A Shadow on the Glass (The View from the Mirror, Book 1) (edition 2001)

Been a while since I've been through a long fiction fantasy novel and found this to be a brilliant epic. The story moves very slowly for my taste but the story is very detailed, well written and read perfectly. ( )

THREE WORLDS

This long story in four novels (it's not really a quartet) was originally published in Australia in 1998, and then in the UK during 2000/2001 and, more recently, in the US.

Australian SF and Fantasy is definitely on the rise at the moment, witness the recent publication stateside of some of Sara Douglass' books, so is this one any good?

There is no denying that there is a lot of fantasy on the market at the moment, a lot of it pretty simplistic and generic, some people like that stuff, unfortunately that seems to be where people are heading when they realise after seeing The Lord of the Rings that fantasy is actually a valid genre. Really, of course, they should be heading to George RR Martin (even at his glacial writing speed), Tad Williams, Robin Hobb and JV Jones. I don't think Irvine's work falls quite into that category but nevertheless it's a lot better than a lot of the dross on the market.

The View from the Mirror is a complex tale, primarily focused around the mystery of the Forbidding, a magical shield that has trapped three 'human' races on the same planet, along with the original inhabitants, 'old human'. The four races only marginally get along, and though interbreeding is possible, the blendings produced are often unstable - though powerful.

All of the intruder races want to get home, and so seek to find a way through the Forbidding. Two separate events trigger the events of this series: The Chronicler Llian discovers documents written at the time of the Forbidding, and a blending, Karan, is recruited to steal a magical Mirror - which was present during the creation of the Forbidding, and may hold the secret to its breaking.

From there the hunt is on! This is a world where no-one is truly evil, all have their own motivations, magic has its cost, and the survival of the various species is all important.

I really can't recommend this series enough. The first book has its flaws, but the writing improves as the series progresses. The series is thematically complex, extremely original, and very rewarding. ( )

This long story in four novels (it's not really a quartet) was originally published in Australia in 1998, and then in the UK during 2000/2001 and, more recently, in the US.

Australian SF and Fantasy is definitely on the rise at the moment, witness the recent publication stateside of some of Sara Douglass' books, so is this one any good?

There is no denying that there is a lot of fantasy on the market at the moment, a lot of it pretty simplistic and generic, some people like that stuff, unfortunately that seems to be where people are heading when they realise after seeing The Lord of the Rings that fantasy is actually a valid genre. Really, of course, they should be heading to George RR Martin (even at his glacial writing speed), Tad Williams, Robin Hobb and JV Jones. I don't think Irvine's work falls quite into that category but nevertheless it's a lot better than a lot of the dross on the market.

The View from the Mirror is a complex tale, primarily focused around the mystery of the Forbidding, a magical shield that has trapped three 'human' races on the same planet, along with the original inhabitants, 'old human'. The four races only marginally get along, and though interbreeding is possible, the blendings produced are often unstable - though powerful.

All of the intruder races want to get home, and so seek to find a way through the Forbidding. Two separate events trigger the events of this series: The Chronicler Llian discovers documents written at the time of the Forbidding, and a blending, Karan, is recruited to steal a magical Mirror - which was present during the creation of the Forbidding, and may hold the secret to its breaking.

From there the hunt is on! This is a world where no-one is truly evil, all have their own motivations, magic has its cost, and the survival of the various species is all important.

I really can't recommend this series enough. The first book has its flaws, but the writing improves as the series progresses. The series is thematically complex, extremely original, and very rewarding. ( )

At first, I found the beginning of this book quite odd and dissapointing. But as I read on, I found the book amazing. The plot is well written, with plenty of twists and turns. The characters are well developed. The world (i guess i could say "worlds") that Irvine creates with this series is amazing! All I have to say, is don't get put off by the beginning. That happened to my cousin, and I still can't get him to read it. Tough it out! ( )