TITLE:  The Goblin Mirror

AUTHOR:  C.J. Cherryh

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DESCRIPTION:

" To the princes of Maggiar, over-mountain was a land they knew only from gran's stories; few people in their little kingdom had ever ventured so far from their valley. But now the wizard Karoly announced that he must make the journey there to seek advice from his witch-sister. For things hadn't been right in Maggiar this last season, not right at all... The princes Tamas and Bogdan were to go with Karoly, along with the huntsman Nikolai. Yuri, the youngest prince, chafed at being left behind. So when Tamas' dog chased after his master, Yuri followed. Soon the young prince had traveled far enough into the woods to wonder if he might not catch up with his brothers after all. His brothers had worries of their own. No sooner were they over-mountain, than their party was ambushed and scattered. The kingdoms they had come to find had all been ravaged. The goblins had declared war. Tamas, separated from the rest, fell in with Ela, a witch's apprentice. He found himself caught up in a battle of magic. For Ela held a shard broken off the goblin queen's mirror, a mere fragment that could wield a magic so strong and unpredictable that no other witch dared touch it. With this single sliver of magic, Ela planned to challenge the goblin queen herself... "

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REVIEW:

Not the best fantasy novel C.J. Cherryh has ever written, but still one of the best novels I've read in a while.  The writing is beautiful and atmospheric.  This novel has a Russian flavour making it a bit more exotic.  The characters (including the non-human ones) all have distinct personalities.  The plot is a bit simplistic but the wonderful writing makes up for it.  Not to mention Azdra'ik, the Goblin.  She could have written a whole novel about this guy.

POTENTIAL SPOILERS FOLLOW (Spoilers for Little Women, not The Mirror and the Light. I know that sounds weird. Just go with it.)

There's an episode of Friends where Rachel finds a copy of The Shinning in Joey's freezer. The discussion that follows leads to Joey reading Rachel's favorite book Little Women. Eventually there's an incident that ends with Rachel spoils the book for Joey by telling him Beth dies. A shocked Joey exclaims "Is that true?!? If I keep reading will Beth die?!?" His friends assure him this isn't actually true. Later we find a distressed Joey. "Beth is really sick. Jo is there but I don't think it's going to matter." 

The Mirror and the Light was my Little Women. For the last 150 pages, I was Joey. "If I keep reading, will Cromwell die?!?" Just because I knew it was coming, doesn't mean I was ready for it. Now I'm not entirely sure what I should do with my life.

---I had so many more thoughts on this book. However, BL decided to eat my review three times and I don't have the patience to deal with it right now.-----

Dates read 4/14/2020-6/18/2020

Book 40/75

by Anthony M. Strong

A student goes scrounging college trash jeeps at the end of term to find treasures the rich kids have thrown away and among them finds an interesting mirror with a carved face and gold leaf. He takes it home and shows it to his nymphomaniac girlfriend when she comes over, who is rather unimpressed.

Some stories you don't have to see the author's name to recognise that it is written by a man. But ignoring that, I like the way the Horror aspect of this started out subtle. Mirror stories are often predictably the same in general and this was no different in that it was found in the way it was and the first inkling that something's going on comes in the form of a sound and a quick glimpse.

However, it did have some original twists and for a short story, it was reasonably good. The end was predictable, but done in a way that showed some skill. Not a bad effort.

by Michael Scott

I was really anticipating reading this story because the plot sounded like just the sort of Horror I really like. I'm not sure what I expected, but I soon found that it earned it's Horror tag with some gruesome deaths and horrific supernatural occurrences.

An antique dealer in Los Angeles buys a very old mirror for a bargain price while on a buying trip in London. Soon after he gets it home, the mysterious deaths start to happen and a rough looking man shows up, attempting to buy the mirror, even resorting to threats. Despite tragedies among his own employees, the antique dealer doesn't want to sell to this unpleasant man.

Police investigate but find it increasingly difficult to come up with rational explanations for the deaths.

The characters are strong in this and the plot fast moving. I found it a little more gory than I generally like and a lot of the swearing seemed unnecessary, but it kept my attention with morbid fascination.

The one thing I thought didn't work well was introducing historic characters into some of the back story, although the author's note at the end explained why. The trouble with using known personages and glamorous words like 'Alchemy' is that a certain percentage of readers will have background knowledge that doesn't fit with the fictional use and that can interfere with flow and suspension of belief.

Despite this, the story had its scary moments and didn't fall into predictable outcomes. A sub plot involving the main character's family was neatly woven into the main plot and kept me wondering who would survive to the end. The last few chapters were one of those 'let dinner burn, I'm reading!' moments when I found it very difficult to stop and I got most of the way through before I guessed the final outcome.

Ritual sex, graphic gore and occult sensationalism play a part so mature audience only, but a really good read.

This was the first of two manuscripts finished by Brad Strickland after the death of John Bellairs in 1991. I haven't read a full biography, I don't know if there even is one, but it seems to me from Bellairs' focus on Johnny Dixon through the '80s tells me that these manuscripts were likely experiments and wouldn't have seen publication. The only full posthumous work he left was 'The Mansion in the Mist', a rare Anthony Monday book, and one of his all-time best works.

Rose Rita and Lewis had reached a point in their relationship where certain realities were gonna have to be addressed if their friendship was going to continue. Romantic feelings, even if Rose Rita and Lewis were going to stay platonic, were not Bellairs' territory. He left them behind for good reason. 

That said, this is a Rose Rita book and that means its great. Stuck in New Zebedee with a broken ankle while Lewis and Jonathan are in Europe, she makes plans with Mrs. Zimmerman to go on a road trip as soon as she can travel. Mrs. Zimmerman has been feeling the loss of her magic and needs a distraction. Of course, she has a supernatural ulterior motive: a message from her long-passed teacher in a magic mirror tells her that if she rights a great wrong she will find her powers.

Bessy, Mrs. Zimmerman's car, transports the two to the 1830's and seemingly strands them there. What is the wrong they need to correct, and is there a more sinister motive to their being lured into the past?

This was fun, but adult me couldn't get over the lack of period details. The farm family don't speak in 19th century fashion and there are a lot of things like individual bedrooms for the whole, extended family that didn't seem right. Bellairs often inserted obscure bits of 1950s nostalgia into his books in the way of radio programs and defunct candy bars as way to introduce modern readers to a past way of life, and Strickland didn't come up with an 1830s equivalent.

The other nagging detail is I've always felt, even when I read these as they came out in the early '90s, is that 'Vengeance of the Witch-Finder' should really come first. They happen simultaneously, sort of, but the pace would really work better if their order was switched. As their written now, reading them that way spoils 'Ghost in the Mirror', but Strickland could have changed that. 

Lewis & Rose Rita

Next: 'The Vengeance of the Witch-Finder'

Previous: 'The Letter, the Witch and the Ring'