Follow the stories of Sera and Cettie in Storm Glass the first book in the new series The Harbinger by Jeff Wheeler. A world of opposites in which they both are trying to break free of the rules.

Books like Storm Glass are exactly why I continue to read Fantasy novels.

Imagine a sky full of floating islands and ships! The writing was so beautiful and full of imagination that it was easy for me to picture the story in my head.

A great Book 1 that has me wanting to pick up Book 2!

I don’t feel like writing a full review. It had its moments but I wasn’t invested in any of the characters. I may continue the series because I have KU and I definitely want to watch the antagonists lose.

I love this series and cannot wait till the next book. It is written well and is very entertaining.. I love the character stories and how it always seems to be leading to something bigger. I also love the connection to the his other series of books.

The first book in the new Harbinger series, written by Jeff Wheeler, one of my favorite authors and an unrivaled Master of Words. With many similarities to the era of the English Regency, Storm Glass reminds me a lot of the works of Charles Dickens and Jane Austen, with abysmal differences between social classes and the typical vices and virtues of the characters of the literature of the time.
An excellent book, with the quality we expect and know in a work by Mr. Wheeler.

Whew! Whew! This book really surprised me. The main two girls POV we get are so well done. The economic and social lessons are brilliant. The plot is fast and interesting. I would love to see this picked up by a major publisher so it isn’t restricted to Kindle. Because of the kindle only format, I had to read this book on my phone instead of my e-reader. However it’s a testament to how well done it is that I didn’t mind reading on my phone one bit.

World Building
Normally what Jeff Wheeler has done to simplify any complex world building that might be needed would bug me. For some reason in this structure and with our younger lead gals I didn't mind that the answer to everything supernatural, unknown or unexplained (ie: floating islands, floating buildings, etc.) being:
"Of course, it was all explained by the Mysteries, which meant it wasn’t to be explained at all.”
I mean could you leave yourself any more room to be vague and have things just magically happen? I dunno if it's because of our younger lead characters, or just because Wheeler convinced me, but I didn't hate this explanation. Also perhaps I tolerate this answer because there is promise that the Mysteries are explained to those who pass certain educational milestones and that our lead gals might each get there. Which just makes me want to keep reading the books in this series! So maybe Wheeler is just clever and knew how to hook me in.

Lead Girls
The two point of views (first person) that we get in Storm Glass are from two younger girls (I think they were 10-12). One whom is very privileged and one who has come from the dirt of nothing up to privilege in the blink of an eye. At first I wanted more of the poorer girl's story from before she was 'saved'. But as time went by I realized that Wheeler was telling those stories in small snippets as our poorer gal experiences the grandeur of the privileged society she is thinking the stories of her past; which we then experience. Both girls are relatable and likeable in their own ways.
Each chapter with their POV tended to go on fairly long and everytime I didn't want to leave that girl's POV; until I got a couple pages in to the next POV and felt the same again. Wheeler has very compelling writing.

Genre Novel
For sure Wheeler has given us the beginning of the series (called Harbinger) that is fairly genre typical. We have some characters who differ, a fantasy world, socio-economics, and the ever endearing politics of said world. Then we have the fantastical Mysteries, some shady folks, and some really fun locations to visit. Storm Glass felt like a book I'd read a thousand times and would love to read a thousand times more. It was comfortable and felt like it fit in my brain nicely not unlike: LOTR, Shannara, WoT, and other (slightly older) fantasy does. For this reason some may find it 'dated' in its style. But for this girl, who was born in 1983 and read GoT at 16, it felt perfect.

Overall
The biggest downfall to this book is that I can't get it on my Kobo as it's Kindle only. Seriously TOR or Orbit need to jump on this series like now!
I am however going to order myself the series in paperback so I can enjoy it in all it's printed glory. I'm very happy to have found a unique but comfortable series to fall into.

Please note: I received an eARC of this book from the publisher via NetGalley. This is an honest and unbiased review.

While on paper this book should absolutely have worked for me, something about it just left me cold. It's hard to say what it is - potentially the pace, because this is a book that takes it's time in setting the scene (I gather it's a series, so that makes sense). Whatever it was, I was extremely disappointed to only just make it through this book - after all, the setting is gorgeous, the characters felt like actual people, and the idea itself was just phenomenal.
It's still a solid three star book, because of just how good those elements are, but a real struggle for me to read. I'll try the next in the series on audiobook - if that doesn't work, then unfortunately it'll be goodbye from me.

I have to say I could not finish this one. I tought it was very complicated and hard to get into. On the positive side, the writing was beautiful, I liked how it was written, but i just could not get into the story, i got confused everytime I was readiing it

This is a good start to a series. I can't wait to read more from this author. I really love the concept of the floating islands as well.

Cettie Pratt is an orphan from the world below. Fells - the world of smelters, glass makers, linen weavers, factories that made sugar and hacked animals, everything that was necessary to provide to the sky manners. Only a lucky few got to work in the floating manors for the wealthiest people of this world. The rest had to manage in any way possible to survive. And that was what Cettie had always dreamt about.

