Glass Sword by Victoria Aveyard (Harper Teen, 2016) is the second installment of the New York Times bestselling Red Queen YA fantasy series and follows a group of fugitives and rebels as they work to build an army to take on the powerful ruling class. Glass Sword follows Red Queen and is the prequel to King’s Cage. Aveyard grew up in western Massachusetts before moving to Los Angeles, California where she received her degree in screenwriting from the University of Southern California. She writes science fiction and fantasy for young adult audiences, including the Red Queen and the Realm Breaker series (2021-ongoing). This guide follows the 2016 Harper Teen version of Glass Sword.

Content Warning: The source material contains potentially disturbing and graphic depictions of death and violence.

Plot Summary

Glass Sword opens moments after the end of Red Queen, which concluded with Prince Maven and the queen using Mare Barrow and Prince Cal as scapegoats to take over the kingdom. Following an arena battle-style execution, Mare and Cal were rescued by the Scarlet Guard rebel group and now rush toward safety. Mare has just learned that her brother Shade is alive, and she’s been reunited with her best friend, Kilorn. When the underground train reaches its destination, the group emerges topside into a Silver attack. Using their abilities, Cal and Mare clear a path through the attackers and join the Scarlet Guard in a submarine that brings them to an island base. There, Cal is taken prisoner, and Mare learns that Diana Farley, a guard captain, has been stripped of her rank by the Colonel, a ranking official who doesn’t trust either Silvers or Reds with powers (called newbloods).

When Mare also is taken prisoner, Kilorn, Farley, and Shade break her and Cal free before stealing an airship and escaping the island. Though none of the group fully trusts Cal, they know they need him both as a pilot and tactician, and they set out to find the newbloods on a list compiled by a Silver who betrayed the queen and Prince Maven. As they recruit newbloods to the rebellion, Mare’s group also finds many have been killed by Maven or just gone missing. Mare finds notes from Maven near newblood corpses, and though she knows she shouldn’t care about him, she keeps the notes because they remind her of the boy she thought Maven was. At the new training facility the group developed, nightmares plague Mare and Cal, who start sharing a bed for comfort.

On one recruiting mission, the group meets a newblood named Jon, who can see the future. He advises the group that the Silver who gave Mare the newblood list is alive but scheduled to be killed, and he gives them directions to something that will help them infiltrate the special prison where Maven has imprisoned Silvers and newbloods alike. The “something” is a young newblood girl named Cameron Cole, who has the ability to silence other Silver and newblood powers. Cameron escaped from the prison, and though she wants nothing to do with Mare’s rescue mission or rebellion, Mare forces Cameron to help by promising to rescue her brother from the legion of child soldiers being sent into battle soon.

On the day of the prison break, a shapeshifting newblood disguises herself as Maven to get the group past security, where they easily eliminate groups of Silvers to get to the cells. They set as many prisoners free as they can, including the Silver—whom Mare went to find—before the queen arrives and tries to control the attackers with her mind-control power. Shade teleports Mare and others outside, where a knife meant for Mare kills him. Grief-stricken and enraged, Mare uses her lightning to fry the queen and takes her corpse, which she uses in a broadcast to discredit Maven.

Having promised to rescue Cameron’s brother, Mare and Cal lead a contingent of soldiers toward the frontlines, but their airship is shot out of the sky before they get there. As Silvers manipulate the airship’s metal into a cage for Cal and the others, Mare breaks free to come face-to-face with Maven. Knowing he’ll kill them all, Mare offers a deal—she’ll be his prisoner if he lets the others live. As her friends protest, Maven accepts, and Mare ends the book shackled and collared at Maven’s side.