The Glass Word

By Kai Meyer

Rating: 4 stars

Reviewed by Noelle

This is the 3rd book in the Dark Reflections Trilogy. The story takes up where we left off in The Stone Light. The girls Merle and Junipa, riding on the stone lion Vermithrax, escape Hell by following Winter out into the deserts of Egypt. Seth, the evil Horus priest, also escapes when he fails to kill the ruler of Hell, Lord Light. All are surprised to find the desert covered in snow and cold, courtesy of Winter, as he searches for his true love, Summer. Uneasily, the girls and lion join forces with Seth to infiltrate the Iron Eye--the fortress of the Sphinxes. Also on the way to the Iron Eye are the mermaid Eft, Serafin, Lalapeya the Sphinx, and the other boys from the guild. Once inside the Iron Eye, many secrets are revealed, including the identity of Merle's parents, the Sphinxes' plan to raise the Son of the Mother from the dead to conquer the earth as well as other worlds, and the power of the glass word which Junipa can use to pass through the mirrors. Their quest will include finding and rescuing Summer, conquering the Son of the Mother, and discovering the true nature of the Flowing Queen. With lots of action and plenty of dark overtones, fantasy and adventure readers will find much to like about the final entry in the series. But as the Flowing Queen tells Merle, this is not a fairy tale, so you cannot expect a happy ending. Enough threads are left hanging that possible other books may be written about further adventures of all our heroes. Fans of Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy and other heavier weight fantasy will find much to like here.