"A really fine fantasy"
Three worlds (Santhenar, Aachan and Tallallamem) had
passages that allowed humans to travel between them.
However, out of the void came the bellicose Charon who
conquered Aachan. The war forced the closing of the bridges
that linked the three orbs. On each world lives natives and
aliens from the other worlds. In common among the three
worlds are a deep fear of the Charon and a desire of those
left on the wrong world to return home. On Santhenar the chronicler Llian makes known the contents
of top secret documents that contain dangerous information
from a more magical era. His release of them turns him into
an ostracized pariah among his peers. The psychic Karen is
forced into stealing the magic Mirror of Aachan, an
artifact that can save or destroy worlds. Soon afterward
everyone on planet and some beings that are off-planet are
after Karen. After meeting Llian, who joins her in flight,
Karen struggles to survive. The first book in Ian Irvine's "The View from the Mirror"
series is a complex, well-written science fiction fantasy
that takes readers on a wild graphic trip into a strange
universe. Santhenar and the key cast seem genuine and the
concept of passages between tri-worlds appears real because
of the tremendous depth of description, but that also slows
down the epic a bit. This reviewer is disappointed that A
SHADOW ON THE GLASS is not a stand-alone tale as the
adventures continue with volume 2 THE TOWER OF THE RIFT
that will arrive in bookstores in January 2002 or can
currently
purchased along with 3 and 4 over the net. Harriet Klausner
Reviewed by PNR Group Member
Posted June 21, 2001
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