Brian McClellan burst onto the fantasy landscape almost a decade ago (2013) with Promise of Blood, the first of his Powder Mage saga. With In the Shadow of Lightning, he switches publishers (from Orbit to Tor) and launches a brand-new milieu and series, The Glass Immortals. Magic is powered by glass, but not ordinary glass – Godglass. At the center of the story is Demir Grappo, whose battle “victory” in the prologue leads him to disappear from the Empire. A nine-year gap from prologue to novel sees Demir returning to delve into the murder of his mother. That seems a rather straight-forward set up, but of course this novel being Epic Fantasy and written by Brian McClellan, there’s much more to it.
Demir Grappo is an outcast—he fled a life of wealth and power, abandoning his responsibilities as a general, a governor, and a son. Now he will live out his days as a grifter, rootless, and alone. But when his mother is brutally murdered, Demir must return from exile to claim his seat at the head of the family and uncover the truth that got her killed: the very power that keeps civilization turning, godglass, is running out.
Now, Demir must find allies, old friends and rivals alike, confront the powerful guild-families who are only interested in making the most of the scraps left at the table and uncover the invisible hand that threatens the Empire. A war is coming, a war unlike any other. And Demir and his ragtag group of outcasts are the only thing that stands in the way of the end of life as the world knows it.
When Demir returns to the Empire nine years later, he surprises everyone as many thought he was dead. He soon reunites with old friends and colleagues with the intent of solving his mother’s murder. He’s dragged into the politics, which has changed quite a bit since his departure. He brings in an old friend to help with the investigation, a young girl named Kizzie. An unexpected find during Demir’s investigations is a siliceer named Thessa, an individual who can create godglass. They additionally uncover the dwindling resources around the material used to craft godglass. Thessa doesn’t only have the ability to craft godglass, she may have the key to constructing a device that can utilize used glass…in essence recycling godglass.
One thing I’ve appreciated about McClellan’s work is how smartly he constructs his magic systems. The magic requires resources and the magic’s use has consequences from many aspects, mental, physical, and political. Different kinds of godglass empower its bearers with unique abilities.
Magic, politics, murder, and technological advancement are deftly woven ideas/plot threads in this novel. McClellan has shown an adept hand at weaving such threads together and keeping within that “lacing” great characters to help bind the thing as a whole. Demir, is of course the star of the book. McClellan manages to build up empathy for the young man rather quickly, he’s extremely intelligent, somewhat snarky, and he truly cares about the people in his orbit and doing the right thing. That innate empathy Demir possesses is what drove him to his self-imposed exile, despite coming from a family of privilege and power. The empathy for him grows even more once he starts digging into the death of his mother. One of Demir’s long-time friends, who I can’t help but envision as The Rock, was the big fighter “Baby” Montego. The two friends have a great rapport and quite frankly, the majority of the scenes involving Baby Montego put a smile on my face because he is funny and extremely charismatic.
Thessa functions as a secondary protagonist in this first novel of The Glass Immortals, she has a unique journey and her role as the aforementioned siliceer, or a rare person who could create Godglass. She is a hands on character and extremely smart. I liked the character of Kizzie, too, since she straddled a couple of different worlds or circles of society. She was the boots on the ground of the mystery elements of the plot.
In the Shadow of Lightning is an enormously entertaining, inventive, and smart novel. As a series starter, it does everything perfectly…lays the ground for the world and the people, invites speculation about where the plot can go, provides some closure, but leaves the door open for the inevitable second novel. I was a fan of Brian’s Powder Mage Trilogy and this book reminded my why I like his writing and storytelling so much…it is FUN! I could feel how much Brian enjoyed crafting this magic system and have his characters play in it, the feeling was infectious. That’s something he has always infused his work with and reminds me I need to catch up with the sequel trilogy to Powder Mage Trilogy.
This series is off to a very strong start and I’m excited to see where Brian McClellan takes Demir and his colleagues next.
Highly recommended
© 2022 Rob H. Bedford
Hardcover | 560 pages
The Glass Immortals #1 | Tor Books | June 2022
Excerpt: https://www.tor.com/2022/06/17/excerpts-in-the-shadow-of-lightning-by-brian-mcclellan/
Author Website: https://www.brianmcclellan.com/
Review copy courtesy of the publisher, Tor Books
