Immigrant Song - Led Zeppelin

The Glass Swallow
Dragonfly, Book 2

Author: Julia Golding
Pages: 304
Publisher: Marshall Cavendish

Brief Summary:
In Tigral, only men can be glassmakers. This does not stop Rain from being the best stained glass designer in the country. Her father, the head of a glassmaking shop, allows her to design and pretends they are his so that they can get around the guild. Although he too hates the rules of the guild, he is afraid to challenge them. When orders come for his designer to travel to Magharna to design windows for the Master's summer palace, she accompanies her cousin (as his betrothed, but not for real) so that the charade can continue. No one planned, though, for their company to be beset by bandits and murdered (all but Rain) before they even reached the capital. All of a sudden, Rain finds herself caught up in the revolution of another country.

Review:
The Glass Swallow is a companion novel to Dragonfly, which I read, and loved, a couple years ago. The main characters from Dragonfly do make a brief appearance, but are, for the most part, quite distant. Nonetheless, this was quite a satisfying companion to that fantastic book.

What makes these books, and probably the others of Julia Golding that I have yet to read, so fantastic is how strong her heroines are. Rain lacks physical strength pretty much entirely. She is diminutive, especially in this new country, and certainly would stand no chance in a fight with most anyone. However, she is still most definitely a force to be reckoned with. Her intellect, talent and stubbornness are what make her shine and make people respect her.

Also super adorable was the romance between Peri and Rain. I've always been a sucker for the romance plot line where the couple didn't like each other at first. I wonder why. (cough...Pride and Prejudice...cough.) Plus, I really liked their dynamic together, the fact that being in love doesn't mean that they don't bicker and even have serious fights. Despite this being a fantasy, the romance seems much more realistic than those in so many young adult realistic fiction novels.

Fans of Tamora Pierce and Kristin Cashore should really consider giving Julia Golding's novels a try. Her books are a bit less dramatic perhaps, but I think the core of them is similar.

"So now you'd better stop and rebuild all your ruins,
For peace and trust can win the day despite of all your losing."