Children of the Black Glass (series review), by Anthony Peckham

 

A while back, unexpected and unasked for, a review copy of The Law of Solitude, the third book in Anthony Peckham's Children of the Black Glass trilogy (July 28, 2026, Athenaeum) arrived at my house.  I'd been curious about the series, and so I procured the first two books.  Some time elapsed while travails, both at work and home, consumed my attention, but at last I started book 1 (Children of the Black Glass).  And I started looking forward even more than usual to bedtime, and the reading of them, and this continued with books 2 (Winter's Fire) and the third one.  It was really Good Reading, surprising me a bit by how much I was enjoying it, as the writing and characterization were workmanlike, but not much more..I was sad when there was no more to read, though my cat, for whom bedtime means snuggling, was pleased.

It's the story of two kids from an isolated mountain community, who break the rules and leave alone for the trading city of Halfway, where they have never been, to seek help for their father, blinded mining the black glass that is the sole source of funds for their village.  Halfway overwhelms them, and is a city in turmoil.  There is a power struggle among the ruling sorceries, and desert mercenaries prowl the streets.  Tense and difficult and dangerous as the first book is, things get more so in the next two books, with brutality and trauma piling up fast for the kids and the friends they have made.

The Black Glass children are both special, as one expects in a middle grade fantasy, but this comes with many challenges, and is all part of the wild rush of things happening.  Me being me, my favorite part of the series is the start of book 2, when the kids have returned home and there's a lot of community and domestic reorganizing.  This does not last, as they have to return to Halfway for unfinished business and things get tense again.  

I would read more if more existed, though I don't think I'll need to read the series again soon, and I can wholeheartedly recommend it as an offering to young readers of fantasy.  For this audience, this story of magical kids in great danger with high emotional stakes, finding found family, making peace with their own family and community, and coming up on top of their enemies, should be a great fit.