Customer Reviews

The Mirror of Her Dreams (Mordant's Need)

5 star:		(63)
4 star:		(17)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

I literally stumbled over this book on a flea market, not aware it was on the first part of an amazing two-volumes novel by Donaldson. And it took me quite some time to find the sequel...

Still, this book had a great impact of me. It was one of those novels you can read from the first to the last page, without any interruption, mostly because of the main character, a young frustrated woman brought into a new world, a parallel universe, middle-age style, where magic still exists...

Slowly, over the time she spends in this world, she gets rid of her own problems, getting more and more involved in the intrigues of this fantastic world she starts to like more and more, until she arrives at the point where she has the possibility to go back, but finally doesnt...

I particularly liked that the main character was a woman, who finally will be able to make her way in this world dominated by prejudiced men...

The plot of the book is just brilliant, the characters fascinating, even the bad guys, and this is a great pleasure to read...

But to find out about all the secrets in this book, you will need to read the equally well written sequel (A man rides through) to this volume and therefore I recommend you greatly to buy the two books together if you want to read this story.

I have read Tolkien, Brooks, Eddings, etc. and enjoyed them. But this series had one unique element which I have never seen in any other fantasy novel. It had the development of a magic (mirrors) and its uses which the characters slowly discovered as the story progressed. This can usually only be found in a good Sci-Fi novel with the development of a technology. I simply could not believe (to my enjoyment) how far he took the concept of mirrors and their discovered abilities and uses for good and evil. It was not simply "find sword, discover how to use sword, kill evil with sword".

I think the most amazing thing these books did was combine elements of all genres! An almost impossible task, but it turned out amazingly well! Fantasy, action, adventure, intrigue, romance, humour, suspense, horror, sci-fi, and more! In fact, make sure you have the second volume sitting right in front of you when you finish the first. Trust me.

Also, if anyone reads this review who HAS read these books and enjoyed them as much as I have, I want you to email me the titles of any which could be similar in caliber and content. I simply cannot find any--and I have read many. Thanks!

Teresa Morgan, a lonely, ordinary woman in our world, steps through a mirror in her apartment and finds herself in the land of Mordant. Geraden, son of the Domme, thinks that she is a powerful Imager, one who can manipulate the magic of mirrors, and believes that she is the key to saving their world. The only problem is, Teresa feels they have made a terrible mistake. But even her attempts to deny this alleged importance cannot save her from being sucked into a web of mystery, intrigue, danger, and betrayal. And just when things couldn't get any worse, the Congery of Imagers take matters into their own hands, setting even more catastrophic events into motion.

I have to admit that this book tends to be a little slow in the beginning, and I even found myself skimming a few parts. But if you can manage to hang in there, things really start to pick up and very soon you'll be hooked. Nothing is as straightforward as the characters think, and treachery, deceit, and lies run deeper than they could ever imagine. Just when you think you've got it figured out, the story takes a different turn and you're left scratching your head again in puzzlement. The one thing that really connected me to this book is the fact that the main characters constantly struggle to understand what is really going on, and I found myself right there in Teresa's shoes, feeling completely frustrated and paranoid ... not knowing at all who to trust!

Just a little warning, this book ends with a nail-biting cliffhanger. And trust me, you'll want to have the sequel (A Man Rides Through) handy as soon as you finish the last page. If it weren't for the slow pace in the beginning, and a few spots of tiresome info-dumps, I would have rated this one five stars. But, it definitely gets four stars for eventually grabbing hold and not letting me go, and for making me want to rush out and buy the sequel!

I never cease to enjoy this book and its sequel, "A Man Rides Through". I just finished "The Mirror of Her Dreams" for the fourth time and will be diving into the sequel tonight. These are the kind of books you read well into the night when you should be sleeping. Because of these, I read Donaldson's "Gap" and "Thomas Covenant" series -- both of which I enjoyed greatly and will read again and again -- but these remain my favorites.

There really is only one thing I might add to the other positive reviews here -- and it is something I noticed in "Thomas Covenant" as well: Mr. Donaldson takes an ordinary person from our own world, places them in an extraordinary place and situations and allows them to grow from there. Terisa Morgan is a woman with no sense of self, no confidence, and no purpose. Her passivity and doubt are frustrating -- frustratingly real. But her arrival in Mordant and her subsequent involvement in its crisis -- as well as the faith shown in her by the loyal Geraden -- allows her to discover the woman she truly is: powerful, courageous, and passionate (to name a few) -- qualities she never would have discovered if she'd remained in her own world.

The action and intrigue are captivating -- but it is the characters and their evolution (and not just Terisa's but Geraden's as well) that make these books so addictive.

