A Shattering Review or Two

Review One: “A Thousand Glass Flowers” by Prue Batten


This is one of those books that feeds my reading addiction like pellets for my stove. Seriously you buy the pellets, feed them into the stove and they heat our family room like nobody’s business. She did the same thing with her book, lighting my mind with the passion to read. The only reason I remembered to make dinner is because my husband reminded me to.

I started reading this book on January 29th, thinking I was getting a head start on my February novel. Yeah, that little percent read mark, well it made it to 100% before midnight on January 31st. That’s okay I’ll read “Walter’s Purple Heart” by Catherine Ryan Hyde this month. But what made “A Thousand Glass Flowers” so good that I had to read it whenever I had the chance to?

It was most definitely the characters. It starts with Lalita who is a young scribe; a profession normally reserved for men. She is a strong woman, raised by her loving aunt and uncle, suddenly thrust into a world of lust and greed. Opposite her is Finnian who is a Færan or magical being that is ‘Other’ than human. At first it’s hard to form an opinion of him, but as his story unfolds you feel deep sympathy for the man who grew up without love.

Their connection was painted with such skill that by the end of the second chapter, I had to read two more; hers and his. Continuing on two chapters at a time I waited with baited breath for their paths to cross. But, there is more at stake than their meeting as they race to find the Cantrips of Unlife. Sometimes working together sometimes apart, each with their own reason for the hunt.

Besides the characters, there is the rich and varied world though which they travel. “A Thousand Glass Flowers” takes us on a tour of the Mediterranean coastlands. The names of places are slightly changed, but familiar enough that only a minimum of description was required to immerse me in it. A feat Prue pulled off well.

But in the end, it was the characters I cared about, wondering if they would ever trust each other enough to work as a team and how their quest would end. I’ll warn you that the end had no happily ever after, but it was satisfying. So satisfying I’m not even trying to imagine what happens next. And that’s pretty amazing since I have a tendency to imagine more.

Review 2: CHARLEY’S PUBLISHED!

Okay, Okay, this isn’t a review view but I just had to do some squealing for her. Those of you readers who are from Protagonize will know her best as SpookOfNight. She’s probably said hi to everyone on the site at least once. Anyway, she’s taken the plunge, submitted a short story and voila! Publication in “SaffinaDesforges Presents... (The Kindle Coffee-Break Collection Vol.2)” – that’s the Kindle US link, Charley’s got the Kindle UK link on her blog. I’m sure other platforms will follow for every country possible.
The i in MWiDP doesn’t stand for international for no reason!

I think I might have to see if I can get in the next edition, so we can get a running streak – Miriam in Volume 1, Charley in Volume 2 and Me in Volume 3... But what in the world would I submit?

:} Cathryn Leigh