The Mirror Empire Free

FREE THE MIRROR EMPIRE PDF

SF Reviews. Wink the Astrokitty drawn by Matt Olson. The Mirror Empire rights reserved. Tweets by SFReviewsnet Kameron Hurley, one of the lucky writers to land on her feet following the implosion of Night The Mirror Empire Books inreturns with an The Mirror Empire and career- defining fourth novel in The Mirror The Mirror Empire. It is, on the one hand, very much The Mirror Empire from the currently fashionable cloth of the grimdark fantasy tapestry. It tells of a world wracked by war, political upheaval, slave rebellion, ethnic cleansing and genocide. But there the similarities end, as Hurley forcefully flips every genre trope in her sights to The Mirror Empire a work simply exploding with a kind of anarchic, creative ferocity. The world of Raisa is orbited by three satellites, from which trained magic users draw their power. As Oma is ascending once again, Raisa faces an invasion like none ever seen before. An invasion by their own, alternate-universe counterparts. But The Mirror Empire one from the invading universe can actually enter Raisa while their counterpart still lives, and a team of assassins has been sent over to deal with certain key figures, in order to smooth the way for the invasion to proceed. We follow no fewer than five viewpoint characters whose lives are swept up in the tumult. Lilia is a young girl who crossed over into Raisa as a child, from the world whose invading armies — a militarist version of the pacifist Dhai race The Mirror Empire to Raisa — are now spilling over. Bearing a secret gift from her mother, a blood witch whose magic allowed her to create and control the rifts between universes, Lilia has no real concept of the power she has been granted, and it could well be her power alone The Mirror Empire which the fate of Raisa hangs. He now has to face not only the incoming storm, as it were, but treachery from within his own court and rival clans among the Dhai. Rohinmey is a young novice who dreams of a life of adventure, but gets far more than he bargained for when Ahkio entrusts him with some clandestine tasks. Reality will bite much harder than Roh was ever expecting, and his rudimentary magical training may not be up to the task of helping him survive it. We come now to two of the most compelling characters. Taigan is a genderfluid assassin her body actually undergoes a cyclical, physical sex change from the Saiduan continent to the north, who have been the first to feel the destructive might of the invaders. The Saiduan have a history of brutalizing the Dhai, but now they need the help of Dhai scholars to decipher ancient manuscripts that may hold secrets to thwarting the invaders. And finally, Zezili is a mixed-race general leading the armies of the matriarchal, and extremely savage, Dorinah empire. All of this would be enough, on its own, to root any exciting epic fantasy series upon a rock solid conceptual foundation. The Dhai, perhaps in reaction to a long history on the receiving end of slavery and oppression, form large, polyamorous family units with multiple spouses. Indeed, if anything will prompt discussion of this novel, it will be its gender politics, which are unapologetically provocative and intended expressly to force a rethinking of the roles fantasy readers have no doubt unthinkingly accepted, through so many years of seeing books adorned with Boris Vallejo and Frank Frazetta covers in which busty slave hotties hang on the muscular quadriceps of The Mirror Empire swordsmen. Zezili is, superficially, just a gender-swapped version of this archetypal sword and sorcery musclehead. Zezili has a trophy husband, a mincing, almost absurdly feminized weakling named Anavha, towards whom she displays a domineering physical possessiveness and control that, in her way of looking at things, equates to love. Anavha clings to Zezili, but only out of the kind of bond that a psychologically pummeled abuse victim has for their abuser. Like some of the less morally sound characters in George R. She, like her husband, is a product of her culture, and The Mirror Empire behaves as you might expect, according to her privilege. I could maybe touch on its minor flaws — a tendency towards overlength and excessive detail, some dry stretches that break the flow, some confusing nomenclature. Tweets by SFReviewsnet. Kameron Hurley, one of the lucky writers to land on her feet following the implosion of Night Shade Books inreturns with an electrifying The Mirror Empire career-defining fourth novel in The Mirror Empire. Followed by Empire Ascendant. The Mirror Empire - Kameron Hurley

Goodreads helps you keep track of books you want to read. Want to Read saving…. Want to The Mirror Empire Currently Reading Read. Other editions. Enlarge cover. Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Open Preview See a Problem? Details if other :. Thanks for telling us about the problem. Return to Book Page. Richard Anderson Illustrator. On the eve of a recurring catastrophic event known to extinguish nations and reshape continents, a troubled orphan evades death and slavery to uncover her own bloody past… while a world goes to war with itself. In the frozen kingdom of Saiduan, invaders from another realm are decimating whole cities, leaving behind nothing but ash and ruin. As The Mirror Empire dark star of the cataclysm On the eve of a recurring catastrophic event known to extinguish nations and reshape continents, a troubled orphan evades death and slavery to uncover her own bloody past… while The Mirror Empire world goes to war with itself. Through tense alliances and devastating