In the paperback version, there is a rather major editorial mistake. In the last pages of the second to last chapter, a few sentences have been left out, making things a little confusing. Having always read the hardcover edition before, I noticed the mistake. Briefly, and hopefully without giving anything away, what was left out is this: Castellan Lebbick informs the Congery that Nyle wishes to speak to Geraden alone. This is what he whispers into the Castellan's ear. That's really all that was left out. I had to read it a few times to make sure I hadn't skipped something. Hopefully, this helps anyone who thinks they missed something, too!

All in all, two wonderful books with characters that stay with you.

Donaldson depicts the despair and confusion that result from lives turned awry: in Teresa's case by childhood abuse/neglect and in Geraden's case by an inability to understand and use his gifts, in the realm's case by a hero-king who has suddenly stopped defending the kingdom. These confusions lead the characters into mistakes and dilemmas so true to life that I have read every one of Donaldson's long-winded words in the two Mordant books for the gift of better understanding despair and hope, confusion and clarity, seduction and care, and the redemptive possibility of hope. I find Donaldson's other series dark and lacking in the hope and genuine love that make this tale one of my all-time favorites.

It had been a long time since I had just picked up a book and curled up on my couch. When I started reading Mirror of Her Dreams, I was surprised to find myself so engrossed in the novel that hours had passed since I began reading. I still didn't want to put it down.

My opinion of fantasy novels had always been that they were pointless, and the only good writers wrote science fiction. This novel changed my outlook entirely...good storyline, plot twists, intrigue, treachery...it has it all.

Next time you want someting worthwile and enjoyable to read keep this novel in your thoughs.

The Mirror of Her Dreams had the same problem that Lord Foul's Bane did. The beginning was ponderously slow, and I question Donaldson's need to make Terisa Morgan so *wounded*, unless he simply needed a woman who decorated her apartment entirely in mirrors to give her some talent in Imagery. I don't know. Well...when he wrote it, it was the 80s, so I can imagine that it wouldn't have been too difficult to find someone still with their sensibilities in the late seventies / early eighties that had far too many mirrors plastered on their walls. Still.

Donaldson's strength is that while, yes, he starts slowly (as also evidenced also in his space opera, The Gap sequence), it's very much the cliché of a small snowball starting out at the top of a hill and turning into a monstrous thing at the bottom of the slope. Once he has felt his way into the story, established all of the characters and their motivation, the rest is mind-blowing.

Sure, his use of the English language is ponderous, and he tosses in ten-dollar words when others would suffice, and sometimes his metaphors are dry and unnecessary, but his writing style isn't such a turnoff that it overwhelms the story.

In fantasy, the concept of magic, and how it used, is of tremendous importance. In his first series, The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, the "magic" was fairly simple. Lords had blue fire, TC had wild magic, argent fire, etc. (There were other methods, of course, but still rather simple.) However, here Donaldson flexes his creativity and develops something entirely unique - Imagery. Orson Scott Card wrote that it's important to set limits on magic, because it creates difficult challenges for the author. If all users of "magic" were essentially supermen, the solution to every problem would be simple and the resulting book would be rather boring. However, if magic is finite, if the boundaries are firm, and its uses limited, it makes for a much more interesting story. To use "magic", Masters of the Congery must create a mirror, and then carry that mirror around with them if they want to use it. That's cumbersome! Even if it's a small mirror, you can't walk around with six or seven of them, each depicting different images, each allowing you to use it for something different, on your person. There's a very good chance they could break - they are glass, after all. How, then, can Imagery be used as a potent offensive force? And in this book it needs to be, and is.

That's the challenge that Donaldson sets for himself, and it isn't an easy one. Yet he handles it deftly, and it shows even more in A Man Rides Through. I feel sorry for people who were turned off by his style of prose, or the plodding beginnings, because the answers to the challenges that Donaldson creates for himself are truly impressive. Not many writers - especially ones who consider themselves not particularly creative! - could pull it off.

Donaldson's greatest strength is his characters. He creates complex characters (nothing and I do mean NOTHING is as it seems in this story). Every single character, every person named has importance and a back story, a reason for being. This makes the novel tightly bound and highly enjoyable.

Another strength of the novel is the plot. Although for the first four hundred pages or so, the main characters never leave the castle it doesn't matter. There is so much going on, so much happening that the lack of setting doesn't matter. The undercurrent of events are always flowing. The concept of mirrors, having something beneath them applies to the land of Mordant for things are not reflected as they appear.

Another great strength is the dialogue. The Castellean Lebbick has many inspirational lines. All of the characters have different tones - the confident Master Eremis, energetic Geraden, Teresa's timidity - their characters are reflected in their dialogue.

This is my favourite series of Donaldson's. The characters are move believable and more likeable (I could never totally displace the incidents of his other novels). Overall a great and highly recommended book.

