Shatterglass (Circle Opens, Book 4)

Shatterglass is the fourth and final book in The Circle Opens quartet written by Tamora Pierce. Like all the other books in this series, it focuses on young mage (Tris) who discovers an ambient mage and ends up teaching him/her. However, this book is different than the others because Tris must teach a grown man. At the same time, a murderer, nicknamed, the "Ghost" is killing yaskedasi and Dema must find the culprit. How are these events related? Read the book and find out!

Even though Tris is the least likeable out of all the mages, she is my favourite character. Tamora describes her very well and her sarcastic comments often make me laugh. Chime, the glass dragon Tris adopts, is another perfect example of Pierce's skill. Chime was such a strong and vibrant character that I immediately fell in love with her. Another great asset was that the book deals with social classes, which made it very realistic.

However, I didn't like the fact that we heard very little of Nikaren Goldeye, Tris's teacher. He was rarely present and Tris and Niko didn't really seem to bond and their friendship didn't seem to evolve. I was very excited to find out more about wind scrying, but I found the concept was very badly described and uninteresting. I was also hoping that the murderer's personality would be as complex as that of the arsonist in Cold Fire, but I found he lacked dimension.

I supposed I was just excpecting Shatterglass to be as good as Cold Fire, or even Tris's Book, but I was disappointed. However, if you have read the other books in the series, I suggest you purchase this one anyways to complete the quartet.

I don't consider myself a "fan" of Tamora Pierce, but I have been picking up her books lately because they are an easy and quick read. I have read all of the Circle Opens quartet now. Since I have not read the previous quartet which introduced these magical youngsters, I cannot judge these books in the context of the larger series. I can only judge each one by how well the characters grabbed me and how compelled I was to read on.

Shatterglass stood up rather well. Tris was an interesting character, a sort of nerdy and not too attractive girl who carries her magic around in her braids. Keth blows glass which contains lightning! You gotta love the originality of this series. It does not fall for the usual cliches. Well, yes, there is a murder mystery, and the conclusion is somewhat predictable. Nevertheless, as I finished reading this book, I realized that the Circle Opens series is refreshingly unique. There is not a single sword fight in the whole collection! OK maybe there are a few fights here and there. But nothing like the Lioness quartet, which is a 12-year old girl's wet dream about how glorious it would be to do just like the boys do! Also, the Circle quartet avoids the Generic Fantasy Middle Ages furniture-- kings, castles, Gandalfian wizards and warriors thundering around on steeds. Nope--this series is all about young mages discovering the talents of other youths, and being obligated to teach them! In contrast to a million fantasy novels where magicians are mightily saving the world from demons, these mages are using magic in practical ways: to make beautiful objects, to protect from fires, to catch a criminal.

I have read the Lioness series, the Immortals and the Tricksters' duet. I would say that the Circle Opens series is the best out of the lot.

Enjoyed, but kept seeing ways the book could be incrementally better. Tris is an excellent main character for a fourteen year old girl, reminding me at times of Nynaeve al'Maera from the Wheel of Time, and at times of Robin Mckinley's better female heroines. Anime fans would call her tsundere. The point is Tris has plenty of personality, and she makes the book interesting. But Tris could have been better! With tweaking, she could be amazing like Bujold's Miles Vorkosigan. She could have been hilarious like Terry Pratchett's Granny Weatherwax -- laugh out loud sarcastic instead of occasionally funny. Still this is Tris's book, and Tris is good if not great.

Setting-wise the amount of magical detail was on the low side. The glass dragon Chime is well done, but Pierce spends more words on the intricacies of glass-blowing than on scrying or purification (both huge themes in the book). Was hoping she could tie in her cultural themes into magical exposition.

Plot wise, Tris gets a 'student' older than she is by years, and gets caught up in a serial killer murder investigation. "The Ghost" isn't developed as a character; only the consequences of the murders are shown. Niko stays sidelined. Majority of the page count is Tris, her student, and the head investigator on the murder case. Theme of 'how powerful is magic if it won't help me here?' is explored. Still was expecting more from the 'biggest conference of scrying mages ever' and I think Pierce needed to better explain how they would be/were ineffective regarding the murder problem. I mean if the city dangled a cash prize for scrying out the serial murderer at this high-level mage conference, I think results might have been forthcoming.

Overall, I enjoyed the book for what it was, despite wanting to read details and sub-plots that weren't developed.

What a great book! I wish the middle 2 books in the quartet were as tight and suspenseful as this one. This and Sandry's book (#1) are the best in the quartet - the subplots all smash together, all the loose ends are tied up, the motivations of the killer are made clear, and the worldbuilding is frustratingly good (if you read it, you'll know what I mean). I also appreciated that the protagonist can't be the one to magically (literally!) solve all the problems, and that there were moments when things got even above her head.

One of my favorites. I just wish there was an audio version available

great book

In Tharios, Tris finds an unusual glassblower and a highly stratified society troubled by a serial killer. As an adult reader, Tris isn't my favorite of the kids*--but when I was her age, she would've been: she's competent and controlled but still prickly, and I love her for it. Her adult student should be a good foil, but he's whiny and never reads as his age; all the supporting characters fall flat, except Niko, whose appearances are brief. There's not much in the way of worldbuilding beyond the caste system, which makes this one of the least evocative settings. But shaking up the delivery of the crime narrative makes this less formulaic than the rest of the quartet--an effect that the rushed, coincidental ending can't quite destroy. I love the Circle of Magic books; The Circle Opens is disappointing in comparison, and I wouldn't recommend this quartet. But this is a good ending, largely thanks to the protagonist.

* I admire Daja, want Sandry as my best friend, but so help me if Briar isn't the most endearing.

i have always enjoyed Tamora Pierces book series as they are able to easily submerse the reader into that world with well fleshed out characters

My favourite of the 4 Circle Opens books,

This entire series is wonderful