Title: The Obsidian Mirror
Author: Catherine Fisher
Source: from publisher for review
Rating: ★★★☆☆
Review Summary: A fun, light adventure story without a really great protagonist but which works because of the mysterious setting with potential for some great world building.
The many characters in The Obsidian Mirror are all drawn together by one thing – the mirror’s amazing ability to bend time and space, allowing the user to travel forward or backward in time. Jake desperately wants to find out what happened to his father, who he believes was murdered by the mysterious recluse currently in possession of the mirror. Others want to own the mirror to gain power, others to destroy it, and others for reasons yet undiscovered. Unfortunately, they can’t all get what they want…
It took me a little while to get into this book and even after the mystery had me hooked, I didn’t feel like there was a protagonist I could relate to. All of the characters but Jake were simply enigmas, too poorly understood for me to empathize with them. And Jake, while understandable, is too selfish in pursuit of his own goals for me to like him much. Fortunately, the plot and the fascinating setting made this still a very enjoyable and engaging read.
Without a main character to root for, I couldn’t stop reading for other reasons. I couldn’t wait to find out who everyone was; where (and when!) they came from; and what exactly was going on with the mirror and the supernatural creatures that started showing up. Everyone had their secrets and it was often difficult to tell who was telling the truth. There was constant action and adventure. And the book ended with some great potential for a sequel, in which we’ll hopefully find out more about all of the awesome characters introduced in this one.
Doing Dewey 