My Experience with Valour and Vanity by Mary Robinette Kowal

The Glamourist Histories has been a fantastic experience. Mary Robinette Kowal has consistently delivered a Historical Fantasy series that’s an absolute joy to read. But when I dived into the fourth and penultimate entry, Valour and Vanity, I was surprised with a shift in gear with the storytelling.

After the wedding of Jane’s sister, she and Vincent travel to Murano with the intent to test their theories about glamour within glass. Their plans are dashed when they are attacked by pirates just before they can reach port. Without their funds, they find themselves relying on the charity of one of the passengers until they can establish contact with their accounts abroad. But something was not quite right about the attack, and they may be involved in a much bigger conspiracy.

The official description itself claims that this book might be what you’d read if Jane Austen wrote a story like Oceans Eleven, and I find that to be an apt description. While there is still a strong element of character conflict that was often the driving force of most of the previous three novels, the external plot is really highlighted here, bringing a balance that agrees with my personal preferences a bit better than before.

There also seems to be a lot less focus on social issues as I’ve come to expect from an MRK novel. While I like that element, the novel didn’t feel less complete for it. It did, however, feel different in what drove the plot and my interest in reading it. This may have resulted in a bit of a pacing slump in the first half of the second act because for a moment there, I couldn’t place what direction Kowal was taking. Because I didn’t read the novel’s description before starting the book, I had no idea that was going to turn into a bit of a heist novel.

I also loved the exploration of the magic system. Before starting the book, I felt like I understood how glamour works and what it can do, but this story added a few more layers to that understanding, allowing the heist story to function even better than it could have if this kind of story had been attempted during the first novel.

In all, Valour and Vanity is certainly a read-worthly addition to the Glamourist Histories, and I’m a little sad that the next book will be the last.