Rating: 
Summary: Barely worth the effort
Review: Forget the hyped reviews this is a very average fantasy book with poorly drawn characters and bad dialogue It should have worked. The world seems to be well thought out, the action is reasonable and nothing (except the writing) is too corny... The book is completely undermined by the boring prose and the prosaic bores. Now I do not enjoy an author who does not trust the reader enough to allow him to read between the lines. There are no lines to read between in this book. Every sentence is written in a very stilted fashion, and Irvine constantly interrupts his flow with an aside that would, given time, have become perfectly obvious. It seems Irvine was too attached to his work, too anxiously trying to control what the reader thinks and imagines whilst reading, leaving the book contrived and overwritten. So although I will probably wonder what happens, (it does SOUND interesting, it just doesn't READ interesting) I couldn't bear to read and find out.
Rating:
Summary: A Shadow on the Glass
Review: Another would-be epic by another would-be Tolkien. "A Shadow on the Glass" is not wholly without merit, but it does overstay its welcome with thin characters and poor writing. Karan and Llian are our girl-and-boy pair on the run, desperately trying to prevent various villains from getting the magic thingamajig - a mirror in this particular case. Meanwhile, a bevy of senior wizards and sorceresses are still trying to resolve some dispute that dates back thousands of years, though you'll have to shell out for the sequel to find out what it is. In truth, the plotting of this is reasonably good. It's the characters that are the problem. Karan is either a portrait of schizophrenia or else Irvine couldn't decide what personality he wanted for her. Sometimes she's bold and leaderlike, other times she's timid and depressed. Llian at first seems like he might be worth reading about, as he gets thrown out of school and forced to struggle with some incorrect assumptions he had made. Unfortunately this never really pans out, and he soon turns into a standard-issue hero. Minor characters don't improve the situation much. And then there's the writing. All of our characters seem to have studied at the comic book school of speech technique. Stock lines such as "I feel like we're being watched" and "What you need to know I will tell you in good time" pop up everywhere. Major violations of the 'show, don't tell rule', unsubtle foreshadowing (Karan keeps announcing that "Great woe will come of it"), poor pictures of emotions, lame action scenes ... "A Shadow on the Glass" is not a total disaster. It does at least feature a big and complicated story that's not wholly predictable. But in the final analysis, there's no there there. There's no reason to keep plowing through it when you can't care about any of the characters. Aspect Fantasy, home to some of the best authors discovered in the past few years, has never let me down before, but any way you slice it there's no excusing this turkey.
Rating: 
Summary: For anyone who can stand an intelligent bit of fiction. :)
Review: Don't listen to anyone who would have you ignore this series. The View from the mirror, (and therefore A Shadow on the Glass) is quite possibly one of the greatest fantasy sagas out there. The unique blend of excruciatingly in depth world design, coupled with an array characters to whom an audience can really connect raise Irvine's story to, at very least, the quality of your classic Fantasy tales, like Lord of the Rings. What really push's Irvine's story beyond this however is the unique attempt at not biasing the story to any one point of view. In "The View From The Mirror" there is no good or evil (unless the reader makes this decision themselves), but rather a gridlock of races and characters with opposing needs, and ideals, all of which are valid in their own right. The series will allow you to experience an epic tale, complete with love, action, mystery, and everything that life has to offer. You wont be able to put the book down, until you have to reach for your wallet to buy the next! (the moral? Buy them all at once ^_^) A great gift, just be careful not to crease the pages in a vice grip of eagre anticipation whilst "examining it" before you give it away. ;) 6 out of 5, 12 out of 10, and 120%
Rating: 
Summary: Plot line that pulls you in
Review: I have to admit no book has ever kept me reading after I found some parts boring and the writing less than perfect. The writing was ok, and there were parts that were kind of slow. However, the ordinality was AMAZING!! If I could i would give the plot 5 stars. The story is soo interesting because there is absolutely NO foreshadow so as I am reading I have no idea what to expect. I am just stunned at how different and fresh a book like this is. The characters are well done, maybe a little too well done. Karan for example, has more emotions enough for three humans. Llian is a personal favorite, he is so cool. Karan is starting to grow on me, especially at the end. I have never really read a true fantasy romance story, so this should be interesting. It is a nice change to see two main characters heavily described and followed, unlike some other fantasy were there is a fixed group of people. The other characters just keep coming and going, with no fixation. The other characters are just wonderful. I love the fact that most of them are neither good nor evil. All of them play such an interesting role in the big picture, effecting the actions of Karan and Llian. I did have trouble finishing this book, If you have ever read 'Golden Compass' (by Philip Pullman), then you can relate. The first book was kind of hard for me to get hooked on, but the other two kept me going. I hope it is the same with this book, the writing just isn't hooking me. However the plot is just so stunning that I will keep reading the other three, if only to find out what happens.
