Thornlost

February 17, 2014
Rawn follows Touchstone and Elsewhens with an immersive, satisfying, and creative third tale of magical Renaissance theater. Cayden Silversun is the tregetour (wizard playwright) of the controversial and creative Touchstone theater company. For better and worse, the company has attracted the attention of powerful nobles, as well as rival troupes. Plots and schemes abound, from an archduke and an unpleasant theater troupe using magic to spread intolerance to a foreign princess trying to advance the rights of women, but in a smart move, Rawn makes the most important conflict of the story far more simple and personal: Cade is desperate to save his best friend, Mieka, the troupe’s illusionist, from a prophesied future of total self-destruction. Rawn’s characters are so intimately involved with their world that their new innovations in illusion seem as natural and exciting as the intrigues they’re swept up in. Despite looming issues of class differences, bigotry, and addiction, at heart, the Touchstone players just want to stay together and make great art. Agent: Russ Galen, Scovil Galen Ghosh.

March 1, 2014
Third in the fantasy series (Elsewhens, 2013, etc.) about a magical theater company in a sort-of Elizabethan setting. The theater troupe, Touchstone, consists of part elf and part wizard Cayden Silversun, the "tregetour" or playwright/director, who imbues the performance with the necessary magic; elf Mieka Windthistle, the "glisker," who uses his magic to make everything come alive; Jeska, the "masker," who plays all the parts; and Rafe, the "fettler," who controls the performance on stage. Cade's dark secret is that he foresees possible futures, or "Elsewhens," and has the ability to make them come true or turn them aside. In an unguarded moment, he tells Mieka; Mieka tells his witch-wife, who tells others, and now sinister forces are plotting. Rawn scatters many hints, but it's never clear exactly what's going on, though a rival troupe named Black Lightning seems bent on stirring up hatred among the many races in this world. Some audiences consist of only a handful of patrons, evidently emotional vampires. Elsewhere, women start to insert themselves into the hitherto all-male audiences, and some display the ability to become troupe members--developments strenuously resisted by society's conservative elements. The mysterious Archduke Cyed Henick hatches plots in the background. Details of dress, manners and protocol abound. More problematic are the characters. The Touchstones behave like drunken frat-boy pranksters, complete with irritatingly apposite dialogue and humor. Cade's pretentious mother supplies the nuisance factor. Series fans will, presumably, wriggle in and keep reading, though few others will bother.

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March 1, 2014
In this third book of the Glass Thorns series, the author continues to build the story of Touchstone, a troupe of theater actors. This is no ordinary troupe, as each member needs to be able to handle special forms of magic, which enables the audience to be completely enthralled by the play through all their senses. Cade, the tregetour, is both a playwright and a magicwielder, a mix of human wizard, elf, and fae. Because of his heritage, he is also able to see glimpses of possible futures of those around him, a dangerous but sometimes useful ability. Cade sees glimpses of dark schemes that are being played out in the Royal Court. In a world where almost no one can claim to have pure blood, a rival theater group is presenting plays that make nonhumans feel less than equal. The story is a fascinating look at the power that theater, and the entertainment industry in general, can have on society as a whole and explores the idea that not all plays are performed on a stage for public consumption.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2014, American Library Association.)