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A Shadow on the Glass (View from the Mirror)
 
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A Shadow on the Glass (View from the Mirror) (Mass Market Paperback)

by Ian Irvine (Author)
3.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (26 customer reviews)
RRP: £8.99
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Frequently Bought Together

A Shadow on the Glass (View from the Mirror) + The Tower on the Rift (View from the Mirror) + Dark is the Moon (View from the Mirror)
Price For All Three: £20.97

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Product details

  • Mass Market Paperback: 608 pages
  • Publisher: Orbit (4 May 2000)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 1841490032
  • ISBN-13: 978-1841490038
  • Product Dimensions: 17.2 x 10.6 x 4 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (26 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 71,811 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Product Description

Amazon.co.uk Review
Magic pathways from world to world were a curse, making possible invasion and enslavement, and long ago those paths were closed leaving three worlds and the void between them a hopeless jumble of what had been and what is now. Ian Irvine's A Shadow on the Glass, first volume of his fantasy quartet "The View from the Mirror", takes us to one of those worlds and to two adventurers, a scholar and a psychic, who find themselves dragged into the conflicts of the mighty and the ambitious. Karan is blackmailed into helping steal a magic mirror, and finds herself on the run from warlords and warlocks; all that Llian wanted to do was find a great story to tell, and clarify some minor ambiguities in the archives of the college of storytellers--but he finds himself expelled and ostracised, and accompanying Karan on her breakneck journeys on high barrens and treacherous rivers. What Irvine brings to the mix is a sense of irony and some intelligent observation of character: Llian and Karan are not your average squeaky clean hero and heroine, and their opponents are hardly villainous, just people acting out the planned treacheries that seemed like a good idea. --Roz Kaveney

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

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What Do Customers Ultimately Buy After Viewing This Item?

A Shadow on the Glass (View from the Mirror)
76% buy the item featured on this page:
A Shadow on the Glass (View from the Mirror) 3.7 out of 5 stars (26)
£6.99
Dark is the Moon (View from the Mirror)
7% buy
Dark is the Moon (View from the Mirror) 3.9 out of 5 stars (7)
£6.99
The Tower on the Rift (View from the Mirror)
6% buy
The Tower on the Rift (View from the Mirror) 3.9 out of 5 stars (8)
£6.99
The Way Between the Worlds: v. 4 (View from the Mirror)
6% buy
The Way Between the Worlds: v. 4 (View from the Mirror) 4.8 out of 5 stars (6)
£6.99
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Customer Reviews

26 Reviews
5 star:
 (10)
4 star:
 (7)
3 star:
 (4)
2 star:
 (2)
1 star:
 (3)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
3.7 out of 5 stars (26 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars A mind-blowing start to a disappointing series., 27 Feb 2004
This was the very first Irvine book I ever read and to this day it remains one of my favorite books of all time. The characters are well developed and the plot is exceptionally involved. Unfortunately, some people may be put off as this book has a rather slow start, however, once it gets going you will not be able to put it down for hours! Irvine gives his characters huge scope and manages to develop all of them to a remarkable extent, while at the same time keeping the story going, unlike in so many other books when one comes at the expense of the other.
The story follows Lliam and Karan, the one a chronicler (a sort of poet/ scribe) the latter a poor landowner. Karan is coerced into stealing the mirror of the Archim, and there the story begins. Lliam is the archetypal anti-hero, while Karan is halfway in between. In this first book, the characters compliment each other well and, by the end of the book you will find yourself halfway to your local library or bookshop to read the next in the series.
If there is any criticism I would make, it is that Irvine advances his characters too much in this one book, and therefore is forced to make them regress back to what they were at the begining at the start of the second book. This makes the latter books in the series very dissapointing and almost as if they were in a different series. Therefore, while I would definitely advise you to read this book, I would also suggest that you think twice before buying any of the later books in the series, which are, at best, dissapointing.
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6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars Great Potential Wasted, 14 Oct 2006
The premise for the world is great, it has the "history" and soundly thought out base to back up what should have been a great novel. It is disappointing on almost every other level of being a story, however.

Plotline: would be good, but not all that much happens - I won't sum it up here, but it *can* be summarised in 3 sentences without missing much.

