The Glass God (Urban Fantasy)

In The Glass God, the latest novel in the Magicals Anonymous Series by Kate Griffin, Sharon Lu, consummate magical community social worker, and the Magical Anonymous Support Group must again save London from potential death and doom. Matthew Swift, the Midnight Mayor, is missing. He seems to suspect that something bad is about to happen. He tells Kelley, his amazing personal assistant, that if anything happens to him, Sharon should be made Deputy Midnight Mayor, given an umbrella that he found, and, of course, given donuts. Becoming deputy mayor is a major undertaking for a young shaman in training, but Sharon and her faithful assistant and druid Rhys rise to the task. They discover that Old Man Bones is about to unleash the plague on The City because someone is stealing his sacrifices. In addition, the very office of the Midnight Mayor is at stake, because Matthew is neither dead nor alive. If he were dead, someone else would have the mark of the Midnight Mayor appear on their hand and take over the role to protect London from magical harm. If he were alive, he could fight the forces of evil or, suggests an Alderman, be killed so that another person could take his place. An upcoming group suggests that the Midnight Mayor and Old Man Bones are old magic and a new god should take over control of the magic of London. Can Sharon, Magicals Anonymous, and the Aldermen work together to save London?

While The Glass Gods is so, so much more amusing than the novels in the Matthew Swift Series, it does contain scenes of horror and moral dilemma. While Sharon and Kelley are sometimes portrayed as somewhat fluffy characters, their dark sides definitely come out in this novel. They both continue to grow. Whether Griffin meant to do it intentionally or it is a flaw in the novel, at times there is overlap in the characters of Sharon and Kelley.  In a few spots I couldn’t tell them apart. For most of the novel, they are very different characters.

The Glass God is lots of fun, and I missed it when I was done reading. Griffin sees to hint at events to come, so I am curious how the storylines will play out.