With The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, Stephen R. Donaldson changed the face of fantasy fiction forever. In The Mirror of Her Dreams, the astonishing first novel in the two-volume Mordant’s Need series, Donaldson shows us a world of wondrous beauty and seductive illusion, where mirrors hold the deadliest of magics and nothing is what it seems. . . . The daughter of rich but neglectful … The daughter of rich but neglectful parents, Terisa Morgan lives alone in a New York City apartment, a young woman who has grown to doubt her own existence. Surrounded by the flat reassurance of mirrors, she leads an unfulfilled life—until the night a strange man named Geraden comes crashing through one of her mirrors, on a quest to find a champion to save his kingdom of Mordant from a pervasive evil that threatens the land. Terisa is no champion. She wields neither magic nor power. And yet, much to her own surprise, when Geraden begs her to come back with him, she agrees.
Now, in a culture where women are little more than the playthings of powerful men, in a castle honeycombed with secret passages and clever traps, in a kingdom threatened from without and within by enemies able to appear and vanish out of thin air, Terisa must become more than the pale reflection of a person. For the way back to Earth is closed to her. And the enemies of Mordant will stop at nothing to see her dead.
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One of my favourite fantasy book series. (I don’t recommend his other series though, just this one).
A Man Rides Through This is a review of both these books as they’re a package deal. Donaldson is better known for his Tomas Covenant series of books that span three separate series and they’re wonderful. And yet… These two books are the hidden gem amongst a volume of great work. Why? Because in two books you’re dealing with quality of both scope and depth of an artist at his best. The premise starts off simply and for the first twenty to fourty pages you’ll be wondering if your not staring at a blank mirror yourself. But after that? What he did in three series over the span of a lifetime… He draws you in with two deceptively looking coals that turn into diamonds. @dandy
This two-book series is one of my all-time favorites. I have read them at least five times over the past 30 years. Interestingly enough, I just loaned out my copies to a fairly new reader!
Read long ago but Donaldson creates the greatest worlds. He was my favourite author for many decades.
I thought this two part series was much better than the Thomas Covenant series. The characters are much more believable, you want to not only know what comes next but care what happens next, and the premise is just off reality enough to intrigue.
The reason for the 4 star rating is that I am somewhat turned off by heroes/heroines who are too passive or do things that put them into the “too stupid to survive” category. The heroine isn’t *quite* in that category, but was close enough for me to knock a star off an otherwise original and interesting work.
While the heroine has lived her life “fading” instead of living, her translation from our world into another which has mirror magic finally convinces her to step up and fight for who and what she wants. Not complete without the sequel, A Man Rides Through.
A great story particularly with the sequel A Man Rides Through
Excellent! I’ve read it before and it was like new again.
I’ll try to remember to come back after I reread this, but this is one of those books that I borrowed from the library in a previous town, the plot and characters stuck with me… but the title and author didn’t. I read copiously and I forget a lot; I can picture where the book was on the shelf, and what wall the shelf was on, and what room the shelf was in, but never fear, Book Bub is here. Anyway, I remember liking it a lot, enough to recommend it to fantasy fans, but I don’t remember a lot of details, sorry.
I read this book many years ago. Introduced it to my daughter who reads it about once a year. Great story.
Donaldson is a great fantasy writer. I read allot of his books 40 years ago and I’m finding that re- reading them now is just as enjoyable today as they were so many years ago.
One of my favorite books
Great book and be sure to read the sequel.
This book is great! I read it a few years ago, and recently rediscovered it. I enjoyed it the first read and now years later appreciate it again.
Both books in this series are excellent. A great story, but you have to read both books. Wonderful, strong heroine and an unsuspecting hero.
Read this series in paperback form. Great writing, with complex believable characters and a story that you’ll want to read in one sitting. There’s a lot packed into a couple of books. Highly recommend and hope you enjoy them as much as I did.
Love Donaldson. This medieval tale is great.