Rating: 
Summary: He delivers what he says he delivers...
Review: This is a review of the series
I love the premise and plot of "The View from the Mirror". I like the characters from the series. I don't like the writing. Ian Irvine, in an interview about the series that I read online (and I'm sorry, I can't remember the URL for this interview), said that he kept thinking of the most preposterous, dangerous situations to get his characters into and then write their way out of said situations. The first two books certainly read like that. One situation after another with no solid or seeming connection between them. This leads the reader on a huge wild goose chase through the first two books (I returned the third and fourth). Irvine TELLS a great, complicated fantasy story. But that's my problem with the writing. He tells, he doesn't show. Irvine consistently says, "and then this happened, and then this, and, oh yeah, that happened too." It was like he had these WONDERFUL mental images in his head and he only let us see the action and the surface level of images!!! And the series need someone to truly edit it. Very often I found gaps in the action. Such as when Llian is escaping from Thurkad in the second book:
"Finally, the man [an Aachim] stopped, propped Llian against a tree and disappeared.
Llian tried to ease this thirst with handfuls of snow. It made his teeth hurt but the thirst was unabated. He leaned back and endured. He could do nothing more. There was nothing more to be seen but snow and wind-writhen pines, and stark outcrops of shiny gray schist feathered in lichen.
It was not so cold, nothing like the journey to Shazmak had been, but Llian's feet were frigid blocks. His body could not seem to make any warmth. Snow continued to fall. He had no idea where they were. At dusk, which at this time of the year was around five o'clock, the Aachim unwrapped a packet and shaved slices off the black lump inside." HEY WAIT!!! two short paragaphs ago, that Aachim "disappeared"!!! The whole first two books have small moments like that that jerked me out of the story. Or he mislabeled places, such as when they are in Thurkad, and he consistently gives the name of another city, Shazmak. Now upon careful looking at the map, I *think* that the river that goes past Shazmak empties out by Thurkad, but how hard would it have been to write "the river from Shazmak"? So that all the while I'm working to learn these new place names, he's using them seemingly interchangeably, which doesn't help me. All in all, I have to give this two stars. Both of those are for the plot, which is wonderfully complicated and fully realized. Unfortunately, the writing doesn't live up to the plot's level, hence the three missing stars... Sorry Ian, it was a good effort!
Rating: 
Summary: Different and Engaging
Review: Most fantasy nowadays is so formulaic--wizards and warriors, one-dimensional characters, and plots that steal heavily from Tolkien and his derivatives. Only a few authors have been able to break out of the usual shell of the fantasy genre and still produce good books. Ian Irvine is one of them. The View from the Mirror quartet presents an epic fantasy in which there is no absolute black and white, the characters are deep but human (and in many cases flawed), and the world is rich, beautiful, immersive, and most importantly believable. If you're looking for fantasy novels that aren't just hack-n-slash or "kill the evil wizard, save the world," then the View from the Mirror quartet are the books for you!
Rating:
Summary: An incredible book
Review: "A shadow on the glass" is an incredible read. The storyline is thick with details and full of character development. Having read the quartet twice, i found upon re-reading this novel that even the slightest detail mentioned in this book comes back with greater ramifications later on in the story. I found the backdrop of Santhenar and the history of the three worlds a refreshing hight in the often bottom-of-the-barrel trash one usually finds in the fantacy genre. Cleverly, Irvine avoids the formula plot that many fantacies succumb to, by not having any set antagonists. His characters are real and life-like, and the history and culture created for this novel is incredible. I heartily recomend this to anyone who can read.
Rating:
Summary: A fantasy author who can actually write good characters
Review: Here's a rare thing - a fantasy book in which the characters are rounded and realistic. No-one is wholly evil, just as no-one is wholly good. Relationships form, change, collapse, and reform. Set against a rich, fully fleshed-out world, this series is superb; easily the best fantasy fiction I have read. Highly recommended if you like both fantasy and 'serious' fiction.
Rating:
Summary: Boring ... a big disappointment.
Review: As much as i respect Ian Irvine's effort in writing this book i have to say that, "A Shadow on the Glass," is a big disappointment. I have read many fantasy novels by numerous authors and none of them not even the worst of them was as bad as this one was. For example, Ian goes on and on describing the surroundings in so, so much detail that made me feel dizzy and sleepy! Then there is this problem of stretching the story of one character for so long! He talks about Karan and her confrontation with the Whelms chapter after chapter after chapter! I thought it'll never end! Excitement level = Zero. I threw the book away just before reaching half way because i got so bored. It just didn't have the "It grabbed me from the start" element.
