Customer Reviews

Damselflies: An Ancient Mirrors Tale

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
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Ilerion and his assistant Nilius have come across a villiage burned to the ground, bodies are now blackened ash along the earth. One woman is left, she barely is alive so Ilerion and Nilius take her to a healer in hopes of saving her life. Arcinae is the last of the Grimmore Damselflies, and has been raped and stripped of her wings.

Unknowing the ways of the cold hearted, she must learn to fight. She is on a mission to exact revenge on those that have killed her kind, and Ilerion will teach her what she needs to know. Lazaro would pay dearly for trying to vanquish her kind. But she is still without her wings, she is riding under the guise of just a woman. Arcinae hopes to find the hidden Sylph's, they may be her only hope to be turned back into a full Damselfly.

Ilerion, Nilius, and Arcinae are out for blood, but they will have many twists along the way. A true young adult fantasy woven with precise detail, Jayel Gibson makes her Ancient Mirrors Tales a fabulous wonder to read. 5 Hearts

Lives are ruled by prophecy and legend in Gibson's continuation of the Ancient Mirrors series. Men whose minds have been corrupted seek to destroy all the enchanted folk, especially the Damselflies, because of their fear of a legend telling that men would be ruled by a Damselfly's halfling daughter. Only through the kindness of two hunters is Arcinaë able to survive, becoming the last Damselfly. She struggles to overcome her passive nature and become a warrior, in order to get revenge on the men who killed her Damselfly kin and to learn to lead Grimmoirë, as is her right. Damselflies tells the tale of Arcinaë's struggles as well as those of her halfling daughters.

Firstly, I commend Gibson for being able to weave a thrilling story that held my interest the entire way through. I really like the strong female characters presented throughout the Ancient Mirrors series, and Damselflies was no exception. These females are skilled warriors in battle and are also highly intelligent and usually stubborn, yet they are easy to like by the reader. I also like how there's always a bit of romance woven into the story, even in the midst of fighting. My only issue with this story was that in the second half, the plot seemed rushed and sometimes details were unclear, such as the location of one character and who spoke what line. However, Damselflies was a truly exciting read.

Out of the three first novels in the Ancient Mirrors series, Damselflies is by far my favorite. It isn't necessary to read the first two novels to understand Damselflies, but I recommend reading Dragon Queen and The Wreckening just because they are also great stories, although readers who are not very into fantasy may be intimidated by the length of Gibson's novels.

this is the 3rd book in the series

I happened to pick up this book at my public library and as i was reading this book i realized that there was ALOT missing and it wasn't until the 6-8th chapter that I realized there had to be books that came before. I had so many types of creatures and characters and Places that weren't given much explaination and at first i Thought this writer hadnt written a very good book, but then i jumped on-line and found out there were two more books before this one which probably did all the explaining i was looking for. lol The one thing i really did HATE about this book was all the "i shalls" and "FOR i will" and "FOR it will" and "FOR he will" and 'FOR"s all OVER the Place!! I seriously and literally tried my hardest to read over those because it got on my nerves SO much.

Reviewed by Ian McCurley (age 13) for Reader Views (10/07)


"Damselflies" begins when Ilerion and his servant, Nilus, are traveling through the country of Aelarggessae. They come upon the ruins of what was the last settlement of the Damselflies. The Damselflies were a winged pacifistic race of the enchanted. Finding only one alive, they take her to a healer. With both her wings and her pacifistic nature gone, the Damselfly wants revenge on those who brutalized and butchered her and murdered her people. Ilerion vows to help her. He discovers that Lord Lazaro, due to fear of a prophecy, has been ordering the murder of all enchanted races in Grimmoire. During their quest for revenge, Ilerion and Nilus train the Damselfly whose name is Arcinae to fight. After her training, Ilerion sends Arcinae to Revere in Aedracmorae. She travels there through the Ancient Mirrors to meet with the Dragon Queen, Yavie. The Dragon Queen uses her influence over the winged council to convince the Feie to rekindle the Light of Grimmoire. During her stay with the Dragon Queen, Qwen, the estranged daughter of Yavie's guardian Nall, helps Arcinae find the Sylph who give Arcinae her wings back in exchange for her immortality. For her help, Qwen asks Arcinae to help the wizard Lohgaen to recover his birthright, the House of Lochlaen. Meanwhile, Ilerion is gathering forces to defeat Lord Lazaro before he and his allies can take over Aelarggessae.

The book "Damselflies" hooks the reader from the start, and the story flows well. Jayel Gibson's writing style is, as always, unique. The characters are deep and dynamic with little unknown about them. The mood of the book changes throughout its entirety. The book is divided into two parts; I have only summarized the first. I will not hint at the plot of the second part because it would give too much away, though the book does span two generations.

This book is for ages 15 and up who enjoy reading fantastic tales of adventure. "Damselflies" is the third in the Ancient Mirrors series.

Book received free of charge.