Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.63k reviews by:
booksandlists
I really expected to tear through The Universal Mirror with reckless abandon and complete disregard for the rest of the real world. Based on the summary and some other reviews, I figured it would be completely epic. Unfortunately, it fell somewhat short of epic for me, and I think I went into it with too many preconceived notions. However, that’s not to say I didn’t like it, because it was good, it just didn’t quite rock my world.
Cercia is an island that has a strong caste system, and a huge magical bent. In most cases, magicians are found in the upper classes, and trained at university. Rarely, someone from the merchant class is identified with magic and also trained. Ashael is one such merchant, who formed an unlikely friendship with Quentin in their school days, despite the differences in their social class. Years after university, Quentin is in the marriage that he wanted, but it’s miserable, and so he tries to find out if magic can be worked on living people, despite the fact that this practice is Heresy. As a noble, the chance that he’d be strictly punished is pretty slim, but he drags Ashael along on his quest, and the consequences are more than either man would have expected.
Quentin is noble to a “T” and the characterization is just fantastic. He’s a complete jerk to everyone, and a lot of his problems could have been solved by a simple rational conversation, rather than haring about the city trying to break magical laws. Ashael on the other hand is loyal, honorable, and hardworking, not to mention willing to risk everything to help his friend. Unfortunately for both of them, there’s a lot more going on in Cercia than they realized, and they’re walking right into the thick of it.
While The Universal Mirror wasn’t the obsessive page-turning read that I expected, it was definitely good, and puts a very different spin in the common use of magic in fiction. This book strikes me as historical and magical together, in the vein of The Sword of Truth. Definitely worth checking out!
Cercia is an island that has a strong caste system, and a huge magical bent. In most cases, magicians are found in the upper classes, and trained at university. Rarely, someone from the merchant class is identified with magic and also trained. Ashael is one such merchant, who formed an unlikely friendship with Quentin in their school days, despite the differences in their social class. Years after university, Quentin is in the marriage that he wanted, but it’s miserable, and so he tries to find out if magic can be worked on living people, despite the fact that this practice is Heresy. As a noble, the chance that he’d be strictly punished is pretty slim, but he drags Ashael along on his quest, and the consequences are more than either man would have expected.
Quentin is noble to a “T” and the characterization is just fantastic. He’s a complete jerk to everyone, and a lot of his problems could have been solved by a simple rational conversation, rather than haring about the city trying to break magical laws. Ashael on the other hand is loyal, honorable, and hardworking, not to mention willing to risk everything to help his friend. Unfortunately for both of them, there’s a lot more going on in Cercia than they realized, and they’re walking right into the thick of it.
While The Universal Mirror wasn’t the obsessive page-turning read that I expected, it was definitely good, and puts a very different spin in the common use of magic in fiction. This book strikes me as historical and magical together, in the vein of The Sword of Truth. Definitely worth checking out!
While I don’t generally gravitate to stories told in verse, I do love a good twist on a fairy tale, and I loved 8: The Previously Untold Story of the Unknown 8th Dwarf, so I was excited to read this new work from Mike Mullin, and I wasn’t disappointed.
The verse of Princess Penny didn’t flow as well to me as in 8, but the story was an interesting twist of traditional fairy tale roles, and modern times, with a cute and funny tone that kept me reading and chuckling to the very end.
Penny is a teenage princess who is constantly teased at school by the popular kids. She sets out to get revenge by hiring a witch, and got a lot more than she bargained for. The story is short and sweet, so it’s a really quick read, and definitely entertaining, especially for fans of fairytale retellings.
The verse of Princess Penny didn’t flow as well to me as in 8, but the story was an interesting twist of traditional fairy tale roles, and modern times, with a cute and funny tone that kept me reading and chuckling to the very end.
Penny is a teenage princess who is constantly teased at school by the popular kids. She sets out to get revenge by hiring a witch, and got a lot more than she bargained for. The story is short and sweet, so it’s a really quick read, and definitely entertaining, especially for fans of fairytale retellings.
This girl loves a good werewolf story, especially if the werewolves are snarky, or sexy. Hey, at least I’m honest. Bonds of Fenris had snarky down like you wouldn’t believe, and a new twist on werewolf lore to boot. I simply couldn’t put it down, and if you have any love for werewolves, you will check it out for yourself.
Talia survived a werewolf attack, but her life is still essentially over, because she can’t do anything that normal people do anymore. She had to leave her family to join her pack, because being around people makes the wolf stronger, and besides, it’s a bit hard to explain if you turn furry every month. But life in the pack isn’t all it’s cracked up to be either – tensions get high, the alpha is an entitled little brat, and there’s the challenge of trying to go to school and hold a job when the scent of people makes you think of food.
Then one night, she meets a lone wolf who is actual able to resume his human form at will on the full moon. As Talia’s hold on normal life gets more tenuous, she begs him to teach her how to control the wolf… But it will require her to completely change the way she views herself and her inner wolf.
I enjoyed every page of this book, both because of the awesome characters and plotline, and because it was simply a completely different take on werewolves that I found completely enthralling.
Talia survived a werewolf attack, but her life is still essentially over, because she can’t do anything that normal people do anymore. She had to leave her family to join her pack, because being around people makes the wolf stronger, and besides, it’s a bit hard to explain if you turn furry every month. But life in the pack isn’t all it’s cracked up to be either – tensions get high, the alpha is an entitled little brat, and there’s the challenge of trying to go to school and hold a job when the scent of people makes you think of food.
Then one night, she meets a lone wolf who is actual able to resume his human form at will on the full moon. As Talia’s hold on normal life gets more tenuous, she begs him to teach her how to control the wolf… But it will require her to completely change the way she views herself and her inner wolf.
I enjoyed every page of this book, both because of the awesome characters and plotline, and because it was simply a completely different take on werewolves that I found completely enthralling.