Rating: 
Summary: Kinda grew on me
Review: This book started out like much of the modern fantasy I've been reading lately - not bad, but not good enough to invest my time and money in the whole four-book series. However, after my initial resistance, I found myself being pulled into Irvine's world. The continued suspense as he skillfully changed perspective kept me reading until I reached the incredible cliffhanger ending - I actually gasped in shocked dismay because I didn't have the second book yet. I was also impressed with the characterization - all of the central characters (as well as most of the peripheral ones) have real, human motivations. They are painted in shades of gray rather than the black and white common to most fantasy. A quality beginning to what promises to be a very entertaining series.
Rating:
Summary: a complete world-vision
Review: This series is a welcome diversion from the standard entertaining swords & sorcery/fantasy genre. (which I DO enjoy; don't get the wrong idea) If you drop the expectation of endless action & immerse yourself in feeling/visualizing these cultures, you'll have a much better time! I sometimes get bogged down in the endless military strategy descriptions most authors focus on. There are times you want to shake, beat, or just annihilate certain people in this cast- but this IS human nature! We can rise in the most inopportune moment and fall at the smallest absurdity!
Rating:
Summary: A slow start, but a good read
Review: Some of my favorite books started very slow and difficult to follow. But in the end, I ended up loving them. A Shadow on the Glass is no exception. By the middle of the book I couldn't put it down and looked forward to my next opportunity to pick it up. I started reading it by accident (it was the only non-romance novel at a train station paperback exchange) but by the end was sold and went out and bought the next three books to read. The book is worth the wait and overall, I do recommend it.
Rating:
Summary: Mediocre, a bit tedious
Review: This book starts of with a great first chapter, then it starts to [downfall]. The characters are quite hollow. At first, you think that Karan is weak and a crying [baby], always complaining when she is taken south by Maigraith , But then suddenly she can escape from some stupid bad guys who have trained all their life to kill and serve, after having her blood sucked on by a thousand leeches and having a broken wrist. It gets quite annoying in the middle of the book when Karan keeps on going insane. Its also annoying that she and Llian keep on fighting and then getting back together, they do this about four or five times and they always seem to be changing their traits. Ex. Llian, a chronicler who probably has never fought before in his life is able to knock down Vartilla, A battle trained Whelm while deciding to burn down the building he's in at the same time. Some more things I don't like about the book is that Karan always seems to be running away and that Faelamor and everyone else, (Yggur and Mendark) think that Karan is such a threat being of the 3 different worlds but she doesn't do much to show it. Another thing is that there are very little battles. I like books when there are some battles where generals discuss logistics, like in the books that Feist, Jordan, Goodkind, and especially George R. R. Martin possess. In this book it's always Karan trying to fend four or five whelm off with a dagger.(Im not sure if this book mentions the word "sword") One thing I did like about this book was the blurring of good and evil although Martin does a better job than Irvine.
If you have read Jordan, Goodkind, Feist or Martin you will NOT like this book. If you haven't, then read them first because they are a LOT better.
Rating:
Summary: Mediocre, a bit tedious
Review: This book starts of with a great first chapter, then it starts to [be bad]. The characters are quite hollow. At first, you think that Karan is weak and a crying [baby], always complaining when she is taken south by Maigraith , But then suddenly she can escape from some stupid bad guys who have trained all their life to kill and serve, after having her blood sucked on by a thousand leeches and having a broken wrist. It gets quite annoying in the middle of the book when Karan keeps on going insane. Its also annoying that she and Llian keep on fighting and then getting back together, they do this about four or five times and they always seem to be changing their traits. Ex. Llian, a chronicler who probably has never fought before in his life is able to knock down Vartilla, A battle trained Whelm while deciding to burn down the building he's in at the same time. Some more things I don't like about the book is that Karan always seems to be running away and that Faelamor and everyone else, (Yggur and Mendark) think that Karan is such a threat being of the 3 different worlds but she doesn't do much to show it. Another thing is that there are very little battles. I like books when there are some battles where generals discuss logistics, like in the books that Feist, Jordan, Goodkind, and especially George R. R. Martin possess. In this book it's always Karan trying to fend four or five whelm off with a dagger.(Im not sure if this book mentions the word "sword") One thing I did like about this book was the blurring of good and evil although Martin does a better job than Irvine.
If you have read Jordan, Goodkind, Feist or Martin you will NOT like this book. If you haven't, then read them first because they are a LOT better.
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