Narritive: there is, as someone else said, too much time spent on the "between the action" scenes - yet another example of a travel guide for a fantasy land. The author has "let's cover the whole map" syndrome as well.

Thought lines: the author doesn't seem to have grasped that sudden unexpected changes in the line of thought that he is writing is not appreciated by the reader - luckily this is only apparent at the start, he seems to have worked himself out of this annoying trait by the half-way mark.

Character point of view: most authors tell a story consistently from one character's point of view until they make a clear change (such as a blank line, new chapter, etc) to another point of view. This author will gardually shift from one to the next, giving the thoughts of one character in one paragraph and the thoughts of another in the next (and in one appalling case, two characters' thoughts in the same paragraph). This leads the reader to at first become confused after the switch and then, once they realise what has happened, they have been broken out of their immersement in the world. Poor style.

Introduction of modern words - oddities appear every now and then totally jarring with the theme that the author has worked so hard to immerse the reader in. It pulls the reader out and disturbs the reading experience.

Characters: mostly good development but occassional behavior seems out of place. I'd say that the characters are pretty average for this genre - nothing special.

All-in-all, it's an OK read - not bad enough to make me stop reading midway through - but given this four-book series, I'm not going to read anymore from this author.

Oh... an advance warning - the plotline for the second book is even worse. The ending of the second book is easy to guess once you've read about half of this book, the middle is obvious from the start of the second. Only the start of the second is unguessable.

Do you really want to waste your money buying four books that seem to get progressively worse? I'd not start. I would recommend to go to a bookshop, read the first chapter there and then to only buy this book if you *really* like that.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars Good premise, but execution is dull, 22 Sep 2006
All the elements of a good start to a fantasy series are here: a well-thought out world, clever plot devices, and an easy-to-read writing style. But something just doesn't work. Usually in this type of novel, you'll find lots of dramatic, plot-advancing moments, separated by transition periods. This author, however, seems to focus endlessly on the transition periods. Long, long stretches of text where characters struggle across the wilderness waiting to be caught, or sit captive in enemy fortresses waiting for something to happen...the plot is good, but there just isn't enough of it in any given chapter to keep the attention. A pity, because I think the basic idea is excellent. Worth giving it a try, but not if something better is available.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

1.0 out of 5 stars My first Ian Irvine book - and my last?
My method for choosing which fantasy book or series to read is straight forward and somewhat arbitrary. I look at the maps in the front of the book. Read more
Published 4 months ago by David XIII

5.0 out of 5 stars Outstanding Series - Read them all
I had never read a Fantasy book until I picked this up at a bookshop. I have to admit it was the cover that grabbed my attention, but once i started reading, i couldn't put it... Read more
Published 15 months ago by Jane Belcher

5.0 out of 5 stars unique fresh fantasy series!
If you are like me who vomits up over the plethora of mindless action/battles good vs evil cliche ridden fantasy. Read more
Published 16 months ago by Was it something I said????

1.0 out of 5 stars Pants
I'm a fantasy mad reader - I have just bought this book (second hand thankfully) and I'm giving up at page 141. Read more
Published 19 months ago by Fairy_Disturbed

3.0 out of 5 stars Great background, shame about the foreground
The action takes place in the world of Santhenar, one of three worlds now cut off from each other by the Forbidding. Read more
Published 20 months ago by Jeff

1.0 out of 5 stars Makes book burning an acceptable activity..
I picked this book up, along with all the other books in the series (and all four books in the "Well of echoes" set) for a whopping £2. Read more
Published 20 months ago by Stephen Neary

4.0 out of 5 stars A little unrealistic, good opening book
I will be brief.

I got this book in a book shop having been sufficiently impressed by the first 5 pages or so. Read more
Published 22 months ago by Jamalius Greenwash

4.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant...but sometimes there is too much sufference
This is one of the best books I ever read. The author must be rewarded for being capable of composing the story like a puzzle, with union, separation and re-union of characters,... Read more
Published on 3 May 2005 by Mr. M. A. Tedone

2.0 out of 5 stars Big potential gone bad
This story is based around on a special young woman, Karan who is forced to pay of an old debt by aiding in the theft of a valuable mirror. Read more
Published on 1 Mar 2003 by Alinko

4.0 out of 5 stars Hunted.
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). Read more
Published on 12 Feb 2003 by Stephanie Noverraz

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