Dark Is the Moon (The View From the Mirror, Book 3) [Mass Market Paperback]

Ian Irvine (Author)

Book Description

Series: View from the Mirror | Publication Date: July 1, 2002

In the third volume of this original saga, the young Sensitive Karan, who carries the blood of all three Worlds in her veins, finds herself holding the knowledge that can either heal or permanently destroy the rift. The time is right for Rulke, the great betrayer, to use the deadly construct he has spent a thousand years perfecting. Unfortunately for Karan, all he needs to succeed is her unique talent. (July)

Editorial Reviews

Review

'In Dark is the Moon, the third volume of Ian Irvine's "The View from the Mirror" quartet, the web of intrigue and magical betrayal that passes for politics in the world of Santhenar has reached a point of complexity where even its master players are feeling the strain. One of the few constants in Irvine's imagined world--the passionate erotic love between scholar/chronicler Llian and woman warrior Karan--starts to become unravelled when they are trapped with the evil mage Rulke in his semi-material place of exile, the Nightland; his seduction of the obsessional Llian with eye-witness testimony of the past is painful to watch. Nor is Rulke the cliche dark lord of much fantasy writing, he is a man who thinks what he does is justified by greater good, and not so different from many of his officially virtuous enemies. Irvine's evocation of landscapes tortured into strangeness by aeons of magical intervention and cities wrecked by civil strife is crisply visualised; his set pieces of action--a fight with pirates, a trek through desert, a magical duel--are involving and viscerally exciting; his characters are complex individuals who grow and change--the semi-villainous Magraith has become almost a secondary heroine.' - Roz Kaveney, AMAZON.CO.UK REVIEW --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

About the Author

Ian Irvine lives in the mountains of NSW, Australia. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 704 pages
• Publisher: Aspect (July 1, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0446609862
• ISBN-13: 978-0446609869
• Product Dimensions: 4.2 x 1.2 x 6.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.9 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,092,131 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I love it, April 16, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: Dark Is the Moon (The View From the Mirror, Book 3) (Mass Market Paperback)

I read this book over a year ago, but i still remember can remeber how much i enjoyed reading it.
This novel is different from most fantasy novels in that the main characters have very little control on what happens around them or even control over their own fate. although extraordinary on their own, Karan and Llian are small in comparison to Faellamor, Rulke, Tensor and Mendark. They are pulled back and forth and are tangled in a deadly game where the entire world is at stake.
one thing i liked about this series is the way that your opinion of the characters changes dramatically over the length of the series. those people that seemed noble and good turn out to be the most evil characters of all and the most evil characters the most noble. It blurs the black and white lines between good and evil that are normally so sharp in fantasy novels.
This sets this series apart from others, it is unique in many ways and not as cliched as many fantasy novels are prone to be.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars In the same vein..., April 3, 2003

By 

Stephanie Noverraz "crooty" (Lausanne, Switzerland) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Dark Is the Moon (The View From the Mirror, Book 3) (Mass Market Paperback)

This is the third book in The View from the Mirror tetralogy (after A Shadow on the Glass and The Tower on the Rift, and before The Way Between the Worlds).

Dark Is the Moon starts in the tower of Katazza, where Tensor has just opened a gate to the Nightland. In the process, Rulke the Charon has managed to escape from his imprisonment of a thousand years, while Karan and Llian have been sucked throught the gate. Mendark, Malien, Tallia and Yggur have to overcome their differences and ally against their common enemy and try to use the power of the Rift to seal the Nightland. Karan and Llian's lives are at stake.

And so in the Nightland, Karan and Llian have no choice but to team with Rulke, or they'll be trapped forever. But in the battle, the new alliance draws to much power from the Rift and Katazza collapses over them. Thanks to that diversion, Karan manages to escape throught the gate and lands in the rubble of the destroyed citadel. However, Llian is still stuck with Rulke, who compels him to tell the Histories but finally lets him go five days later. When with Karan they catch up with Yggur, Mendark, Shand and the others, everyone suspects he's become Rulke's spy.

After crossing the Dry Sea again, the group realizes that their only chance to beat Rulke is to make a replica of the golden Flute, a legendary artifact that is said to have the power to open the Way between the Worlds. But for this they need Aachan red gold, which is extremely rare, and information on how to use the instrument.

In this thrid volume, all roads diverge, to converge again at the end for another confrontation: Mendark sets off to Havissard in search of the gold, Yggur goes back to Thurkad where his army is at war, Tallia and Shand go look for young Lilis's father, and Karan wants to go back to her estate in Gothryme to see how her people are faring. Llian accompanies her, and on the way they stop in Chanthed, where lies the College of the Histories, and where he thinks he might gather new information for his Great Tale.

In the meantime Faellamor, with the help of her always faithful Maigraith, is searching for a way to break the Forbidding and tries to link with fher far away kin, the Faellem, and ask them for help. They manage to open a gate to Havissard.

Dark is the Moon is of the same quality as the previous books in the series, that is, full of entertaining adventures and well written, but nothing outstanding, although the characters have started to grow in depth, and me to consider reading Ian Irvine's next series, The Well of Echoes. But on to the fourth and final volume first.

3.0 out of 5 stars A question of trust., May 18, 2003

By 

frumiousb "frumiousb" (Amsterdam, the Netherlands) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Dark Is the Moon (The View From the Mirror, Book 3) (Mass Market Paperback)

I am really going up and down about this series. I found the first book lukewarm, while reading the second book interested me enough to run out immediately and buy the third. However, now that I have read the third I have to confess to feeling a little bit let down.

The two main characters, Llian and Karan, spend most of the book stressing out about whether they trust each other. Somehow, this point is more important than the lives of their friends or the fate of the world. I have to say that I still find Karan one of the more remarkably unlikeable female leads in recent fantasy. I sincerely hope that in the 4th book, they get a therapist offline and the rest of the book can continue without further whining.

That said, the adventure *does* continue and other of the characters become more interesting. I like very much the direction Rulke is taking and I am curious to hear more about him.

Not a terrible read, just not a great one.