them. If you are easily confused by quick changes, you might duck this one. A young ruler, Garric, is doing a royal procession across the isles which used to be under one rule. In his head is a ghost of the last ruler of the Kingdom of the Isles. I vaguely recall that this builds on the Lord of the Isles series but it is over twenty years ago that I read it. His procession is interrupted by a wizard’s feud.
Bottom line is that I enjoyed the book. It was a bit confusing, but I liked the characters and their methodology.
This is the first book in the Crown of the Isles series. A word of caution, it bounces all over the place. Drake leaves a group of characters in a cliff hanger and moves to the next bunch and does the same to them. If you are easily confused by quick changes, you might duck this one. A young ruler, Garric, is doing a royal procession across the isles which used to be under one rule. In his head is a ghost of the last ruler of the Kingdom of the Isles. I vaguely recall that this builds on the Lord of the Isles series but it is over twenty years ago that I read it. His procession is interrupted by a wizard’s feud.
Bottom line is that I enjoyed the book. It was a bit confusing, but I liked the characters and their methodology.
April 30, 2021
The writing is interesting and the action continuous. The world created is one filled with magic. The problem is too many main characters. I am not really sure who the main character is and who are important but not the main character. IU was led to so many different worlds in each chapter that it became difficult to remember the distinguishing features of each. Not a bad book, but not a good one either.
did-not-finish
July 27, 2021DNF @ page 75. I dislike all of these characters except maybe one. I like the world and writing okay. I don't know, maybe it's the mood I'm in. It's a DNF at least for now but I won't rule out David Drake. Maybe starting earlier in this universe would make a difference.
September 8, 2018
Love the mix of characters. Fun adventure.
June 24, 2022
So many strange situations and no real resolution, but as always great characters.
did-not-finish-or-start
May 8, 2023DNS 5/8/23 no longer interested
October 14, 2013
When the regal Procession sails into harbor, two meteors send the royals into different worlds. One wakes the recently dead island ruler Cervoran, who declares "I am Cervoran. Only I can defeat the Green Woman". She lands in the sea, marches landward hordes of giant hellplants, and raises a huge glass castle that marches toward the island.
King Garric appears naked in a land of Coerli, cat-men who cage, raise, and eat raw humans, preferably plump females and babes. His sister becomes regent, Princess Sharina, left behind with kindly old witch Tectoris. Cervoran appoints magic guides who direct Sharina's beloved big Cashel and Cervoran's son Protas through dangerous worlds. Cashel's sister Ilna follows her husband pirate Chalcus and adopted daughter Merota, sent by Cervoran into a tapestry maze.
Questions:
If the hellplants are after Cervoran, why do they stop to rip limbs off people, and why do people not move out of the way?
If Tectoris is weaker than Cervoran, how can she ice swampland like Cervoran does?
If Chalcus and Merota distrust Cervoran, why obey him and stare at trap tapestry?
Why does Glass Bird wait for Garric before revenging genocide?
Why does Ilyna kill one Coerli when as an informant he could have led them to more?
Repeated nagging reinforces how Cashel only appears slow and stupid, how love changed Ilyna for good. He never has to protect Protas because the guides and crown containing Cervoran do it all - thus purpose to separate him from others? She rescues the Cervoran corpse shrieking for help from his blazing pyre. Doesn't make much sense, but keeps us afraid for heroes.
Author Drake was one of three editors for The World Turned Upside Down, 29 short stories. In one, Black Destroyer by A. E. Van Vogt, a catlike alien Coeurl boards human exploration team spaceship, eats them for their phosphorus content. Coincidence?
King Garric appears naked in a land of Coerli, cat-men who cage, raise, and eat raw humans, preferably plump females and babes. His sister becomes regent, Princess Sharina, left behind with kindly old witch Tectoris. Cervoran appoints magic guides who direct Sharina's beloved big Cashel and Cervoran's son Protas through dangerous worlds. Cashel's sister Ilna follows her husband pirate Chalcus and adopted daughter Merota, sent by Cervoran into a tapestry maze.
Questions:
If the hellplants are after Cervoran, why do they stop to rip limbs off people, and why do people not move out of the way?
If Tectoris is weaker than Cervoran, how can she ice swampland like Cervoran does?
If Chalcus and Merota distrust Cervoran, why obey him and stare at trap tapestry?
Why does Glass Bird wait for Garric before revenging genocide?
Why does Ilyna kill one Coerli when as an informant he could have led them to more?
Repeated nagging reinforces how Cashel only appears slow and stupid, how love changed Ilyna for good. He never has to protect Protas because the guides and crown containing Cervoran do it all - thus purpose to separate him from others? She rescues the Cervoran corpse shrieking for help from his blazing pyre. Doesn't make much sense, but keeps us afraid for heroes.
Author Drake was one of three editors for The World Turned Upside Down, 29 short stories. In one, Black Destroyer by A. E. Van Vogt, a catlike alien Coeurl boards human exploration team spaceship, eats them for their phosphorus content. Coincidence?
July 22, 2009
When I first started this book I had high hopes for it because it's a series and I really like stories I can sink my teeth into - so having a bunch of books is fine for me.
I finished this book and I really still don't know what the hell it was about! The characters didn't develop very much, and although this was the first book of the series I got the feeling that I was missing something. Then I learned that there was a series before THIS series. Ok - so that's f'd up. If it's the same series, then say so on the book.
So maybe the characters were developed more in the first series - I don't know.
