More of the same. I figure if I wait 3 years to read the final book [whenever it comes out], I should be able to make it through. Ilna's hating of the world" just really wears thin really quick. AND, how did the world survive? It seems like there are super gods, or superbadpowerful men, or creatures, just lined up to the horizon to personally make the world hard for Garric and Co." ( )

My default ranking for books in this series is three stars, just over the border into positive territory. I saw nothing in this book to change that assessment.

Although technically speaking this is the middle book of a trilogy, it functions as a standalone novel in the same way that every other book in the series did. Yes, there is an epilogue of sorts which sets up the next book, but I wouldn't exactly say it ends on a cliffhanger. What I'm driving at is that there is no narrative continuity between this book and its sequel, and not even the same sort of major paradigm shift that the previous volume had--although that might have been the author's intention.

Characters which have always been flat remained flat, and the only character with any depth--Ilna--walked a very familiar path toward letting go of revenge. In fact, the turn when it happened was so abrupt that I had a hard time believing it.

That being said, it was a quick and enjoyable read, if not one I'll dip back into. It did nothing to stand out from other volumes of the series, either good or bad. I'm a little sad that the series is almost over, but not very.

Recommendation: If you've gotten this far in the series, you'll find nothing to surprise you. If this is the first one you've read, go back and read the first volume, and then skip ahead to the end. ( )

I've read all of the Lord of the Isles + Crown of the Isles volumes over the last year. I've enjoyed the character development and story lines and ‘Mirror of the World’ is true to the format of all of the others: each key character has a sub-plot story that neatly wraps up and brings everyone back together at the end of the volume. I'm not a big fan of this style because it prevents deep development of any one of the characters; still, I'm invested and looking forward to the final book in the series, to see how it all ends. ( )

All the characters smile too much. The story is a satisfactory example of a swords-and-sorcery fantasy. The author peppers odd vocabulary words throughout the book. ( )

Sample Chapters: http://webscriptions.net/chapters/A0765312603/A0765312603.htm