Book Report
The Glass Report is a book report written by Brandon Lachmann, about The Forest of Darkening Glass. It was used to solve Fragment Four.
Description
The Glass Report was written by Brandon Lachmann, for his teacher, Mr. Ashwood’s class. The report discusses the choose-your-own-adventure book, The Forest of Darkening Glass, which tells the story of Sam Larkfield and his dog Brin as they attempt to find a rare flower for Sam’s mother. The report itself was given a failing grade by Mr. Ashwood, who considered choose-your-own-adventure books to be of a low literary standard.
History
The Glass Report was the final key in solving Fragment Four. During one of the first audio files sent by The Devoted, Brandon told listeners to find the Glass Report. During the clocks puzzle, an older Brandon told listeners to find the Glass Report and “mind the times.” The Glass Report was finally found in the New York Library and included a handwritten note that led to part of Sacha’s private journal. From there, the journal led to a quiz about the Forest of Darkening Glass, which redirected to the fourth fragment, Siren’s Lace.
The Report
The Forest of Darkening Glass
A book report by Brandon LachmannThe Forest of Darkening Glass is an adventure where you get to choose where the people in the story go and what they do. It is the first of this type of book that I’ve read and I loved it. I like the way I could control the character in the book and help them make the right decisions. Not all the decisions I made ended up being good for the characters, but in the end the story was exciting.
The story is about a boy called Sam Larkfield. Sam leaves home in the early morning to find a rare flower for his mother. He has to travel to see Doyle the woodcutter, who lives in a cabin in the middle of the forest. Because it’s a long journey Sam takes his dog Brin for company and for protection. We don’t find out that much about the dog at first, like what kind of dog he is, but he becomes much more important as the book goes on. Sam gets through the forest cobbleways and the first path Sam takes is called the Kings Cobbleway. This path takes him to The Lovers Cradle which is a fallen tree which looks like a couple hugging. There is a strange part here with a magpie that squawks at him when he touches the tree. He doesn’t really stay there for very long as he has to get to Doyle’s cabin and back before it gets dark.
Further along the cobbleways, Sam and Brin hear a cry for help. This was where I was given my first big choice. I could decide to let Sam continue or to let him see what the cry was. I decided to let Sam investigate. This took me to a section where Sam rescues a man called Trevis, who is hunting a big cat in the woods. They talk for a bit and then Sam is given a gift as a thank you, before they both go on their way.
At lunchtime they reach the bridge, which is the farthest Sam has ever been into the woods. The bridge is owned by a wildman who wants payment to cross. Sam has to give up his lunch, but even that isn’t enough, so I chose for Sam to catch fish to pay for the crossing. I really liked this section of the book. I liked how the bridge was confusing and how the Wildman on the bridge called Wennof has a brother called Fennow and they fight over who owns the bridge.
Once on the other side of the bridge the path goes in different directions. I sent Sam to an orchard and a place called Lilly pond before going to Doyle’s Cabin. On the way a magpie came back and told Sam there was danger ahead. The magpies can speak to Sam and he understands them clearly as the forest has magical creatures in it. I really liked this. It would be great to speak to birds and animals. I often wonder what my dog Charlie is thinking about and it would be useful if he could tell me instead of just barking all the time.
At the cabin, Doyle wasn’t there. Brin started barking but Sam couldn’t see why. They find the flower they need in a walled garden and carefully take it home. The flower is made of fire and it has to be put in a special jar. Sam has been given a special cutting device and gloves to make sure he doesn’t hurt himself when handling the plant.
On the way home Sam meets Angie, who is made of leaves. She is called a Leafer. She tricks Sam and with the help of her friends steals the flower and kidnaps Brin. They are a gang called the Faered. They tie Sam up and leave, but luckily Sam is rescued by the magpies. Sam goes back to the cabin and this time, after searching around, he finds Doyle. Doyle promises to help and tells Sam to go home.
But Sam decides to go find Brin instead. I could understand why he did this. I love my dog, and if we were in a forest like this one, I would definitely go and look for him before I had to go home. When Sam gets back to the bridge he finds that a troll is smashing everything, so instead he goes back into the forest, but this time following the river. Eventually he finds a hill that is on top of the river. When he climbs it he finds a telescope and he sees where the Faered were going. A place called Faerhenge. He decides to follow them.
When he gets there it is night time. Sam creeps into the henge and tries to free Brin, but he makes a noise and the Leafers send him to sleep. In the morning Angie tells Sam he has to get something for her because he broke it trying to rescue Brin. Angie makes her friend Phern go with him. It is clear that Angie doesn’t trust Sam. I liked the Faered in the book. It was great the way they were like fairies but sort of bad and a little dangerous.
They have to go to the Chellicery, where all the spiders live. This made me a little nervous as I’m not a big fan of spiders. But before they go there though they need a gift so that the spiders are friendly. Phern takes Sam to meet Rose who has a shop in the woods. They don’t have any money so Rose takes something from Sam (I don’t want to say what it is because it’s a big surprise.) Rose likes Sam so she also gives him a special present which will summon the Spirit of the Forest if he needs help.
Sam and Phern then go to the Chellicery, which is under a big hill. Phern is scared and she folds herself flat to hide on Sam. The Chellicery looks very scary as they approach, but when they get inside it’s actually really pretty.
A spider called Accord bungee jumps them up to a big web where they meet the chief called Six Legs because he has six legs instead of eight. There isn’t an explanation of how he lost the other legs, but maybe that will happen in a later book. Sam asks for Angie’s ingredient, but Six Legs gets suspicious. He locks Sam away in his house, which is stuck to the roof of the cave. Phern helps Sam to escape with the ingredient they need.
When they get back to Faerhenge, Angie casts her spell, but the spell goes wrong. Because of this, Angie makes all the trees in the forest sick and they get covered in amber glass. This is where the book gets its name as the amber makes the glass look dark and menacing. Then Sam remembers his gift from Rose. He uses it to summon the Spirit of the Forest for help. She appears before them all and she cures the trees. Sam frees Brin while the Spirit sorts out Angie. But then just when everything seems to be alright something huge happens! I don’t want to spoil it as it really is cool.
Will Sam and Brin escape? You have to choose! I’d never read anything like this before and I can’t wait to read the next installments. I think it is a great way to tell a story by deciding which way you want the people to go. I like the idea of being able to change what happens. I am going to read it again and change some of my choices to see if it’s much different.
In addition to Brandon’s report, the paper also contains a note from Mr. Ashwood, saying “Incomplete. See me after class.” and a note from Sacha, stating, “Brandon, I loved the report AND the book! Mr. Ashwood has ZERO clue what he’s talking about. None! Can’t wait to hang out today. Oh! I’m locking my brother out of my room forever, so remember, the secret word when you come over today is ‘beastmage.’ xo, Sacha.”