In addition to Demir, In the Shadow of Lightning gives us three other POV character through which to explore the complex world of Glass Immortals: Kizzie, Idrian, and Thessa. Kizzie is an Enforcer, and a bastard from one of the most powerful-guild families in the empire. She is also one of Demir’s childhood friends. “When Demir is forced to return to the capitol,” teases McClellan, “one of the first people he goes to is Kizzie because she shares his moral center. Even though she is the type of person who is sent to break knees when needed, she always tries to be as honest as she can and to deal fairly with people.” As the story progresses and war looms, Kizzie’s must decide where her loyalties lie: with the family who has never accepted her, or elsewhere?

There are also extremely unexpected creatures that appear later in the book that end up giving a strangely horror aspect to this book that was appreciated even though there was zero leadup to it. This book has multiple battle scenes, told from the perspective of a general planning out an offensive. It reminded me of Janus from the Shadow Campaign series. In the Shadow of Lightning is the first book in a brand new world as part of the Glass Immortals series. The Lovecraftian aesthetic worked well here due to that contrast, but it would have worked even better if the everyday world of this setting was further fleshed out, to make the setting even more ordinary. What sort of breakfast do people eat? What tea do they drink? What sort of clothing do people wear? That sort of thing.

New in Series

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. Demir’s heart fell. No getting that payout, then. Or meeting Slatina for dinner tonight. He would have to move on to the next town, interrupting his life and abandoning his friends and lovers like he’d done dozens of times over the last nine years. The very thought of it made him tired, but it also made him mad. He cast his mental net outward, using his glassdancer sorcery to make note of every windowpane and wine bottle in the cantina. I’m incredibly excited to join the team at Tor for Glass Immortals. Tor was the very first publisher I recognized as a voracious young reader and getting the chance to work with them is like a dream come true. I’m especially thrilled to work once again with Devi Pillai, who acquired both Powder Mage trilogies and edited the first four books.

Beyond that, this is a very developed world. The factional strife of the Ossan guild-families is equally well-realized to the geopolitical conflict that exists between the empire of Ossa and the city-state of Grent. In every scene, I felt like I was in the world. Not just in the particular location for that scene, but I actually felt like I was sitting in the world itself, with the rest of the details of the world moving all around me. I felt this during his earlier books too, but I feel like he's just gotten better at it. Fine. Give me a half pint of Ereptia’s best, and put it on this tab.” He tapped the bookie’s receipt once more. The fourth POV was the Ram (apologies, I forget his name). He was Demir's uncle, and a front-lines warrior as opposed to Demir being a military tactician. His perspective was the main perspective for the war. He also is a user/abuser of the magic system, using it to fight in battle. So where Thessa explores the creation of the magical glass, the Ram uses the glass in battle to kill people. This magic system causes people to rot away from the inside out, so the Ram was the perspective we used to explore that degradation. I enjoyed his perspective, because he's started going insane due to the glass rot. He's a good man, but is haunted by hallucinations. 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.

As an avid fan of Brian McClellan's previous works set in The Powder Mage universe, I was extremely excited to read his new foray into epic fantasy. By and large I thoroughly enjoyed my reading experience, and it definitely goes down as one of the best 2022 releases I have read. Very good. The narrator did a good job of giving different characters different voices. The narrator gave some of them a Caribbean accent which worked really well. I think the narration did a good job of improving my estimation of this book. I gave it 4 stars instead of 3 because of the audiobook.

My favorite thing about the book was the magic system. Magic-forged glass of varying colors, each type offering a different benefit to the user. It went into some good details on how the glass was created and used, which were among the best parts of the story for me – I love reading about people who are exceptional in their field of work. I also really enjoyed seeing the magic used in the many hand-to-hand combat scenes. Really cool. This book had high tension. At the same time, it never felt like the tension got too hot; by swapping between so many POV characters, when one of them was doing something exciting, another is doing something less interesting, so the reader never gets overwhelmed or bored. The author handled this aspect of the storytelling well. Glassdamn! This was a fantastic read! As a Brian McClellan virgin, I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this first book in his new series, or from him as a writer in general, but the sci-fi / fantasy nerd in me was definitely not disappointed! 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.

In the Shadow of Lightning is an incredibly unique and imaginative novel—but I wouldn’t have expected anything less from the author. I was definitely impressed with the world-building and this new magical system based around godglass. If you’re familiar with McClellan’s Powder Mage series, or even his mentor Brandon Sanderson’s work, you’d probably have some idea what it might be like, but at the same time, it’ll also be completely different than anything you’ve ever read. Depending on the type of Godglass, magic users called glassdancers can manifest various abilities by tapping into their power. If you’re thinking this sounds a little like Mistborn’s Allomancy, that thought had occurred to me as well. This book had a constant sense of forward momentum. The author did something clever, in having six people kill the matriarch. Then the author had Kizzie catch them one at a time, over the course of the story. By catching them one-at-a-time like this, it drip-fed a sense of forward momentum to the plot, so that even if one of the other plotlines was slowed down, that mystery plot was constantly moving forward. I enjoyed Kizzie's sections most because I knew that something would always happen when reading her sections. Capric gulped his glass, poured himself a second, and sipped half of it before answering. “I’m sorry, Demir.” Excellent worldbuilding and a truly epic narrative combine into Brian's finest work to date. Heartily recommended to anyone who wants a new favorite fantasy series to read."―Brandon Sanderson