I've read a few fantasy books over the years but none have come as close to my heart as this one. Terisa, an unnoticed and undreaming woman in her own world is unprepared for the title of champion given to her in another. Not your ordinary fantasy tale of an unwilling hero, or a prophesised boy child destined to become king. Just an old fashioned, romantic adventure with beautifully created characters; the King's daughters dreamy Myste and fierce Elega (my favourite), brutal (and forsaken) Lebbick, the swashbuckling Artagel, decent and loveable Geraden, neglected Nyle, Master Eremis and all his plotting, King Joyse and the Tor. All are characters that will stay with me forever. The story line is full of twists and intrigue and is a new and refreshing view of 'fantasy' (so often defined by the more common 'sword and sorcery' tales), but it was the complexity and vitality of the characters that won me over.

Mordant's Need is a two-volume series published by Stephen Donaldson. The first volume, The Mirror of Her Dreams, was published in 1986 and the conclusion, A Man Rides Through, in 1987.

Donaldson has never shied away from writing challenging genre fiction. His lengthy Thomas Convenant series has been captivating and/or alienating readers since 1977. In science fiction, Donaldson's Gap series was five volumes of terrifyingly brutal 'space opera', loosely based on Wagner's Ring Cycle. And, not to leave mystery out, under the pseudonym of Reed Stephens, Donaldson created the self-destructive alcoholic private eye Mick Axbrewder.

Mordant's Need is, compared to the rogue's gallery above, the most accessible thing that Donaldson has ever written. It is superficially a traditional high fantasy novel, with all the appropriate trappings of the genre. The protagonist is Terisa, a lonely woman from the 'real world'. She is drawn into a magical realm where she meets Geraden, a lowly apprentice with a heart of gold. The two discover that they have great sorcerous powers and are just what the Mysterious Prophesy required. The land is saved, etc. etc.


Donaldson connects the dots in a strange ways. Mordant's Need isn't a series about dramatic action as much as it is about tense inactivity. The (Good) High King Joyse has seemingly gone mad - leaving a power vacuum as the land of Mordant is attacked from all sides. The books almost entirely take place from within the walls of Joyse's castle, with Terisa and Geraden as witnesses to countless intrigues. Terisa and Geraden scramble desperately to make sense of everything around them - no sooner are they finally sure that they're pointed in the right direction than something spins them around again.

Donaldson's plots are nothing short of genius - everything, no matter how nonsensical, connects. He's generous with the exposition, but cleverly waits until the appropriate time to distribute it. The reader, like Terisa and Geraden, is frustrated and rewarded in turn.

Although the convoluted plotting is worthy of mention (and praise), the heart of Mordant's Need is in its theme - that of identity. All magic in the land is done with mirrors. Terisa, who is already a little bonkers in the mundane world, is pulled through a mirror to help Mordant. As a result, she's caught in the middle of a philosophical discussion regarding her own existence. As improbable as it may seem, Terisa may not actually be real. And, as awkwardly constructed as it may make her character, Terisa spends half the time believing (or disbelieving) the fiction of her own existence.

In a purely intellectual sense, the discussion of identity is fascinating, and Donaldson does a strong job of keeping the issue threaded throughout the books. Terisa is most brave, and most active, when she doubts that she is real - on the simply level, what does she have to lose? However, these periods of false bravery are rare and far-between. However empty she feels, she can't entirely shed the notion of her own existence. She is most comfortable being a passive observer or, better yet, authority-deprived object. In the former role, she's not called-upon to make a difference. And in the latter, she can be assured of her continued existence if only because things are happening to her.

Donaldson's intention seems to be to make this as deliberately complicated as possible. And he succeeds.

On one hand, Terisa's ongoing question of identity is infinitely more interesting (and more rewarding... and more intelligent...) than the traditional high fantasy approach of the lead character's token 'Why me?'. (Answer: Because the Prophesy says so.) On the other hand, Donaldson slightly overreaches himself with Terisa's character. Simply put, she's a woman. And, as the reader is constantly reminded, an attractive one. Her issues of identity and authority quickly become entangled with issues of sexuality.

As well as being an object of magical destiny and political intrigue, Terisa's therefore also an object of attraction. This additional level could work, but doesn't. Bizarrely, Terisa spends a great portion of her time wrestling with the fact that she's attractive to the opposite sex. As a result, the reader is condemned to an endless amount of painfully adolescent 'does he really like me?' whining. Compared to the other, existential, self-doubt at the core of the book, Terisa's pubescent mewling strikes a false and affected note.

Mordant's Need is an experimental series that successfully shows how fantasy tropes and archetypes can be used to explore complicated questions. Donaldson uses magic throughout the books - not to paper over any holes in the plot, but as a mechanism smoothly integrated with the overarching theme. The result is something almost (but not quite) a parable. And for pure entertainment value, it is difficult to stick with two volumes of an intentionally passive hero. Mordant's Need is a rare example of a series too flawed to be great, but too thoughtful to be discounted.