Shortly into the series some events happened and all the characters are whisked off into different worlds and their stories are seemingly completely unrelated. I felt like I was reading 4 short stories all at the same time.
A lot of events happened in the book that weren't explained very well, and just left you hanging with questions. A lot of characters are introduced and again, you are left wondering who in the hell they are and where did they come from, etc. It was almost like every time you started to get interested in something, it came to a dead end.
At the end they were brought back together, and it finally all made some kind of sense, but I'm not intrigued enough to want to read the next book.
I'm glad that I borrowed this one from the library instead of buying it.
I finished this book and I really still don't know what the hell it was about! The characters didn't develop very much, and although this was the first book of the series I got the feeling that I was missing something. Then I learned that there was a series before THIS series. Ok - so that's f'd up. If it's the same series, then say so on the book.
So maybe the characters were developed more in the first series - I don't know.
Shortly into the series some events happened and all the characters are whisked off into different worlds and their stories are seemingly completely unrelated. I felt like I was reading 4 short stories all at the same time.
A lot of events happened in the book that weren't explained very well, and just left you hanging with questions. A lot of characters are introduced and again, you are left wondering who in the hell they are and where did they come from, etc. It was almost like every time you started to get interested in something, it came to a dead end.
At the end they were brought back together, and it finally all made some kind of sense, but I'm not intrigued enough to want to read the next book.
I'm glad that I borrowed this one from the library instead of buying it.
April 19, 2013
Garric, as Lord of the Isles, brings the Royal Procession to First Atara, one of the more independant islands in the kingdom. But King Cervoran is dead and his young son, Protas, needs to be crowned, and Prince Garric is expected to do the honours. In the middle of meteor strikes, the funeral holds a couple of surprises - Cervoran returns to life and Garric disappears to a world where humans are prey and the catlike Coerli rule. Back on Atara, Cervoran demands help with his plans, forcing Cashel and Protas to travel demon haunted lands, and leaving Ilna in charge of a strange Double of himself. Sharina and Tenoctris have to find a way to help the army fight giant, predatory plants that crawl from the ocean. And behind it all, the mysterious Green Lady forces events along.
The start of this final trilogy is brilliant - again, the friends are split apart to have their separate adventures, but unlike a lot of the earlier novels, this time it is more by their own choice. The ending is rather sad for one of the main characters, but as it is fantasy, I can only hope there will be a happier outcome for her in the following two books. An excellent read - I can't wait to see how this epic ends.
The start of this final trilogy is brilliant - again, the friends are split apart to have their separate adventures, but unlike a lot of the earlier novels, this time it is more by their own choice. The ending is rather sad for one of the main characters, but as it is fantasy, I can only hope there will be a happier outcome for her in the following two books. An excellent read - I can't wait to see how this epic ends.
Read
July 25, 2011A generally good start to the trilogy capping the "Lord of the Isles" series. The usual formula is followed here, insofar as the main characters get pulled apart by events, sometimes by their own choice, sometimes involuntarily, and have to accomplish something before reuniting at the book's climax. I hate to say it, as I'm actually enjoying the series, but that formula is getting a bit predictable. The ending of this one, though, is surprising and unsettling, setting up the second book in the trilogy (eighth overall in the series).
September 26, 2011
Very unusual story, but it got way too complicated.
Okay, this is an unusual book, the way it's written. The story is good, variety of characters yes, and it had my interest...up until about 3/4 of the way in. It seemed to have a theme of adding more complexity with each passing chapter..to the point where it got so complex (without serving a purpose), it started not to make sense anymore...or was no longer believable.
I prefer Robert Jordan, or Frank Herbert (Dune series), or Lord of the Rings series, or Lorna Freeman, or Greg Keyes (Briar King).
Okay, this is an unusual book, the way it's written. The story is good, variety of characters yes, and it had my interest...up until about 3/4 of the way in. It seemed to have a theme of adding more complexity with each passing chapter..to the point where it got so complex (without serving a purpose), it started not to make sense anymore...or was no longer believable.
I prefer Robert Jordan, or Frank Herbert (Dune series), or Lord of the Rings series, or Lorna Freeman, or Greg Keyes (Briar King).
June 21, 2017
Not my favorite Fantasy series, but it has action and interesting worlds and creatures.
Re-read this one now that I have the concluding volume on my shelf. I reaffirmed my four-star rating. There's plenty of action, and the characters are likeable and remain true to their cores while still managing to develop nicely. However, the plots of these books are a tad weak and formulaic. I think on the whole I give the series about a 3.5 out of 5. Worth reading, but not great.
Re-read this one now that I have the concluding volume on my shelf. I reaffirmed my four-star rating. There's plenty of action, and the characters are likeable and remain true to their cores while still managing to develop nicely. However, the plots of these books are a tad weak and formulaic. I think on the whole I give the series about a 3.5 out of 5. Worth reading, but not great.
April 21, 2008
this is the first book in the new series stemming from the lord of the isles series. he follows the same roadmap and the ending kind of suprised me... the character ilna seems to be destined for unhappiness even though she is one of the more righteous
December 26, 2011
Once again David Drake hits the right chords. Although his stories in this series all follow the same pattern, this one had some surprising moments. I really enjoyed it.
Read
September 26, 2012Mac-ebooks
March 19, 2014
Mr Drake uses "grinned" or "grinning" at least once on every page. Every. Single. Page.
April 11, 2017
The ending broke my heart.
April 1, 2016
Twits of fate keep this story interesting. Looking forward to see where this all goes.
Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews