Shards of Glass – Michelle Sagara

This book is a spinoff from the author’s Chronicles of Elantra - especially from the recent book in which an ancient academy was resurrected. The academy is now functioning, and is taking modern students - and someone or something has started killing students.

The author is taking a chance. Each Cast-in-Whatever novel has a mystery or crisis that gives the plot its form, but those novels are carried by the viewpoint character, private (now corporal!) Kaylin Neya, fantasy-equivalent-of-police-detective in a multi-species city. Kaylin does not appear in Shards of Glass.

The viewpoint character in Shards of Glass is Robin, an enthusiastic young student who wishes to recruit his odd friend, Raven, as a student. It is Robin who is the viewpoint character in this book - and it is Raven who carries the novel. She has an almost-complete disinterest in social expectations, and focuses on what matters to her. As it develops, what matters to her is keeping Robin safe - and she brings surprising skills to the task.