Title: Healing Glass
Author: Jackie Keswick
Genre: Fantasy
LGBTQ+ Category: Bi/Gay
Publisher: Self
Pages: 282
Reviewer: Maryann Kafka
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About The Book
A dying city.
An ancient, forgotten accord.
And two gifted men caught in a web of greed and dark magic.
Despite belonging to different guilds, glass master Minel and warrior captain Falcon are friends. Their duties keep them apart, but when Minel falls ill and chooses death rather than the only known cure, nothing can keep Falcon from his side.
As their friendship grows into more, old wrongs and one man’s machinations threaten the floating city and leave both Minel and Falcon fighting for their lives. Can they learn to combine their gifts to save the city and its magic, or will everything they know and love perish before their eyes?
Healing Glass is an LGBT fantasy adventure love story with its head in the clouds. If you like medieval backdrops, impressive world-building, three-dimensional characters and a touch of magic, then you’ll love Jackie Keswick’s socially-conscious adventure.
The Review
Minel is the Glass Master with healing powers and lives in the Floating Glass City. He now has lung evil disease and because of his fear of the pairbounding or bonding he has chosen to die. Minel fears the pairbounding rule because he knows he will be abused and loose his freedom. When the floating city fabric starts to fail Minel is the only one that can repair it. But his most exquisite glass works are ones he creates from his imagination.
Warrior, Captain Falcon, is Minel’s long time friend. When Master Dorian of the Warrior Guild advises Falcon that his dear friend Minel is ill with lung evil, he’s off to the Floating City. He finds that not only is Minel fading away but he’s being pressured by Councillor Wart of the city council to become pairbound or bonded so he can continue to survive.
When ultimatums are placed in Minel’s path, he has no choice but to leave the floating city with Falcon. But leaving doesn’t solve any problems. Minel and Falcon are faced with terror and the mystery of Floating City.
This was another amazing story from Jackie Keswick. It has everything: action, excitement, betrayal, evil, corruption, magic, friendship and love. There’s many aspects of this story that will take some time to absorb. The world building and descriptions are vivid and will have you giving deep thought to this magical fantasy. The novel also presents different views in the politics of the guilds: Craft Guild, Warrior Guild, and Merchant Guild.
The shyness of Minel and the transparent support of Falcon make for two marvelous characters. This also becomes a new experience and adjustment for Minel. There’s also a host of secondary characters that make this story interesting: Salia, Dorian, Kare, Kane, Reinand Javier. The story is not complete without the evil presence of Wart and others.
Jackie Keswick did not disappoint! Hoping for a second installment with more about Javier and Rein.
The Reviewer
Hi, I’m Maryann, I started life in New York, moved to New Hampshire and in 1965 uprooted again to Sacramento, California. Once I retired I moved to West Palm Beach, Florida in 2011 and just moved back to Sacramento in March of 2018.
My son, his wife and step-daughter flew out to Florida and we road tripped back so they got to see sights they have never seen. New Orleans and the Grand Canyon were the highlights. Now I am back on the west coast again to stay!
From a young age Ialways liked to read. I remember going to the library and reading the “Doctor Dolittle” books by Hugh Lofting. Much later on became a big fan of the classics, Edgar Alan Poe, Mary Shelley, Bram Stoker and as time went by Agatha Christie, Ray Bradbury and Stephen Kingand many other authors.
My first M/M shifter book I read was written by Jan Irving the “Uncommon Cowboys” series from 2012. She was the first author I ever contacted and sent an email to letting her know how much I liked this series. Sometime along the way I read “Zero to the Bone”by Jane Seville, I think just about everyone has read this book! As it stands right now I’m really into mysteries, grit, gore and “triggers” don’t bother me. But if a blurb peaks my interest I will read the book.
My kindle collection eclectic and over three thousand books and my Audible collection is slowly growing. I have both the kindle and audible apps on my ipod, ipads, and MAC. So there is never an excuse not to be listening or reading. I joined Goodreads around 2012 and started posting reviews.
One day a wonderful lady, Lisa Horan of The Novel Approach, sent me an email to see if I wanted to join her review group. Joining her site was such an eye opener. I got introduce to so many new authors that write for the LGBTQ genre. Needless to say, it was heart breaking when it ended.
But I found a really great site, QRI and it’s right here in Sacramento. Last year at QSAC I actually got to meet Scott Coatsworth, Amy Lane and Jeff Adams.