Other POV characters include Kizzie (a type of investigator), Tessa (who works with glass magic), and Idrian (a soldier who uses magic). You’re pulling a knife on a patron because of a vague description of a grifter from three towns over? While this added some detailed background concerning the setting and the broader war, it detracted from the main plot of the story. Demir was it forced to either let another guild family take over his family or he had to come back to run it. He’d made his point, but it still took a force of will to keep himself from destroying every piece of glass in the bar and then throwing it all into Morlius’s face.

Political factions divided into houses are plotting against each other and racing to control access to glass. I was just thinking how sad it is that he’s concluded the very long series of Powder Mage books before I’ve even begun them.Suffice it to say I had a fantastic time with this book and I am really excited to see where the rest of this series will go after the big reveals, twists, and turns that made up the stunning conclusion to this part of the story. It started slowly, probably because I felt like I had seen this book one too many times but it fully captured me towards the end. This book is similar; for the first half of the book it appears like one sort of book (a conspiracy and war) only to have weird monsters occasionally show themselves starting at about the halfway point(Lovecraft). And the reveal when it came was rather expected even if the overall why of it hasn't been explained completely yet. This magic system causes people to rot away from the inside out, so the Ram was the perspective we used to explore that degradation.

So where Thessa explores the creation of the magical glass, the Ram uses the glass in battle to kill people. There were no characters I felt interested enough to read about like Taniel, Ka-poel, or Ben Stykes from his Powder Mage universe. I also kept on wishing that it would emulate more of what made the original Powder Mage trilogy so good, which was that true epic style large fantasy world, but what I got was more similar to the second trilogy in that universe ( Gods of Blood and Powder) which was more of a fantasy mystery book.Overall, In the Shadow of Lightning is an excellent introduction to the Glass Immortals series featuring an interesting magic system, dynamic political machinations, and well developed characters. In the Powder Mage trilogy mages could control gun powder, in book one of The Glass Immortals glassdancers control glass to devastating effects. The story feels unique and fresh, the world is well crafted, and the magic system - while a bit similar to some others I have read - was enjoyable. That said, there are 5 compelling main characters, 6 interesting other characters, 3+ love stories, and a lot is happening.

It has intriguing magic, amazing world-building, charismatic characters and especially enjoy the surprising twist at the end and the awesome cliffhangers. I thought it was fascinating how Demir felt the weight of responsibility towards the clients of his family, now that his mother is dead and it falls to him to be their patron.Though I enjoyed reading from the perspective of a female enforcer named Kizzie the most, I found that all of the characters, including her, were more examples of archetypes and tropes than actual developed characters. And for the pacing, this really just kept me engaged throughout with the mysteries, investigations, engineering, and more. Anyway, I'll go straight to the point - In the Shadow of Lightning is a banger of a fantasy book with enough thrill and suspense to pass for a world-class Thriller. Meanwhile, Tessa is competent in her field as a siliceer and I like it when she's in her nerd mode but the rest was just too YA for me (she's a grown woman).