Kai Meyer. The Glass Word
Egmont  $12.95  ISBN 978-1-4052-1639-5  324 pg.
Reviewed by Meghan, Age 15

'Merle,’ whispered Junipa’s cracked lips faintly. ‘I…you…’ Then she fell silent again, coughed miserably, and clutched the hem of Merle’s dress with one hand. ‘It’s so cold. Where…where are we?’

‘In Egypt.’ Even thought she had said it herself, it sounded to Merle as absurd as if she had said: on the moon.

Junipa stared at her with her mirror-glass eyes, but the shining fragments gave no clue to her thoughts. Even back in Venice, when Arcimboldo the magic-mirror maker had set them in her eye sockets, enabling the blind girl to see, Merle had felt that the glass was cold, and that impression had never been stronger than now, in the midst of this new Ice Age.

'Egypt…’ Junipa’s voice was hoarse, but not as indifferent as it had sounded inside the pyramid when she was trying to persuade Merle to stay in Hell. A little hope stirred in Merle’s heart. Had the Stone Light lost its power over Junipa out here?

In an Egypt ravaged by a second Ice Age, the Egyptian Empire, ruled by pharaoh Amenophis and the priests of Horus, is on the rise again and expanding across Europe. Within the empire the sphinxes are increasing their influence over the Pharaoh and attempting to resurrect their god, the Son of the Mother, who will destroy what remains of human kind if he is brought back to life. It’s up to a small band of adventurers, Merle (an ordinary girl with an interesting mirror), Vermithrax (a winged stone lion), Junipa (a blind girl with eyes of magic-mirror glass), Eft (a mermaid without a tail), Serafin (a master thief of Venice) and Lalapeya (a sphinx with a secret), to stop him. But to destroy the Son of the Mother sacrifices must be made, and not everyone who takes part in this adventure will survive it.

The Glass Word is the third book in the trilogy by Kai Meyer. If you have not read the first two books The Flowing Queen and The Stone Light I advise you to read those two first. This is an extremely complex series and trying to read one book without reading the others only makes for a very confused reader.

Kai Meyer’s trilogy was originally published in Germany five years ago and has only recently been translated into English, bringing fantasy lovers on this side of the Atlantic a new treasure. Blending mythology and history from across the globe, Kai Meyer has created a story that will enchant readers. I would recommend The Glass Word and the first two books in the series for boys and girls, ages 12 and up. It’s an easy read, not very complex language and fairly large font. The only thing about The Glass Word that bugged me was that in some places the wording seemed odd, or didn’t entirely make sense, but I guess you can’t avoid that when translating from one language to another. All in all, it’s a good read and I would recommend it.

I’d give The Glass Word four+ stars.