A dying city.An ancient, forgotten accord.And two gifted men caught in a web of greed and dark magic.
Despite belonging to different guilds, glass master Minel and warrior captain Falcon are friends. Their duties keep them apart, but when Minel falls ill and chooses death rather than the only known cure, nothing can keep Falcon from his side.As their friendship grows into more, old wrongs and … Falcon from his side.
As their friendship grows into more, old wrongs and one man’s machinations threaten the floating city and leave both Minel and Falcon fighting for their lives. Can they learn to combine their gifts to save the city and its magic, or will everything they know and love perish before their eyes?
Healing Glass is an LGBT fantasy adventure with its head in the clouds. If you like medieval backdrops, impressive world-building, three-dimensional characters and a touch of magic, then you’ll love Jackie Keswick’s socially-conscious adventure.
Buy Healing Glass to visit the floating city today!
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I would rate this 4.5 stars.
This is an intriguing fantasy novel about the political machinations amongst the Craft Guild. Most of the story revolves around a city made of glass that is suspended over the ocean. When the Craft Guild arrived and needed shelter they took it over, but the glass in the city is failing and no one knows why, or how to fix it. Between the need for Minel’s skills as the glass master, and the strange obsession Regent Wark has for him, Minel is unwittingly made into a pawn of the corrupt councillors. When Minel is taken strangely ill, his friend Captain Falcon tries to help him. He is not the only male craftor suffering from a lung evil and he must be pairbound to save his life. Regent Wark tries to force Minel to be pairbound by any means necessary, forcing Minel to flee the city.
I had my doubts–I thought this was just going to be an excuse that forced Minel into having sex with Falcon. I’m glad that was not the case; not because I would have minded that as a plot point per se, but that the rest of the book would have gone in a completely different vein. I would have missed reading what is there. Although sex does ease the symptoms of his illness, the author worked hard to remove concerns of dubious consent for the main characters. There are bleak references to dubcon/noncon for other characters (off page). It’s a tale of greed, power, sorrow, pain, and betrayal. Thankfully, the author makes the relationship between Minel and his warrior Falcon the touchstone, giving the book love, hope, and friendship. I enjoyed seeing flashbacks of moments of their friendship, while watching them carve out a future amongst all that life had to throw at them. With the way his character is described in the beginning, I worried how Minel would be able to be the mate of a warrior. The author crafts Minel’s character in a believable way throughout the story, showing how adapting to this new culture and way of life brings out the best in him. Falcon’s adjustments are there too: how to live with someone else, how to communicate effectively with a loved one, how to let go of pride if it’s in the way, and how to work through fear of danger for someone else. Minel too has to learn to bend his priorities to include others.
There are many layers to this story, spanning three generations. Warriors, craft masters, and merchants have different gifts (talent, magic) in general, with variety among individuals. Elements of spirituality are subtly incorporated here. This isn’t world building in the traditional science fiction sense–no description of flora or fauna, minimal history, and only the politics pertinent to the story. This novel is more focused on human factors and infrastructure for the city since the city is a main character. For an exciting change, all the female characters are strong, smart, and talented. It was easy to picture the world created here, without being overwhelmed by wordy descriptions of the terrain. The social commentary about personal choice and freedoms, political corruption for personal greed, people in power who don’t have the knowledge or skill to govern, and giving them free rein without proper oversight packs a wallop. Still, there are individual moments in this that are filled with joy and quite enchantingly described. With the way the warrior talents are used as a major plot point, I would have liked to have felt a little more of their brotherhood.
I think fans of the author’s Dornost stories will like this too. I hope there are other novels set in the Warriors’ Guild and Merchant Guild, or even more stories in the Craft Guild since this author likes to play in different timelines. I’d love to see more about talent and shapings, with some of the side characters involved; and more of the history of this world, which I expect will be layered in with other novels. I enjoyed this story and all of its characters.
Healing Glass has great writing, world building, and characters. But the story is just not that compelling and can be confusing at times. You’re thrust right into the midst of this fantasy world and have to scramble to make sense of everything. Curiosity powered me through the first 20% and then it stagnated from there. The story did keep progressing, but I skimmed a lot and feel like I didn’t miss much. A lot of the conflict felt contrived and you know exactly what’s going to happen.
Why 3 stars? I didn’t like the book, but that’s definitely a personal preference. The book is written well, so I know plenty of people will enjoy. I encourage you to check this out if the blurb caught your attention. I’m going to try some other books from this author and see what I think; it could just be this book I’m not meshing with.
