The Mirror Prince [Mass Market Paperback]

Violette Malan (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 7, 2012

Max Ravenhill was perfectly happy with his life as a history professor until he met Cassandra. Told that he was more than a thousand years old and had known Cassandra and her fellow Wardens all that time, that his life as Max was pure fiction implanted in his mind, and that he was being pursued by the Hunt and his only chance for survival was to flee to the realm of Faerie, Max can only assume that Cassandra is crazy-or he is. But soon it becomes all too clear that at least part of what she says is true. And unless he goes with her, he won't live long enough to separate the truth from the lies.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In Malan's Narnia-spiced fantasy debut, which also contains dashes of de Lint, Rowling and Tolkien, Canadian Max Ravenhill thinks he's just a young professor of history with a crush on Cassandra Kennaby, a pretty martial arts expert, but he's really Dawntreader, a Faerie Prince Guardian, who lost a war and was exiled to the Shadowland of Earth. And Cassandra is actually his soul mate, Truthsheart, a Rider charged to protect him from the Hounds of the Hunt during the time of Banishment. Cassandra is also trying to keep him far from his evil brother, Dreamer of Time (aka the Basilisk Prince), who thinks Max knows the location of powerful Talismans. The revelation of the identity of the High Prince, whom the Lands of the People have been awaiting, provides the best surprise in a book that suffers from overly complicated world building, fragmentary plotting and lead characters who never really come alive until the end. (July)
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About the Author

Violette Malan lives in a nineteenth-century limestone farmhouse in southeastern Ontario with her husband. Born in Canada, Violette’s cultural background is half Spanish and half Polish, which makes it interesting at meal times. She has worked as a teacher of creative writing, English as a second language, Spanish, beginner’s French, and choreography for strippers. On occasion she’s been an administrative assistant and a carpenter’s helper. Her most unusual job was translating letters between lovers, one of whom spoke only English, the other only Spanish.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 18 and up
  
• Mass Market Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: DAW (August 7, 2012)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0756404231
• ISBN-13: 978-0756404239
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.2 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,078,067 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Hoping for a Sequel, August 7, 2007

By 

Jim C. Hines (Holt, MI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Mirror Prince (Mass Market Paperback)

The premise of the book will be familiar to more experienced fantasy readers. History professor Max Ravenhill discovers he's not who he thinks he is. He's not even human. He's an exile from the lands of the Fae, guardian of the Talismans that can select the next High Prince and end the cycle of death and corruption. Now, as Max's exile comes to an end, the Basilisk Prince is determined to capture him and use the Talismans to make himself High Prince.

It took me a few chapters to get into the book. Malan jumps right into the action with a fairly brutal (off-screen) massacre, and it also took me a while to grasp the fantasy side of her worldbuilding. It wasn't until a few chapters into the book, when Max and his protector Cassandra left our world and returned home, that I started to wrap my brain around everything.

With that said, I enjoyed the book a great deal by the end. Max and Cassandra were fun, and it was interesting to see the relationship between the guardian (who knows what's going on) and Max (whose memories have been altered, so he doesn't even know Cassandra at first). Malan even gives us glimpses of "humanity" from the Basilisk Prince, and I always like conflicted characters.

While some elements of the story felt familiar, others were intriguingly original. I enjoyed Malan's take on enchanted weapons and armor, and the creative ways they can be used. Her revelation about the Hounds (hunting beasts, from the original Hunt) was fascinating enough I wanted her to spend more time on it.

Actually, that was my biggest frustration. Some of Malan's most fascinating ideas seemed to get skimmed over. I wanted to learn more about the Naturals and the Solitaries, the other "races" of Max's realm. I wanted to understand guidebeasts better. And if the biggest complaint about a book is, "I wanted more," then I think that's a pretty positive thing.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great Plotline-A Good First Try, September 16, 2006

By 

Kelly A. Monaghan "Modern Bard" (Lancaster, PA, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Mirror Prince (Paperback)

The plotline of this book is what caught my interest. The action begins in our world-the Shadowlands. The protagonist is a Faerie Prince whose memory has been taken and has been banished to our world. He is long-lived and his memory fades every 15-20 years. His time of Banishment is ending and his old enemy has sent the Great Hunt to track him down. He is rescued by a Warden sent to watch over him. Unfortunately, she is given the unhappy task of convincing him of his identity and bringing him back to the Faerie Lands.

The beginning of the book lacks much of the atmosphere and character building that makes the best novels work. The plotline is extremely fast-paced and without the initial framework in place, it is difficult to really empathize with the main character. The writing improves towards the end. Overall, it seems like this was a great novel that was hurried a bit too much.

9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The mIrror prince, August 9, 2006

By 

D. V. Wasson - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Mirror Prince (Paperback)

This is a fast paced novel. For such a stand alone book it has
has unsually well-developed fantasy world. Such development usually takes a longer book or a multiple volume series. Unlike the profssional review, I like time Malan spent develping the faerie culture and history. It has a good mistusre of humor and seriousness, plus a few unexpected surprises.