A Shadow on the Glass (The View from the Mirror, Book 1) (Mass Market Paperback)

~ (Author) "It was the final night of the Graduation Telling, when the masters and students of the College of the Histories at Chanthed told the Great..." (more)
Key Phrases: scorpion nebula, sleeping pouch, silver tars, Fiz Gorgo, Great Tale, Tar Gaarn (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

An ancient war closed the Way between the Worlds, leaving the four human races of Aachim, Faellem, Charon, and Santhenar to inhabit a single realm. Thousands of years later, Llian the Chronicler discovers an ancient and dangerous secret, while a young woman gifted with magic embarks on a search for a powerful artifact. Irvine's series opener promises a grand-scale epic fantasy that features a pair of unusual heroes and a complex world rich in history and variety. For most fantasy collections.
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

'Irvine has built a history and wonderful culture for his vivid world. His first novel vibrates with originality' THE WEST AUSTRALIAN 'The complex cultures, detailed geography, and the palpable weight of history provide a solid background to an intense story that ... becomes increasingly compelling. This stands out as a worldbuilding labour of love with some truly original touches' LOCUS --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 672 pages
• Publisher: Aspect (July 1, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0446609846
• ISBN-13: 978-0446609845
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.2 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (75 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #585,264 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Hunted., February 11, 2003

By	Stephanie Noverraz "crooty" (Lausanne, Switzerland) - See all my reviews

This is the first book of The View from the Mirror tetralogy (before The Tower on the Rift, Dark Is the Moon and The Way Between the Worlds).

A Shadow on the Glass opens with the story of Llian, a 28-year-old Zain Chronicler of Chanthed. His graduation telling, where he presents the Tale of the Forbidding, is a great success but Wistan, the college headmaster, realizing his student might inadvertantly have uncovered a deadly mystery, harrases him to retract his tale.

That day Karan, a young red-haired sensitive, is in the audience. After a week's walk she finally arrives home in Gothryme, only to be snatched off again by Maigraith, a woman to whom she owes her life. And when the latter asks her to go to Fiz Goro and help her steal a legendary relic, the Mirror of Aachan, from the hands of the powerful mancer Yggur, Karan simply cannot refuse.

But in the citadel, Maigraith is made prisoner, and Karan barely escapes. The book then describes Karan's flight through marshes and mountains chains, hunted by a band of alien Whelm, Yggur's servants. When Mendark, the Magister of Thurkad who is also Llian's former sponsor and Yggur's bitter enemy, asks Wistan to help Karan and bring back the Mirror to him, the headmaster is only too happy to get rid of the dangerous Chronicler and sends Llian.

But the young man is tremendously awkward, and obsessed by the secrets he has recently exposed and which could be the key to the discovery of Great Tale, and in the end it is he who becomes a real burden for Karan. It's only after several weeks of running and hiding that she faces the fact that he probably is her only friend.

A Shadow on the Glass is a bit shallower than what I expected. Although I can say I enjoyed it, I found it hard to concentrate on the story, which somehow failed to grip me, and I hope that in the next volumes it'll become a little more intricate, the characters better developed.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Disappointing, March 10, 2002

By	"alleandra" (Kailua, Hawaii USA) - See all my reviews

This was a disappointing read. The book was chosen for a book club reading by a group of friends, so I was looking forward to starting. After a so-so beginning, it steadily grew worse.

Llian, a Chronicler at the university in Chanthed, is at the top of his class despite being from the race of humans called Zain, which seem to be despised by everyone else. He discovers that the ancient story of the Forbidding may not have happened exactly as Chroniclers past have told it. He disregards warnings not to pursue the truth further, and is finally cast out.

The other major character, Karan, is compelled to help steal an ancient artifact from a powerful warlord (Yggur) by Maigraith, a person to whom she owes a favor. The two successfully break in and steal it, but only one gets out. Karan, who has absolutely no skills or experience in survival situations manages to elude the warlord?s nasty minions (the Whelm) and escape into the marshes. She and Llian eventually meet up and bungle their way through situations, chases, captures and escapes while bickering unconvincingly and acting like fools.

I do not know how Llian and Karan have managed to live as long as they have. They are inept and exasperating. The dialogue between them is stilted and phony. The other characters aren?t much better, either, although minor characters like Shand are fine. The so-called fearsome Whelm were pitiful in their attempts to capture Karan when she was alone, exhausted, severely injured and outnumbered. Nothing rang true. The author?s strongest point is with descriptions of places. Also when his characters tell a story, the flow is much less stilted.

Without spoiling the ending, I just want to mention that it disappointed me that it was just an obvious cliffhanger. Since I really don?t care what happens to these characters, I am not going to fall for it and buy the next volume.

14 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars World building at its best, July 31, 2001

By	Eddie Clark "moschus" (Wellington, New Zealand) - See all my reviews

I just don't understand American publishers. First they split up Ash: A secret history (Another mighty fine book) into 4 novels, which totally destroyed the flow. Now, with Irvine's A View from the Mirror, they are doing something similar. Irvine wrote all four books before he approached a publisher, and when first published in Australia and New Zealand they were all released at essentially the same time.

This series works best when read as one. It is one of the most complete examples of creating a world I have ever seen. The detail and complexity of Irvine's Sathenar is astounding. Then there are the characters. One of my biggest problems with most epic fantasy is that the characters are almost always entirely unequivocal. The good guys are sugary sweet and nice and the bad guys are ridiculously evil (cue demented laugh). Irvine avoids this mistake entirely. All his characters are as deep and complex as his settings, the 'bad guys' are most often misguided or stupid and the 'good guys' are far from heroic. If you are looking for clones of Eddings or Brooks, come no further, this book is not for you. If you are looking for something different, something which requires a little mental effort, then dive in.