Shards of Glass

By: Michelle Sagara

Narrated by: Khristine Hvam

Length: 17 hrs and 16 mins

Publisher's summary

The Academia, once an elite proving ground for the rulers of the world, has been frozen for centuries. Now its strange slumber has ended, and a new Chancellor, an orange-eyed dragon, has reopened its lecture halls and readied its dorms. In order to thrive once more, however, the Academia needs fresh blood—new students with a passion and talent for learning.

One such student, Robin, has the perfect recruit in mind: his friend Raven, an orphan who lives in the dangerous Warrens. Robin grew up in the Warrens, and he wouldn't have made it if not for Raven. He knows she’ll be safe at the Academia, where her unusual gifts can be appreciated.

But when students start turning up dead, the campus threatens to collapse completely. Raven and Robin will not let that happen to their new home…if they can survive long enough to figure out who—or what—is trying to kill them.

©2023 Michelle Sagara (P)2023 Harlequin Enterprises, Limited

Shards of glass right into my heart!

Non-spoiler discussion of characters ahead:
I was, initially, really excited to start this book. I had loved the brief glances of the Academia that I had seen, and the idea of getting to see more of the classes, the teachers, the life, excited me.
Seeing Raven (who shares my name), was a surprise.
Seeing her so clearly written to be autistic-coded was a joy.
As an autistic person, it can be so hard to explain the joy that comes of a special interest. The way that words can be so difficult, due to how very amorphous they are by nature. To explain the way that some information just can’t be relayed with something as abstract as words.
Having that representation in a FANTASY novel? And not as a bad thing, but Raven being accepted, wholeheartedly, as Raven (at least by Robin)? Was a balm to me, and all the times that I wasn’t accepted as I was.

Love love love.

Hard to stop listening

I liked the whole story it fills in holes . I like the voice performance.

new characters and gratefully the same narrator

I have all of Sagara's work with this series. Gratefully the narrator has stayed with her as well. One of the reasons I have all of this series, because I frequently skip around with story lines, is that she is tackling the problem of language and community. If I would make a comparison in male interest it would be Tom Wolf. Both authors get away with serious intellectual interest and opinions, while creating story lines that accomplish entertainment and genre interest. These new characters explore new aspects of her concerns and experience with life. I find her endlessly interesting and the narrator helps me listen carefully. Honestly we buy the narrators when we can read ourselves. The narrator is company and we invite them into our daily lives.
This book is a new direction, so it may be an introduction rather than an idea of the whole series. Sagara is thoughtful but new listeners do not have to look for that aspect. She is fun as well.

Great expansion into one of my favorite series!

If you haven’t experienced Michelle Sagara before, you are missing out! Ms. Sagara is one of my one click authors and the narrator, Ms. Hvam, is one of my favorites. So truly a winning combination. If this is your 1st Sagara/Hvam listen you will not be disappointed…and afterward, check out The Chronicles of Elantra. Same world earlier time period but not by much. You can meet the overlapping characters in more depth.

Wow

Please don’t ever retire! What a great story and the narrator is one of my favorites - I hope this is not the end of the series!

Robin

The development of Robin's character as he navigates the labyrinth and learns about his past.

not so much

the story was repetitive and lacked a real plot. it was hard to listen to. the ending fell flat.

Repetitive

I had to force myself to finish this book despite the great reader. The story is boring and disjointed for 80% of it plus a sprinkling of moralizing , capped by an infodump at the end. Not up to the usual standards.