The Dark Mirror: Book One of the Bridei Chronicles (Bridei Chronicles 1) [Kindle Edition]

I have just finished reading this book and love it as much as previous books by Juliet Marillier. I have read her Sevenwaters trilogy and Wolfskin and absolutely adore all of her books. Each one really draws you into the plot and makes you fall in love with the characters. I also have Foxmask but haven't read it yet. I just ordered book 2 in this trilogy and can't wait to read it!

The dark mirror is the story of Bridei, the son of a king, who while still a small child is sent away from his family and country to be fostered and taught by a powerful druid in preparation for a very important destiny. One night under a full moon he finds a baby girl (Tuala) on his doorstep, a child of the 'good folk' and he takes her in, grateful to have a companion, and vowing to protect her.

The Dark Mirror tells the tale of Bridei and Tuala as they grow up and endure hardships and suffering before fulfilling their destiny.I don't want to go into further detail of the plot, but just to say that this has all the trademarks of a Juliet Marillier book. Strong characters, beautiful descriptive scenery and a powerful storyline. I could not put this down. Very highly recommended!!!

The beginning of Bridei's Chronicles (which I understand has a total of 4 books, 1 yet to be written) and tells the story of Bridei's life from when he was very young and taken as a foster child by the Druid Broichan.

This is set in Fifth Century Scotland and bridei is being brought up by Broichan to be the King of Fortriu, unknown to Bridei at such a young age, and the desriptions of the Druidic rituals were really good and give you a wonderful picture of how life was back then.

One early morning a young Bridei wakes to find a small child on his doorstep, this is not just any child but, a child of the good folk, the fey child Tuala is taken in by Bridei on that midwinter morning and is not taken well by everyone Bridei is with. |However, it is Bridei's belief that the child was given to him by the Shining One (the Goddess) and decides to care for her.

With Bridei and Tuala becoming the central characters to the story, and both are wonderful and very likeable characters, I especially loved the character of Tuala her story was so fantastic and you could not help but, feel for her at how she wasd treated by Broichan.

To say anymore about this story would ruin it for anyone who wants to read this book, and would I recommend it? Well, Trudi Canavan's Priestess of the White was easily my favourite read of this year but, this has overtaken it.

So well told as with everything Juliet writes, reading some reviews a lot of people will always compare this to the Sevenwaters Trilogy, which remains my favourite series but, this is different to that and based around the time of the Picts, personally for me it was as good as Sevenwaters, Juliet is one of my favourite authors and I just loved this!

I have just recently discovered Marillier, she has a great gift as an author. I have been swept along with all her books, and the Dark Mirror is certainly no exception.
I would recommend this book, and for those who enjoys Marillier i would also suggest Jean M. Auels Clan of the Cave Bear, and the following books in the Earths Children series as another saga to enjoy.

I'd just finished the Seven Waters series when I started this, so to be fair, I was still under it's spell a little. I found this to be a fairly dark book until half way through, with my heart going out to 4yr old Bridie. By the time I'd finished it I wanted the second book NOW!

I came to this after the Sevenwater trilogy. I live in Scotland and therefore was especially interested in a series based in my (adopted) homeland. I know a lot of the places she's referring to, and that heightened the interest for me. Compared to the Sevenwaters series books, this book was much slower, and for that, it has lost a star. I had trouble getting into the story, particularly as the main characters start out as children, and there isn't much action then. However, since this series is meant as a more overarching series of three books, I think the slow build can be somewhat forgiven. The Sevenwaters trilogy were more stand-alone books based on different generations of the same family. This is telling tales about the same characters over different periods of their lives and therefore, in some ways, more complex. But the usual Marillier gems are here - the sweet, intense love story, the magic, impish gods, and destiny. It just took a bit longer to get there than in Sevenwaters, but once it did (about a third of the way in), I could not put it down.

Marillier has dobe it again with this book! all i need say is that Marillier is one of the best authours i have come across in a long time... her stories are filled with twists, action, romance.... if you have already read books my her then dont hesitate in buying this one as it is hugely enjoyable and i found it hard to put down towards the middle of the book... the one and only fault i found was at the start the book was a bit too slow for me... however this is only a small detail and should not stop you from buying this book...i would give the book 4 and a half if it allowed.