Customer Reviews

Reflections : Book One of The Erebus Equilibrium

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

You'll probably never look again in a mirror for a long long time after reading this dark tale of mystery and betrayal. Neil Cladingboel's REFLECTIONS is a stimulating tale of the otherside of the mirror, the otherside of death. The main character, Jonathan Edward Malone, has a scarry encounter when he is young with the forces behind the mirror. 20 years later he again encounters these forces and this time he becomes the principle player as he tries to unlock the secret of a mysterious riddle written on the back of an old family looking glass. This is a dark tale, not for the faint-hearted mind you. It's an intriguing tale none the less.

My biggest complaint about Neil Cladingboel's "Reflections" is that it is too short---I wanted to spend more time with these characters, sharing their adventures and facing their perils. His central character, Jonathan Malone, survives a hideous personal tragedy as a young boy, then matures to face the shocking cause of that tragedy---a timeless battle of Good versus Evil is being waged, and he has been chosen by one side to combat the other. The battleground of choice is a dream-state, reached through seemingly common mirrors---and one of his major foes is none other than a hated childhood bully! Malone's nightmares, triggered years after he had mostly managed to put his tortured youth behind him, are actual transcripts of his weird quest into the other-realm, as he struggles to discover his true purpose in this life, and the next! I wish the story had taken longer to unfold, and certainly the family members, including Jonathan's wife, could have played more active roles in his epic struggle; but these are minor quibbles. "Reflections" taps into our anxieties and our obsessions, with ourselves, our mortality, and our frustrating imperfections, and manages to push a compelling story along, with a charming and sympathetic hero, strangely appealing villains, and lively spins on life, death, God, nature, and man---all seen, quite literally, through the novel and inventive use of mirrors, which play a number of inventive roles in the story, appearing by turns as looking-glasses, barriers, and escape hatches. You may not want to stare too closely into your own mirror, the next time you groom yourself, for fear of encountering one of Cladingboel's characters---but you probably won't mind that too much, after you've enjoyed this gripping, supernatural adventure!

Not usually a fan of fantasy type stories, I have to admit that I thoroughly enjoyed the first part of The Erebus Equilibrium! Neil Cladingboel shows a lot of promise with this, his first major publication. If you like reading something a little different and something that will leave a lasting memory, especially whenever you look into a mirror, then why not give Reflections a try? You won't be disappointed. For me, I can't wait for Book Two!