A Man Rides Through [Hardcover]

Stephen R. Donaldson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 2, 1989

In The Mirror of Her Dreams, the dazzling first volume of Mordant’s Need, New York Times bestselling author Stephen R. Donaldson introduced us to the richly imagined world of Mordant, where mirrors are magical portals into places of beauty and terror. Now, with A Man Rides Through, Donaldson brings the story of Terisa Morgan to an unforgettable conclusion. . . .

Aided by the powerful magic of Vagel, the evil Arch-Imager, the merciless armies are marching against the kingdom of Mordant. In its hour of greatest need, two unlikely champions emerge. One is Geraden, whose inability to master the simplest skills of Imagery has made him a laughingstock. The other is Terisa Morgan, transferred to Mordant from a Manhattan apartment by Geraden’s faulty magic. Together, Geraden and Terisa discover undreamed-of talents within themselves—talents that make them more than a match for any Imager . . . including Vagel himself.

Unfortunately, those talents also mark them for death. Branded as traitors, they are forced to flee the castle for their lives. Now, all but defenseless in a war-torn countryside ravaged by the vilest horrors Imagery can spawn, Geraden and Terisa must put aside past failures and find the courage to embrace their powers—and their love—before Vagel can spring his final trap.


From the Trade Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

While the Alend army lays siege to Orison Castle, Terisa and Geraden strive to penetrate the secret maneuverings of a mad king and a senile wizard so that the evil threatening the land of Mordant can be named and defeated. The author of the popular Thomas Covenant books combines an intricate plot with likeable heroes in a richly detailed yet evenly paced conclusion to the story begun in Mirror of Her Dreams. JC
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.

From the Inside Flap

In the thrilling conclusion to THE MIRROR OF HER DREAMS, Terisa Morgan finds herself face to face with the monstrous evil that threatens to destroy everyone and everything. Now, the masterful storytelling that is A MAN RIDES THROUGH, will delight readers everywhere--and reaffirm Stephen R. Donaldson's position as the foremost practitioner of the epic fantasy form in the world today!
"Donaldson has created his best work yet."
SCIENCE FICTION CHRONICLE --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Hardcover
• Publisher: Random House Value Publishing (September 2, 1989)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0517699354
• ISBN-13: 978-0517699355
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (37 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #7,166,716 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Must Read!, May 25, 2003

By 

Erik1988 "beingawriter dot wordpress dot com" (Folsom, CA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: A Man Rides Through (Mass Market Paperback)

I have to rate both book 1&2 at once because they are one story and you can't seperate them.

Without rehashing the storyline like other reviewers, here are my two cents worth:
1) Con - Donaldson again has some looser characters that you find hard to like because they wallow (sp?) in their issues more than trying to work with thier "good" qualities
2) Pro - Donaldson does a superb job of realistically having every character play their part and appear to make their own decisions all the while being used as pawns in a grand game of chess. The decisions they make seem believable.
3) Pro - First book sets up the players and you can almost figure out who is conspiring with who by simply seeing the clues for yourself.
4) Pro - Book 2 is a VERY satisfying end to a grand story.
5) Con - This story I would not recommend for childeren. There is some explicit sexual material several times between the books.
6) Pro - the looser characters aren't such loosers in the end
7) Pro - Nice balance between the political intrigue and action fight scenes and magic
8) Pro - I found it to be a page turner of a story
9) Con - I found it to be a page turner of a story...didn't get my chores and responsibilities taken care of. hehe.

I would highly recommend this. I liked the story better than I remember liking the Thomas Covenant series...

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A brilliant conclusion to the duology, June 6, 2003

By 

D. Chaponda (Manchester, England) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: A Man Rides Through (Mordant's Need, Vol. II) (Hardcover)

The end of 'Mirror of her dreams' left me most peeved. In that book Donaldson meticulously built up the political and magical skein that made mordant work, creating fascinating characters like Eremis and Castellan Lebbick. Then, he threw characters we had grown to care about into peril, and then had the audacity to end the book on one a cliffhanger.

My irritation at Donaldson is totally evaporated after reading the sequel. And yes, there are only 2 books. Donaldson has the restraint to finish the story in this novel -- a trait which other fantasy writers (need I say Jordan) could learn.

This book is near perfect. The first novel was on occasion slow, as Donaldson was world and character building. The second book starts and continues at a run. Also, Geraden, who in the first novel is sometimes too 'wimpy' now steps into a role that he deserves. The political machinations continue, and there are many new revalations. One of the best fantasy books you can pick up -- however, it is not one of those sequels you can pjump into and fully appreciate without reading the first. Track down the first novel.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent sequel to A Mirros of Her Dreams, June 13, 2000

By 

Gabor Lake (Berlin) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Man Rides Through (Mass Market Paperback)

Needless to say, if you read "A Mirror of Her Dreams", you need to read "A Man Rides Through" as well, because this will be the conclusion to the fantastic Mordant series. Its as well written as the first one, with the plots mentioned in the first book developping further till the final and well-developed resolution of all mysteries of Mordant!