Rating: 
Summary: Worthwhile but not epic
Review: I picked this book up at my local bookshop mainly because I was desperate for something new to read. The introduction grabbed me and propelled me forward a few chapters. But then the plot started to drag. I actually did enjoy A Shadow on the Glass. I've never read a plot quite like this one. The idea of the Mirror, the compulsory "powerful but tainted object," was not entirely original but proved interesting nonetheless. Karan, the lead female protagonist, went under a multitude of transformations, some of them heart-breaking. Her moods, however, appeared to change with startling frequency. I didn't really feel connected to her because every time I'd drawn a conclusion about who she was, she changed abruptly. This book is very, very slow for awhile. I admit that I might have given up on it if the settings and vivid descriptions had been as fragile as some of the characters such as Llian, the male lead, who seemed to fall asleep and wake up a hero. Other parts of the novel were rewarding, however; Shazmak, for instance, where the reader learns a whole host of new things (and the Whelm are barely mentioned). Maigraith, another key character, was my favorite by far and I thought her very well done. On the whole, I must agree with the bulk of the reviews. Generally A Shadow on the Glass has good characters, good plot, and great settings, but was written poorly. A re-edited version of the story could go a long way. If you're prepared to take awhile getting through a book, this one is for you. If you're after a fast-paced fantasy with solid characters, read David Eddings' Belgariad instead.
Rating:
Summary: A Shadow on the Glass
Review: Another would-be epic by another would-be Tolkien. "A Shadow on the Glass" is not wholly without merit, but it does overstay its welcome with thin characters and poor writing. Karan and Llian are our girl-and-boy pair on the run, desperately trying to prevent various villains from getting the magic thingamajig - a mirror in this particular case. Meanwhile, a bevy of senior wizards and sorceresses are still trying to resolve some dispute that dates back thousands of years, though you'll have to shell out for the sequel to find out what it is. In truth, the plotting of this is reasonably good. It's the characters that are the problem. Karan is either a portrait of schizophrenia or else Irvine couldn't decide what personality he wanted for her. Sometimes she's bold and leaderlike, other times she's timid and depressed. Llian at first seems like he might be worth reading about, as he gets thrown out of school and forced to struggle with some incorrect assumptions he had made. Unfortunately this never really pans out, and he soon turns into a standard-issue hero. Minor characters don't improve the situation much. And then there's the writing. All of our characters seem to have studied at the comic book school of speech technique. Stock lines such as "I feel like we're being watched" and "What you need to know I will tell you in good time" pop up everywhere. Major violations of the 'show, don't tell rule', unsubtle foreshadowing (Karan keeps announcing that "Great woe will come of it"), poor pictures of emotions, lame action scenes ... "A Shadow on the Glass" is not a total disaster. It does at least feature a big and complicated story that's not wholly predictable. But in the final analysis, there's no there there. There's no reason to keep plowing through it when you can't care about any of the characters. Aspect Fantasy, home to some of the best authors discovered in the past few years, has never let me down before, but any way you slice it there's no excusing this turkey.
Rating:
Summary: Refreshing
Review: The View from the Mirror quartet is one of the best fantasies I have read. It has wonderful depth and character development, and keeps you guessing to the end. Looking foward to Irvine's new quartet, to release in the US within two years, called "The Well of Echoes."
Rating: 
Summary: Painfully bad
Review: This is one of the worst written books I've ever read.
It's so bad, it's painfully bad. I read parts aloud
to my wife as a laugh. One scene in particular near the start stands out...
One of the characters (a while since I tossed the book
across the room so I can't remember the name) is talking
to a woman on a hill (she sought him out). For three
pages or so he sprouts monologue to her with no more than the
occasional few words from her regardless of what he says,
then she ups and leaves. Talk about information dumping! I am convinced this book was published without editing.
Rating:
Summary: Good Story; Poor Teller
Review: I gave one star for the story, as there is a good one in there. Unfortunately, the author does a poor job of telling it. His protagonists are pathetic, not sympathetic. Other characters are angry, greedy, power-mad, and/or full of lust, and are not compelling. To train a person as a type of bard, a profession likely to involve a lot of travel, during an era with a breakdown of the rule of law, and not train him in martial arts for self-protection, makes the school inept and the story untenable. The other main protagonist, with no skill, takes on many highly skilled warriors and magicians from numerous camps and continues to foil them on luck only, making the story untenable. The author's writing style gets in the way of the story. Dialogue is stilted. The word flow is rough and trite, and gets in the way of seeing the setting. Characterizations are flat. Perhaps if the author worked with a qualified fantasy writer and re-released the book, it would be worth reading.
Rating:
Summary: Not too bad...
Review: I felt compelled to write to stick up for Ian and his books. I've read all 4 back to back and while the plot is epic and the worlds are very well developed, some of the characters are a little thin. It almost seems like Ian was a little too concerned with developing his world and overlooked a few of his key players. To his credit Ian doesn't paint anyone as black or white, there don't seem to be any true heroes or villains as everyone is a different shade of grey. However at the end of the story I felt as if that was precisley the problem-the books lacked a hero who stood up and took charge of the situation. I understand that Ian was trying to create fallible heroes but I guess it didn't work for me. On the plus side, I found the "bad" wizards to be the most intriguing characters. Ian has some great ideas which I thought were truly original. If you can get through the first book then I think you'll enjoy the other three.
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