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Most helpful customer reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
very cool,
By annie (san jose, CA USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Mirror of Her Dreams (Paperback)
i recently went on a camping trip and my friend lent me the two mordant's needs books and they were so great! i love the book.. it has adventure, suspense, romance, and everything! i couldn't put the books down and finished them both in 5 days. this one and the second book are so cool.
5.0 out of 5 stars
A tale on morality,
By Angeline Koh (Singapore) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Mirror of Her Dreams (Paperback)
Donaldson uses the love story between Terisa and Geraden as a framework to explore complex themes. The tale is set in a medieval fantasy realm where Terisa and Geraden are part of a larger community that strive to serve their king (King Joyse) and save Geraden's home, Mordant.The novel explores various Christian themes of servanthood and leadership. King Joyse uses a bewildering technique in defeating his enemies. He chooses to appear mad and alienates his friends and family on purpose, so as to determine his real enemies. A large portion of "A mirror rides through" is devoted to this confusing issue on whether or not the King Geraden serves is working for or against Mordant. The novel has a very clear cut idea on what "evil" and "good" is, but Donaldson is very skilful to create confusion on what is "good" or "true" for both the reader and Terisa in the first book by bringing in the arrogant Master Eremis (who doesn't seem quite so bad until the end of the series). The good characters are always humble and placing a greater good over their individual selves while the "bad" characters are proud and self-absorbed. The skill he displays in characterisation of the evil characters is applause worthy. Master Eremis could be any man you meet in your life. Master Eremis is not unlikeable. It is his actions (not his personality) that are unlikeable and destructive to others. But as I said before, Donaldson is very subtle with the "good" and "evil" binary. I am not usually a fantasy reader, but this book is so well written that I finished the series within a week! His writing is fluid and unified so that by the end of the series every loose end is tied up. There are also some moments (usually character's thoughts or dialogue) when Donaldson's writing shines through in beautiful clarity (a bit like CS Lewis). The issues that Donaldson raises in the series, of love, loyalties, weakness, strength, power and responsibility make it worthy of a slower and more pleasurable re-reading.
2.0 out of 5 stars
Good premise, horribly flat characters,
By A Customer
This review is from: Mirror of Her Dreams (Mass Market Paperback)
The main plot device was kind of "cute"- the mirrors and the translations. The mystery regarding which characters were good, which were evil, and whether goodness or badness mattered as long as they were trying to save Mordant (and should Mordant really be saved) was well written. Almost all the characters were terribly flat, however. Teresa is completely one-dimensional and her stupidity is sickening. I'm not saying that there aren't people like her in the world, just that no one wants to read about them. Instead of developing her as a character, the author repeats over and over how she had always felt non-existant and how she wasn't used to power and how she absolutely couldn't resist whenever anyone smiled at her or touched her. One gets the feeling that if the cook had been the first person in the book to smile at her, she would have spent the rest of her time in the kitchen and the story would never have been finished. If you've ever read the (excellent and highly recommended!) Song of Ice and Fire books by GRR Martin, reading this book was like reading nothing but Sansa's viewpoints, only less refined, less observant, and less eloquent and articulate.
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