The Fortress of Glass: The First Volume of 'The Crown of the Isles' [Hardcover]

David Drake (Author)

Book Description

Series: Crown of the Isles | Publication Date: April 18, 2006

The Fortress of Glass is the first in the Crown of the Isles trilogy, which will conclude the epic Lord of the Isles series. A true trilogy, the action extends over the whole three-book arc. The Fortress of Glass begins the story of how the new kingdom of the Isles is finally brought into being by the group of heroes and heroines who have been central to all the books in the series. The group includes Prince Garric, heir to the throne of the Isles, his consort Liane, his sister Sharina, her herculean sweetheart Cashel, his sister Ilna, with her adopted child Merota and piratical Chalcus.

On giant triremes filled with soldiers and diplomats, they journey to the small kingdoms of the Isles to confirm the succession of Garric and to subdue, if necessary, any local rulers too fond of their own kingship to pledge fealty to Garric. All this is being done in a time when the powers of magic in the Isles have flooded to a thousand-year peak, and even local magicians can perform powerful spells normally beyond their control. Fantastic forces from all angles try to keep them apart and unable to continue the reunification of the Isles. So separately and together, they must fight their way back to the same time and place to combat the mysterious and supernatural menace of The Green Woman in her Fortress of Glass.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

At the start of Drake's solidly crafted fantasy, the first of a trilogy that will wrap up the author's Lord of the Isles series (Goddess of the Ice Realm, etc.), Prince Garric is voyaging far in an effort to bring all the Isles under his rule. After landing on a new shore, Garric finds the local king, Cervoran, dead and his heir, the youthful Prince Protas, in dire need of help against an outbreak of wizardry. Before Garric can act, more wizardry propels him to another world, where he enlists the aid of a strange creature called the Bird against the monstrous flesh-eating Coerli that terrorize this other world. When King Cervoran returns to life, Garric's sister, Sharina, and his consort, Liane, must try to settle the question of who rules in Garric's absence. Drake, whose world building has been weak in past books, makes the most of his setting based on the classical Mediterranean world, and he's no longer uncertain in his handling of female characters. (Apr.)
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From Booklist

Lord of the Isles, Drake's grand fantasy saga set in an adapted classical Mediterranean world, takes on new dimensions in the opening volume of a new trilogy that will bring down the curtain on the whole shebang. In trying to bring all the isles under his rule, Prince Garris lands with a fleet in a kingdom whose wizard king has just died. Unfortunately, the monarch's death doesn't end the wizardry, and Garris is snatched away to fight a whole new set of battles in another universe, while his companions have to decide who shall rule in his absence. Wizardry is definitely on the march. Heck, the wizard-king even comes back to life and discovers the secret of levitation, and opposing his side are arrayed various monsters and the Green Woman, who travels about to do mischief from her citadel, the Fortress of Glass. Drake possesses every skill necessary to make this story thoroughly absorbing, even to new readers. Those who have sailed with him through the preceding two Isles trilogies ought to eagerly demand it. Roland Green
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 384 pages
• Publisher: Tor Books; First Edition edition (April 18, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 076531259X
• ISBN-13: 978-0765312594
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.4 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,529,611 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

The Army took David Drake from Duke Law School and sent him on a motorized tour of Viet Nam and Cambodia with the 11th Cav, the Blackhorse. He learned new skills, saw interesting sights, and met exotic people who hadn't run fast enough to get away.

Dave returned to become Chapel Hill's Assistant Town Attorney and to try to put his life back together through fiction making sense of his Army experiences.

Dave describes war from where he saw it: the loader's hatch of a tank in Cambodia. His military experience, combined with his formal education in history and Latin, has made him one of the foremost writers of realistic action SF and fantasy. His bestselling Hammer's Slammers series is credited with creating the genre of modern Military SF. He often wishes he had a less interesting background.

Dave lives with his family in rural North Carolina.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars The Beginning of the End for Garric, Sharina, Ilna, Cashel & Co., May 30, 2006

By 

Chris Davies (Edmonton, AB) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Fortress of Glass: The First Volume of 'The Crown of the Isles' (Hardcover)

A couple of years ago, I'd been given a copy of Terry Brooks' newest book for Christmas, and my mother asked me if I liked the author's work. I answered, honestly, that I'd liked him better when he'd been writing novels, instead of trilogies.

And so it is with "The Fortress of Glass". I've enjoyed all of the books in "The Lord of the Isles" series -- admitttedly, some more than others -- but now Mr. Drake has decided to end the series with a trilogy. So where previous volumes have ended with the main action of the book largely resolved, this one ends with the characters still very much in a dangerous and complicated situation which will not be resolved until the next book comes out. Sometime next year, one presumes.

This in and of itself would not be so bad, except that "Fortress" is also a surprisingly weak offering in many ways. While all of the "Lord of the Isles" have had a certain formulaic quality to them, with -- for example -- the heroes always being split up and sent off only to reunite for the story's climax, this time there is an unpleasant repetition of events in "Mistress of the Catacombs", with Garric being sent off on a quest that takes him away from ruling the Isles in a time of crisis. And I'm probably going to have Sharina fans howling for my blood, but seeing her take his place just isn't very interesting -- she doesn't *do* anything. Then too, the two characters who are killed off in the book's climax were also killed in "Master of the Cauldron" (although that time they were brought back, which will probably not happen this time ...) which seriously diminishes the impact of that scene.

Given this weakness, maybe it's a good thing that Mr. Drake has decided to bring this series to an end ...

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Hard times for the Isles, March 28, 2006

By 

Clyde W. Howard (Nacogdoches, Texas) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Fortress of Glass: The First Volume of 'The Crown of the Isles' (Hardcover)

Well, things are getting (getting? they haven't been that way already?) really sticky for Prince Garric and his friends and supporters.

The saga of the Isles is winding up, with a true trilogy (to be known as The Crown of the Isles) of which this is book one. As has happened before, Garric and company are separated by wizardry, and face different problems as they go forward with their lives and efforts to save the Isles from Chaos - but instead of essentially resolving the problems presented in the adventure, being reunited at the climax of the book, and then having another one in the next book - they are brought back together, but not in the Isles, and with new problems to face as they have to deal with a new environment.

The book is complete in itself, and an excellent read (like all of Dave's material), but it cries for the next two books and a (I hope, i hope) a triumphant conclusion in which the Good Guys win and the Isles have a thousand years of peace and unity before the forces rise again (not that they will really have peace, or at least nothing but peace - after all, the isles are inhabited by people and Dave knows all too well that people seem to insist on breaking whatever peace they manage).

A good book, one anyone who has read the earlier books in the series will want for sure - and if you haven't already met and come to know and like and admire Garric, Ilna, Liane, and company, here is your chance to remedy that. Note - and I hope this ain't a spoiler - you will see some folks you like and care about fall out of the story in this book, but whether forever or not, I don't know. The next two books in the trilogy will tell that tale. And they aren't written yet (THE NEW LAND, Book Two is being written now).

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Very unusual story, but it got way too complicated, August 6, 2008

By 

Rantings Of a Girl (USA) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: The Fortress of Glass (Crown of the Isles, Book 1) (Mass Market Paperback)

Okay, this is an unusual book, the way it's written. The story is good, variety of characters yes, and it had my interest...up until about 3/4 of the way in. It seemed to have a theme of adding more complexity with each passing chapter..to the point where it got so complex (without serving a purpose), it started not to make sense anymore...or was no longer believable.
I prefer Robert Jordan, or Frank Herbert (Dune series), or Lord of the Rings series, or Lorna Freeman, or Greg Keyes (Briar King).