Spy Glass

By: Maria V. Snyder

Narrated by: Jennifer Van Dyck

Length: 12 hrs and 50 mins

Publisher's summary

After siphoning her own blood magic in the showdown at Hubal, Opal Cowan has lost her powers. She can no longer create glass magic. More, she's immune to the effects of magic. Opal is now an outsider looking in, spying through the glass on those with the powers she once had, powers that make a difference in the world.

Until spying through the glass becomes her new power. Suddenly, the beautiful pieces she makes flash in the presence of magic. And then she discovers that someone has stolen some of her blood - and that finding it might let her regain her powers. Or learn if they're lost forever....

©2010 Maria V. Snyder (P)2010 Audible, Inc.

Love it.

Awesome story. Wonderful Love the story. Great series.Wish there was more. Characters development was perfect.

5-Star Loved It!

Spy Glass had plenty of new twist and characters, that it kept you captivated and entertained from start to finish.

Great Book

the narrator is fabulous, I love the author great writer. I look forward to reading the next book.

Loved this book

The book was the end of a wonderful series. I cannot wait to read the next book by Ms. Snyder

My favorite of the trilogy

Opal has grown so much.
Many people didn't seem to like what happened with Devlin, but I thought it was natural. In retrospect, I think I may have seen it coming, but it was still a pleasant surprise.
By this point, I loved the interactions with old characters, but also enjoy Opal's story for her. She's grown, both as a person, and on me.
Definitely recommend.

Satisfying conclusion to the Glass trilogy

I know I love a book when minor quibbles with it drive me crazy. I love the world of Sitia and Ixia, and revisiting these characters is like catching up with dear friends. Familiar characters return and a few new ones made me fall in love with them, too. The large cast (but not Dune large) is juggled with finesse. I was worried about not remembering enough of book 2, but the author does a fine job of seeding reminders in the early chapters. My quibbles are with the final 1/4 of the book, which I found disturbing, even though I don't think of myself as squeamish. This section strained a bit under a number of plot complications, but to my relief everything seemed to be wrapped up with a satisfying conclusion. I thought the narration was fine.



Overall, after the first few hours, I couldn't bear to put Spy Glass down. I found the Glass trilogy to be time well spent. Especially recommended to lovers of fantasies with complex characters.

Opal's Glass Smashing Action and Twisting Plots

In book three, which I assume completes this series, Opal is pulled in twenty directions at once. No powers? Immune to magic? Still making glass...our heroine is a lost puppy at the beginning, suffering PTSD and trying to handle family politics of a wedding. She brings it around in the novel, finding a better path no matter what anyone thinks of it.

The beauty of her story this time, is that she does actually fail at things- there are no miracles for some of her failures. With no magic, she has to become clever!

Her character is more realistic than some heroes. She is conflicted, makes monsterous mistakes and pushes and pulls her hearts and others too. Her honesty makes her real to the reader and I found myself both cheering her on and smacking her upside the head in the same chapter.

Some characters in the novel I was grateful to have less of: Cade annoyed me with his "stay home with and be my wife." You KNOW Opal will never do that and he does too.
The Magicians appear less in the book than previous ones and their politics have a hint of current events about them here in America.

Yay and thank you Maria for bringing back Valek, my most beloved character in the series. He is true to himself and surprises us with his talents beyond spying.

The narrator is always a good one and she keeps the story moving.

It's a good listen and worth the time. Cheer Opal on, smack the Ipod off the shelf when she screws up, Opal needed to tell this tale.

Not bad, but not great

I was a little disappointed in the book. I thought it was a little trite and rushed at the end. Not a bad listen though. The reader did an okay job, but there was very little difference between characters' voices. It made some of the conversations difficult to follow because it made it hard to tell who was talking to who.

Snyder story is great, Van Dyck's reading awful

Would you consider the audio edition of Spy Glass to be better than the print version?

I haven't read the print version but I feel it would be better because Van Dyck does not do Snyder's work justice.

Would you be willing to try another one of Jennifer Van Dyck’s performances?

Probably not.

Any additional comments?

I love Snyder's books but this series was a bit of a trial for me because of the narrator. She reads in halting sentences, adding pauses and drama where there shouldn't be any... it's truly awful. Instead of losing myself in the story, I am constantly thinking about the narration.

This series is a nice series and I would still recommend it but you will have to be very forgiving of the narration. Ms. Snyder: please, please, please go back to using Zackman as a narrator (or someone other than Van Dyck).

enjoyed the book but....

The playback kept sticking and stopping and going back to the beginning. This only happens on my Samsung. Otherwise the book was great.