Product Description

A lonely young woman feels isolated from the world: she uses mirrors to reassure herself that she is still alive - and then they change her life when, one night, a young man appears through the mirror and persuades her to come with him to his own land, where mirrors are magical gateways to other places. This strange new land is in conflict, for war has been foretold, but the king appears completely uninterested in the fate of the world. It is left to the Imagers, masters of mirrors, try to decide the fate of the realm. Donaldson's firm control of the plot and his terrific characterisation make THE MIRROR OF HER DREAMS and the sequel, A MAN RIDES THROUGH, a story of great intrigue and psychological intricacy, filled with sexual tension, lust and love, as well as magic, battles and excitement. THE MIRROR OF HER DREAMS is a compelling read: a book that should be on every fantasy fan's shelf.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #194028 in Books
• Published on: 2007-01-18
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 992 pages

Customer Reviews

One of the very best
I first read these books some 20 years ago when first published. In my opinion they exceed even 'Covenant'! It is the best 'adult' fantasy I have ever read. The concept of mirror travel is detailed and fully realised allowing the story to flow logically. It is also beautifully plotted, though you may need to read it a couple of times to grasp all the threads! The heroine is, frankly, fantastic. In turn vulnerable, puzzled, sexy, powerful, she moves from the start where you want to just shake her out of her depression, to the major mover in the story that will have you cheering for her. Her scenes crackle with sexual energy and are fantastically well written. The hero begins as a hapless, would be magician, who grows throughout the story - not always in ways one would expect. Donaldson has taken the usual fantasy stereotypes and fashioned a tremendously original story. I use the term 'adult' advisedly. There is no description of any detail but the tension on the page jumps out and grabs you. I have this in two volumes - one would be nice and, if you do buy it (and if you like fantasy I strongly suggest you do) you will need to put away a day or two (and possibly a night) because I doubt you'll want to put it down. OH, and unlike the timeless series that we get now, it does finish!

Donaldson's first and best work to date.
It you're a fan of Donaldson then I think you'll really enjoy this novel, it's more traditional Fantasy than his Thomas Covenant series. Mordant's Need is still a Portal Fantasy but as with most others in this genre you don't see much of our world, which is something i'm glad for. As you would expect from Donaldson his writing is very good and his story telling ability is way up there with writers like Hobb and Jordan. My only bone of contention is that there wasn't enough battles or action, that being said it doesn't take away from the story being told or the quality of it.

The story starts in an apartment in New York city a young women called Terisa sits in front of her mirror when an amazing thing happens. Instead of seeing her own reflection in the mirror she sees the image of a young man, suddenly the mirror breaks and out fall the young man, his name is Geraden. He has come in search of a champion to help defend the Kingdom of Mordant he finds instead Terisa, here starts their story, a story of battles against armies and magic and strange beasts from other worlds a story of good and evil.

If you're a fan of Fantasy then this is a definite book to read, as are all of Donaldsons other Fantasy reads.

corrections/review
Just a couple of corrections to amazon's details: This book is actually 979 pages long rather than 570 stated. It's also extremely heavy (the pages are quite thick) making it difficult to hold up for long periods of time - it's probably preferable to get the two volumes separately if possible (unless you want to strengthen your hands while reading...).
The books themselves are excellent - although it takes a while for the action to get going the story never becomes dull due to the fantastic/detailed descriptions and character development.
In typical Donaldson style, all of the major characters are damaged goods giving them a little extra depth. Donaldson's writing style here is a little different to his other books - a little more accessible (less complex and not as dark as his others), so maybe a good place to start.