Cettie and her friend Joses were the kids whose deeds had been passed from family to family, from guardian to guardian, with the last being Miss Charlotte, «but they were all the same – they made the children they took in work, and they punished them. » The food, the clothes, everything the children needed they learned to obtain themselves.

In the Fells you had to learn quickly how to take care of yourself.

Besides the evil guardians and unhappy people of the Fells, there were also ghosts to deal with, and Cettie was the only one who could see them.

Seraphin Fitzempress was the only child in the whole empire who never dreamt of becoming a princess. But it so happened that she was a princess, whether she wanted it or not. Lonely in her big manor, with the only governess as her companion, Sera daydreamt about being a commoner. About leaving the manor, meeting new people and experiencing everything her tutors tried to teach her about. But the City below was forbidden.

It would seem like these two girls, living on the complete opposite spectrum of the empire, were never bound to meet. However, the fate decided differently and their paths would cross at some point.

The 1st book in this magical series, «Storm Glass» marks the beginning of political games, magic school, Mysteries and friendships to be revealed in the following installments.

Storm Glass is the newest book by Jeff Wheeler and starts a new series- Harbringer. The series is tied to both the Muirwood and the Kingfountain series however neither is required reading before starting this series.

I have actually had this book for awhile and waited as long as i could before starting it. As with the Kingfountain series, I had a hunch that the minute i started it, i would need to finish the entire series immediately. Luckily, Wheeler is not like other Fantasy writers (I am looking at you George R.R. Martin and Patrick Rothfuss), he actually finished a series in reasonable amounts of time.

Storm Glass is told from two perspectives- Cettie of the Fells (or Cettie Saeed) and Sera Fitzempress. The two have as polar opposite of upbringings as possible yet both have paths destined to collide. As with Kingfountain, Wheeler starts the story when they are children and given the descriptions of the future books, we will grow up with them. I like that, it makes you feel more invested in their growth and lives.

I cannot wait to finish the rest of the series. I highly recommend this book and Jeff Wheeler books in general.

Storm Glass centers on a world where the rich and the poor are divided – the rich live their lives on floating manors in the clouds, which are held aloft by the Mysteries; the poor live below, often in squalor, as they are too poor to learn these Mysteries and thus unable to benefit from them. The story centers around two girls: Cettie Pratt, who lived down below until she was rescued by an admiral from the clouds, and Sera Fitzempress, a princess and in line to rule. We follow the stories of both girls – who were around twelve years old throughout most of the novel – waiting for their stories to coalesce.

I felt that the most interesting part of this story was waiting to see how Cettie’s and Sera’s stories were going to come together. Other than that, I felt that it was a slow start to the series, and as such, wasn’t a strong start. I get that there was a lot of world-building that needed to happen before getting into the meat of the story, but the story felt bogged down by it. I did like the characters of both Cettie and Sera – they were innocent and pure – but at they same time, they felt too tame. The trials and tribulations they faced felt like they were wrapped up much too quickly and too neatly. The whole story just felt too tame…

All-in-all, not a bad start to a series. I will definitely keep reading to see where it goes, but I don’t see it getting added to any of my top reads for the year.

Thank you to NetGalley and 47North for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Many thanks to Jeff Wheeler, 47 North, and Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for my unbiased review. Jeff Wheeler is the father of clean fantasy. I love his Kingfountain series. So when I saw he was created a new world I jumped at the chance to read about it. This one is set above the clouds. And on the dirty ground. Guess who's rich and in power? We find an orphan, Cettie, with an ability to sense ghosts rescued by a brilliant politician, Fitzroy, who takes her home and prepares to adopt her as part of his family. I found the cloud city fascinating, especially when people went bankrupt. There was a symbiotic relationship between the two levels. One could not exist fully without the other. And I was intrigued by the spirit world and how it's controlled. I want to learn more about that. Really I just want to read this entire series. This is a fantastic start!

Thank you to netgalley I received this as an ARC. I enjoyed it very much was good solid read. Solid 4.5 Stars for me! Great start to a new series.

Storm Glass is the first novel is the Harbinger series, a planned five book series, and I really enjoyed it. The author has mentioned in some of his posts that he tried to create a more Dickensian world in this novel, and I think he has succeeded quite well. What you have are the incredibly wealthy living on these suspended cities using some type of magic called the 'mysteries', while the rest of the population live in "The Fells', cities felled by incredible pollution and disease whereby most children don't survive to adulthood. The entire world-building was quite incredible and I enjoyed it tremendously.

I am very familiar with Jeff Wheeler's work and he is very fastidious when it comes to world-building, often leaving the development of his characters and story until later books. That's not to say there isn't any development in the first books of his series, it just doesn't seem to be a priority and I am okay with that as the world development is so great. What you get are bits and pieces at a time and it is up to you to put them all together and that is something that I really like. I can't stand it when an author goes on and on about stuff as if you can't figure things out on your own. That being said, having read the Covenant of Muirwood series helped as well as I was familiar with certain things that I think readers who have not read those books might struggle with a bit.