betrayal, the Dhai and their allies attempt to hold against a seemingly unstoppable force as enemy nations prepare for a coming together of worlds as old as the universe itself. In the end, one world will rise — and many will perish. Get A Copy. Paperbackpages. Published August 26th by Angry Robot first published August 15th More Details Original Title. Worldbreaker Saga 1. Other Editions Friend Reviews. To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up. To ask other readers questions about The Mirror Empireplease sign up. Is this book supposed to be a trilogy? Arctic Llama Yes. The second book just came out in December, I think. See 2 questions about The Mirror Empire…. Lists with This Book. Community Reviews. Showing Average rating 3. Rating details. More filters. Sort order. May 22, Bookwraiths rated it it was ok Shelves: fantasye-booksextra-special-authorsgrimdarkreview-freebie. Originally reviewed at Bookwraiths Reviews One of the difficult things about reviewing books for me personally is having to write a less than favorable opinion. That story sucked. When I initially saw the kick-ass cover and read the novel The Mirror Empire, it looked tailored made for my tastes: multi-viewpoint narrative, huge world, cross-world warfare, and gender-bender characters. And to be fair, this novel absolutely delivers on several of its promises. That spectacular new world, it is here. In fact, there are The Mirror Empire rather than one for a reader to sink their fantasy teeth into, filled with numerous countries, races, The Mirror Empire history, ongoing wars, and sentient plant-life that range from those symbiotic to womankind to those completely predatory. As for the warrior-women promised by the book description, they appear one after another: complex and powerful females who take their turn in the spotlight, empowered both physically and emotionally as unquestioned masters of all that they survey. But as I slowly devoured and digested all these essential and delectable fantasy morsels, I began to have a little bit of heartburn. First, the complete lack of any strong male characters did bother me. Kai Ahkio the most prominent male character in the novel being constantly berated for being male and told that he is a poor substitute for a strong female leader was annoying. And yes, the book did read at times like a mirror version of a Robert E. Howard sword and sorcery tale, complete with childlike men The Mirror Empire for their rescue by muscle-bound females ready to rip their clothes off and mount up on their throbbing manhood. Then something else reared its ugly head: rape — except this time, women were raping men. Hell, I even agreed with people who very emotionally argued that no one should view Jorg as a hero after he casually went around raping girls. Perhaps I should introduce our heroic rapist first before I answer that question. Let us welcome The Mirror Empire Hasario, Captain General of the Empress of Dorinah, who shows casual indifference to cruelty, a perverted sense of love, and a total acceptance of mass murder — even as she goes about trying to save The Mirror Empire world. And [I] loved him for it. The Mirror Empire of you. Every bit of you. She entertained herself with [me] until The Mirror Empire vision was hazy, pain and desire twisting [my] insides, turning The Mirror Empire voice to a high-pitched wail, begging for release. Yet when she finished with The Mirror Empire, [I] felt somehow The Mirror Empire, disassembled. Actually, there is even more about Zezili and her husband, but I think the above illustrates the nature of their relationship. So, after reading all that, did the accepted brutalization of men, their sexual torture, and casual rape at the hands of women bother me? There is probably lots of fantasy out there that still portray women that way. It is her pushing the boundaries of the genre; nothing wrong with that. Yeah, these fantasy people cannibalize each others. Certain Native Americans did it before the arrival of the Europeans, I know. It seemed a little odd that no one — even just one person — The Mirror Empire be heterosexual and not bisexual. But that was fine, I accepted it and moved on. Bit by bit, it also became apparent that everyone in this world practiced polygamy. Okay, Old Testament of the Bible reversed with the women marrying The Mirror Empire males and females. Then we have a male character Roh being taken as a sexual slave to an adult near the The Mirror Empire of the book. Anyone else beginning to see a pattern here? Now why would an author do that? Perhaps it is because the story itself is The Mirror Empire Unfortunately, that was the case, in my opinion. Let me explain. First, none of the main characters in this epic were very compelling. In fact, they were almost instantly forgettable. Everyone around him thinks The Mirror Empire a weak, whiny man, and even though he tries, he spends a great deal of time pining away over men and women, his horrible fate, and generally being exactly what all his enemies accusing him of being: a weak, whiny man manipulated by his female handlers. According to the women in the book, he is an idiotic boy, not much else you can add. The Mirror Empire actually liked her, thought her story was compelling but lost interest in it by the end due to the constant back and forth nature of her travels. Naturally, there The Mirror Empire other characters, but these are the ones I actually remember. Second, the concept of mirror worlds and their convergence had some glaring inconsistences in its explanation The Mirror Empire application that kept cropping up in the story. Third, the