Jackie’s writing is just so stunning and I loved this book so much. The heart of this romantic fantasy is the relationship between Minel and Falcon, and I just adored their friends to lovers romance. It’s the kind of friends to lovers I love…where it’s not super angsty, just sincere and honest. The setting was so unique and exquisitely detailed, the world-building was intricately layered. This world that Jackie has created is so interesting and so different than anything I’ve ever read. There was no superfluous information or characters; everything and everyone had its place and role in the story.
Beautifully done and I look forward to the sequel.
4.5 stars
Wow, this story has a bit of everything, from plotting and dark magic to love bonds and triumph. I’ve read and enjoyed some of Jackie’s shorter works, and her fantasy worlds always intrigue me. Because this is a full-length novel, she is able to devote considerably more time to world-building, which definitely works in her favor. The characters of Falcon and Minel are wonderfully drawn, with distinct voices and real, complex concerns. The supporting characters are an interesting mix of villains, well-meaning but oblivious crafters, and strong and reliable warriors. Even the floating city itself is an important character in this tale. This is a slow-burn love story of two men from different worlds who complete each other. It’s also a rather Hitchcockian tale of scheming and terror. I found both aspects quite satisfying, and read it pretty fast because I needed to know how love and right could triumph. The only imperfection, and this may have been my own problem, was that I had a difficult time keeping the rules and roles of this world straight at first. Now that I feel like I’ve more or less mastered the nuances of the various guilds and ranks, I’m really looking forward to the next book in this new series. I received an advance copy in return for my honest review.
I loved this fantasy romance by Jackie Keswick. The world building is outstanding. Minel and Falcon are such interesting characters that I immediately connected with. The relationship between them is long and rich with history. I loved seeing how they evolve from friends to mates.
This story will draw you in and hold your attention throughout! I can’t wait for more in this series.
Healing Glass by Jackie Keswick is a M/M Fantasy romance that tells the story of friends turning into lovers and joining together in a fight.
Minel and Falcon are interesting characters that immediately held my attention, well developed and complex. The world built within these pages is done brilliantly, detailed and intriguing. The story goes beyond just words on a page, but speaks to the reader about powerful themes mixed with a touch of magic. Definitely worth reading.
I received an advanced reader’s copy of the book and I am voluntarily leaving my honest review and recommendation.
Flowery prose, mysticism, fantastical events, battles in the mind and soul…there were so many interesting points that perhaps needed a step back and an objective eye to help with streamlining for clarity. I was engaged by the story’s end, it just took quite a while to get there. And with both men we were given a great pairing that made sense together. Sensuality and sweetness came together for Minel and Falcon and with the joining of every part of them, they become a partnership in every sense of the word. Their trials are intense and with the support of many they overcome and the world around them finds a new beginning.
For the first half of the book I felt like I was missing something, like there was a prequel or a previous novel to this series that I completely missed out on, and it wasn’t until we were well into the second half that things started to really come together. I’m more aware now of how the guilds work together, they just didn’t play a big role in this book despite Falcon being of the Warrior Guild. The only part of their uniqueness was used in the support of their minds and wills during the fight against the shaping that created the sickness. Other than that, I’m pretty sure I’ll have to read further into the series to find out how each guild actually functions and how they fulfill the purposes that were described in this story. What we get here is an education of what the glass master is and should do, their origin, and the consequences of abuse of power.
And speaking of abuse, there was a very dark element here that Minel was kind of oblivious to though it revolved around him and those who were after him. We did get answers for who and why, but it still almost felt out of place because it seemed to be the machinations of one person who found like-minded people they could bend and manipulate with their shared perversions. And the reckoning was a little anticlimactic though I will admit that it was tasteful and punishment was carried out by the right entity.
As for Minel and Falcon, I liked them both, but in a general sense. I could see that they really fit together, but the way they came together in the beginning felt dubious and out of place. I’m not against relationships beginning with passion and ending with love, but for these men to have been friends and then for Falcon to seem cavalier about prior trysts and then try to manipulate Minel using carnal relief instead of just being honest about his feelings and hopes based on Minel’s very obvious attraction and innocence just makes me feel icky and disappointed. They do get it together and when they both finally get on the same page and share their hearts I’m convinced that they’ve really got something worth supporting. It just takes a while for them to get to that point.
So while I wasn’t completely blown away by the overall story, there were so many intriguing moments that I’ll likely be back for more from this world now that I understand what’s going on and how everyone fits together.