The story is told in alternating story lines, one from Sera's and one from Cettie's. I liked both of these characters, for different reasons, but I really loved their independence and their spunk. Even though oth of these girls had difficulties in their lives, they kept plugging on and kept fighting. Sera, the heir to the throne, struggled against a jealous father who wanted to be the only heir to the throne and saw Sera as a threat, keeping her a prisoner. Cettie, raised in 'The Fells' and brought to the sky to live with an admiral's family, lived in constant fear of being sent back through no fault of her own. Although these girls do not actually meet in this story, you know they eventually will, and the how and why was its own anticipation.

Even though the character development was not overly strong, there was enough there to get a good sense of them; there was a great variety and I liked all of them, even the quirky and odd ones. You even met a few odd ones for a few minutes knowing they will probably play greater roles in future books and I can't wait to see how some of those secondary plot lines will unfold. There was a lot of interesting subplots going on and you really had to pay attention to catch them all.

The author writes with a light, engaging manner that quickly draws you in; I pretty much read the whole book in one sitting. I've learned as I've read his books not to discount any trivial detail as it usually means something later on so I pay close attention to everything now.

Storm Glass is a great entry to a new series and I am so glad I had the chance to read this. The world-building was very interesting and I am so glad there is a connection to previous series. I enjoyed the characters and look forward to seeing how they develop and what they do. Another intricately woven book, and highly recommended!

This book follows two female main characters, Cettie and Sera. Cettie is from the Fells (slums) and Sera is a princess from the sky manors. The world is divided by the haves and have nots, mainly by the Mysteries, the magic system that is guarded by the rich. Cettie is unofficially adopted by a high-ranking man, but not all his family is too keen on the idea. Sera is more or less locked away in her mansion with controlling parents that don’t want her to know about the outside world. Both girls try to break free of the constructs that are set around them. I really enjoyed this book and the story. You can’t really help but root for both main characters, as they are both strong in their own right, but also know that they have weaknesses. A fun world, great characters and and interesting magic system – especially if you have read Wheeler’s Kingfountain series.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for giving me this book for review. This was a lovely fantasy story and I enjoyed it from beginning to end. I liked the two main characters of Cettie and Sara. They are both sweet girls and try to do the right thing. Though both girls have a similar set of morals, they were very distinct characters and I never go them confused.
I also really enjoyed the settings of the book. They were described in a beautiful way that helped me feel immersed in the book. I also felt like this book had great atmosphere to it. There were several very tense moments in the book where I was very worried for Cettie. The author did an excellent job of making me stick to the pages to find out what would happen next.
The main characters of this book are younger but here are some scary and tense moments so I would recommend this to older middle grade readers though I think that even those that are older could enjoy this story. I would recommend to fans for The Golden Compass and Chronicles of Narnia. I am looking forward to reading the next book in the series.

I was provided with an eARC of this on NetGalley in exchange for a fair review.
Having read and enjoyed Wheeler’s Kingfountain series, I was excited to delve into this new story. I was not to be disappointed! I loved the world built here; a Dickens-esque world with extreme class differences. The upper class is literally that; they reside on estates that float high above the squalor of the city, floating islands held up by Mysteries. The magic system is unique and has a steampunk vibe without the gears and gadgets. I loved both of our protagonists; Sera as the possible future ruler with parents who seem to resent her presence, and Cettie who came from the slums and found herself in a loving family. Both find the,selves faced with enemies and hardship. I CANNOT wait for the next book in the series!

Love this series. It has great fantasy elements and easy to follow along with the concepts the author wrote about without getting lost like in other books I've read. Cettie is a likable main character and Sera will be a wonderful leader if she succeeds in her attempt to be picked over her father. Can't wait to read book two!

Storm Glass was a cool fantasy novel that followed the lives of two young girls who came from very different parts of the fantasy world created in the book. Sera was a princess and lived on a floating manor in the sky and Cettie was practically homeless and living with the poor in the world down below.

The fantasy world created was quite fascinating. Although there are many modern inventions such as zephers, which are like flying spaceships, the time period seemed to emulate the 1800's with fancy dresses and balls, but also the poverty that you would expect in a Dicken's novel. There were also magical Mysteries that people studied, which added to the fantasy element.

The characters were interesting. I found them to be a bit younger than I typically read about. I read a lot of young adult novels, but in this story the two main characters were only 12 years old. I did find them interesting though. Cettie and Sera were both inquisitive young girls that had a lot of integrity. There were many injustices against the poor and rather than be a spoiled little girl, Sera, the princess, wanted to fight for the rights of the poor.

The plot was okay. It certainly wasn't predictable, at no point did I know where this book was going. But I expected a better plot, but the book was more about the world building then the events. I think the plot could have been more interesting and been done better. It was slow-moving and at times lost my interest. I did not see how the two girls stories were related for the majority of the novel.

It was full of very good world building and if it were to become a series I would be interested to see where it goes. As a stand alone it falls a little flat though. The plot could have been done much better, but the world building was so fascinating that I continued reading. This would not be at the top of my list for young adult fantasy, but I wouldn't count it out because the world building was so cool.