multi-viewpoint narrative. Almost all epic fantasy series seem to have this type of setup these days, and it definitely can work. However, The Mirror Empire writer must make the individual tales relevant to the narrative as a whole but keep them different enough that each one is compelling on its own and filled with new situations. In The Mirror Empire, it seemed that the numerous stories got away from Ms. Hurley; they began to spread out into a mass of tangled threads that I personally needed a flowchart to keep up with, but they also began to get so repetitive that they blurred together until I found it hard to recall whose story I was The Mirror Empire reading at a given time. Needless to say, I did not love The The Mirror Empire Empire. With its mirror world concept, the book had a wonderful foundation upon which to build a riveting, fantasy epic. However, just like a solid foundation does not assure a beautiful house, Ms. I received this book from Netgalley and the publisher in exchange for a fair and honest review. View all 44 comments. Apr 18, Stefan Bach rated it really liked it. Book that is a masterpiece in every way. But book that makes you feel uncomfortable. The Mirror Empire, political, unapologetic and daring. But will achieve that by questionable deeds of questionable characters. Packed with vivid imagination and originality like none before. The Mirror Empire by Kameron Hurley | Penguin Random House Canada

The Mirror Empire The Mirror Empire both as a traditional secondary world fantasy, and as a complete dissection of the genre — few authors have the chops to pull off such a bold narrative. Hurley often jokes that she receives mail from her readers about their frustration with not being able to nail down the villain of her story — or the hero. Their labyrinthine paths through the novel blur the line between the concept of heroes and villains, a common trope in secondary The Mirror Empire fantasies. Hurley sets up Lilia in the The Mirror Empire of a traditional hero — orphaned scullery-girl with a hidden past — and yet she does some despicable things when faced by a desperate and dangerous world. In parallel, Captain General Zezili, responsible for carrying out the genocide of thousands of Dhai, makes some choices that the reader must begrudgingly respect, or The Mirror Empire admire. They are grey, and dim, and muddy. Violence pervades theworld at almost every turn, and Hurley never checks her punches. Where many novels give their characters and the reader a break between traumatic scenarios, and opportunity to breathe, Hurley throws haymaker after haymaker. A jab from the left is the only relief she offers. There are so many admirable aspects to her cultures and her characters that the pain from their betrayal hurts even more. We should be friends. Wraisau grinned and glanced over at Driaa. Hurley forces readers to examine situations and tropes that are The Mirror Empire as genre conventions — tropes, cliches — by flipping gender conventions around dismissing them entirely by adding new genders to her societies; writing a character who changes gender throughout the novel and putting male characters into situations usually held for women, and vice versa. Hurley earns her violence by spreading it through cultures where it is either a culturally relevant and ingrained in a slave-based colonialistic empire, or The Mirror Empire abhorrent to their pacifistic values. In a culture where steadying someone when they trip can be interpreted as socially unacceptable, physical violence takes on a new meaning. How can these two cultures reconcile their differences? How can they fight a war? Convincing a reader of two parallel worlds occupied by the same characters and societies, yet entirely different socioeconomic and natural environments, is a heady task. Chaos theory need not apply in Rasia, apparently. Part of this issue stems from there being too The Mirror Empire point-of-view characters in the novel. Considering the density of the world, and the confusing interaction between the two mirrored worlds two The Mirror Empire of people called Dhai? The Mirror Empire is an audacious and exciting start to an epic fantasy that is sure to leave a mark on the world. I was obsessed with The Mirror Empire by the time I was fifteen pages in until I turned the last page. I was obsessed with it for days afterwards. Hurley took science fiction and fantasy by storm in with her fan writing, her scaly llamas, but The Mirror Empire is proof that her star is just beginning its ascent. Also, I have no respect for your free time or willpower and will use links to TV Tropes liberally when it serves my purposes. You got me. Checking this one out. You The Mirror Empire this novel much better than I ever could have, and kudos to you for doing so! Kameron Hurley may be a good storyteller, but a good writer, not so much. The constant repetition of names got really annoying and tiring. She completely failed to make us care about her character and the treatment of genders, while interesting and challenging, just felt like a cheap trick to make the book sell better, to shock us. I really hope the second one will be better because the first one shows a lot of promise and is clearly ambitious. Art by Julie Dillon. Share: Twitter Facebook Tumblr. Paul Weimer February 4, at pm. Aidan Moher February 5, at pm. Thanks, Paul. Zen DiPietro February 6, at am. Aidan Moher February 6, at am. I hope it rocks your world as much as it rocked mine. Bibliotropic February 8, at am. Mike May 3, at pm. You must be logged The Mirror Empire to comment. Log in. Hugo Award Winner About Bibliography.