Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #85777 in Books
• Published on: 2000-05-04
• Binding: Mass Market Paperback
• 608 pages

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

THE WEST AUSTRALIAN
'Irvine has built a history and wonderful culture for his vivid world. His first novel vibrates with originality'

Synopsis
Once there were three worlds, each with their own people. Then, fleeing out of the void, on the edge of extinction, came the Charon. And the balance changed for ever. With A SHADOW ON THE GLASS, Book One of A View from the Mirror, a major new fantasy epic begins. Karan, a sensitive with a troubled past, is forced to steal an ancient relic in payment for a debt. But she is not told that the relic is, in fact, the Mirror of Aachan, a twisted, deceitful thing that remembers everything it has seen. Llian, meanwhile, a brilliant chronicler, is expelled from his college for uncovering a perilous mystery.Thrown together by fate, Karan and Llian are hunted across a world at war, for the Mirror contains a secret of incredible power. More information on this book and others can be found on the Orbit website at www.orbitbooks.co.uk

Customer Reviews

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 down. The characters are well formed and the story flows majestically! Following Karan on her journey would make an amazing film that would rival Lord of the Rings any day! Ian Irvine is a fabulous writer and once you've started reading his books it is hard to stop - i am now a strong fan!

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. then this is for you, it's not and all out action romp which makes it special. The detail is so intense it draws you in, and the characters well formed.

Also there is not a elf, pointy hat topped wizard or any fricken' dragons.

truly unique, that's why either people love or hate this series. If you want fricken' dragons and all that rubbish don't come here I'm warning you :)

Pants
I'm a fantasy mad reader - I have just bought this book (second hand thankfully) and I'm giving up at page 141. This really is a boring slow uneventful book, there's hardly any detail surrounding anything in the book (plot, characters etc) and to be honest the writing style is unbelievably simple and almost child-like in my view. Perhaps fantasy writers have a lot to live up to with amazing authors such as Robert Jordan (rest in peace), Terry Goodkind and Terry Brooks on the scene. Oh and I would definitely include Trudi Canavan to that list.

Definitely not one for me.