Children of the Black Glass – serie

Howl’s Moving Castle meets Neil Gaiman in this “dark and flinty” (Booklist) middle grade fantasy, set in a world as mesmerizing as it is menacing, following children on a quest to save their father who get embroiled in the sinister agendas of rival sorcerers.In an unkind alternate past, somewhere between the Stone Age and a Metal Age, Tell and his sister Wren live in a small mountain village that makes its living off black glass mines and runs on brutal laws. When their father is blinded in a mining accident, the law dictates he has thirty days to regain his sight and be capable of working at the same level as before or be put to death.Faced with this dire future, Tell and Wren make the forbidden treacherous journey to the legendary city of Halfway, halfway down the mountain, to trade their father’s haul of the valuable black glass for the medicine to cure him. The city, ruled by five powerful female sorcerers, at first dazzles the siblings. But beneath Halfway’s glittery surface seethes ambition, violence, prejudice, blackmail, and impending chaos.Without knowing it, Tell and Wren have walked straight into a sorcerers’ coup. Over the next twelve days, they must scramble first to save themselves, then their new friends, as allegiances shift and prejudices crack open to show who has true power.

Tell and Wren flee Halfway only to face their village’s wrath in this second book in the middle grade fantasy series that’s Howl’s Moving Castle meets Christopher Paolini!Siblings Tell and Wren barely escaped the treacherous city of Halfway with their lives, two new friends, and an unconscious sorcerer. With a massive bounty on their heads if they ever return, Tell and Wren have no choice but to return to their village…despite the punishment surely awaiting them for venturing outside their icy mountain home. But treacherous power plays brew amongst the Villagers, and our heroes once again find themselves in the middle of a civil war, one that takes an almost deadly toll on the siblings. It also reveals an astonishing secret about Wren: she has magic, powerful magic. This startling revelation, combined with disturbing dreams that plague Rumi, drag the four back into Halfway, the very place they’re forbidden from entering upon penalty of death.

Tell and Wren face a wraitha sorcerer gone roguein this third and final book in the Children of the Black Glass middle grade fantasy series that's Howl's Moving Castle meets Christopher Paolini!Now a captive in Desert's house, Wren learns the evil sorcerer has melded herself into a human body to become a wraith. Wielding even more power, more strength, and more magic than ever before, Desert's still not satisfiednot until she consumes Wren's too. Tell will stop at nothing to save his sister, and while he lacks magic himself, he discovers one of their friends has mystical powers and is as determined as Tell is to save Wrenthe girl who once saved him. Separated for the first time, Tell and Wren are both left to rely on their quick wits, mountain training, and allies old and new to vanquish Desert once and for all. As desperate sorcerers prepare to battle the twisted wraith, they know losing would mean losing the city of Halfwayand each other.