The Mirror of Her Dreams [Paperback]

Stephen R. Donaldson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: 1986

the mirror of her dreams

Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: New York: Ballantine Books, (1986)
• Language: English
• ASIN: B000DZFPA2
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.2 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (102 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #6,968,983 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

31 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A splendid fantasy novel, June 13, 2000

By 

Gabor Lake (Berlin) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Mirror of Her Dreams (Mordant's Need) (Mass Market Paperback)

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.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars My FAVOURITE 2-volume series of all time!!!, March 10, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: The Mirror of Her Dreams (Mordant's Need) (Mass Market Paperback)

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!

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Enjoyable, February 26, 2003

By 

Christina M. Roberts "Neyjour" (Texas, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Mirror of Her Dreams (Mordant's Need) (Mass Market Paperback)

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!