Mirror Sight

Green Rider #5

by Kristen Britain

Karigan G'ladheon is a Green Rider--a seasoned member of the elite messenger corps of King Zachary of Sacoridia. This corps of messengers, each gifted with a brooch of office that imparts a unique magical ability to its wearer, was founded over a thousand years ago during the terrible time of the Long War.
During that spell-fueled war, Sacoridia was besieged by the sorcerous armies of the Arcosian Empire, led by Mornhavon the Black. When Sacoridia finally triumphed, Mornhavon resorted to dark magic that rendered his twisted spirit immortal. Determined to keep the realm safe from this terrifying enemy, multitudes of Sacoridian magicians sacrificed their lives to build the immense D'Yer Wall, imprisoning the dangerous spirit of Mornhavon in Blackveil Forest, which uncontrolled magic had mutated into a perilous and unnatural place.

For over a thousand years, the magic of the D'Yer Wall protected the people of Sacoridia, but as the centuries passed, memory of how the wall had been built was lost as a traumatized nation turned its back on magic. And when a malicious entity cracked the massive wall, there were none left who knew how to repair it. Desperate to regain the knowledge and repair the ever-expanding breach in the wall, agents of the king scoured the kingdom for magical relics and information. Finally, in a last-ditch attempt to gain time, Karigan, whose Rider brooch enabled her to "fade"--sometimes traversing the layers of time and space--was able to catapult the spirit of Mornhavon into the future. But how far into the future was anyone's guess.
Realizing that this might be their only chance to enter Blackveil and examine the tainted peninsula, King Zachary sends Karigan and a contingent of Sacoridians beyond the wall, along with an equal number of Eletians--the immortal race that eons ago lived in what is now Blackveil Forest. But in addition to the unnatural dangers of the forest itself, Karigan and her small delegation have been followed by a secret rebel sect--descendants of the original Arcosian invaders, and during a showdown between these two groups, Mornhavon suddenly reappears.
In the magical confrontation that follows, Karigan is jolted out of Blackveil and wakes in a darkness blacker than night. She's lying on smooth, cold stone, but as she reaches out, she realizes that the stone is not just beneath her, but above and around her as well. She's landed in a sealed stone sarcophagus, some unknown tomb, and the air is becoming thin.

Is this to be her end? If she escapes, where will she find herself? Is she still in the world she remembers, or has the magical explosion transported her somewhere completely different? To find out, she must first win free of her prison--before it becomes her grave. And should she succeed, will she be walking straight into a trap created by Mornhavon himself?

Genres: Fantasy, Fiction, High Fantasy, Magic, Epic Fantasy, Adventure, Young Adult

784 pages, Hardcover

First published May 6, 2014

About the author

Kristen Britain grew up in the Finger Lakes region of New York State, where she started her first novel - an undersea fantasy featuring herself and her friends - at the age of nine. She published her first book, a cartoon collection called Horses and Horsepeople, at the age of thirteen. After completing her degree in film production at Ithaca College in 1987 she made the logical (?!) leap from cinema to the National Park Service. Her many years as a park ranger enabled her to work in a variety of natural and historical settings, from 300 feet below the surface of the Earth to 13,000 feet above sea level on the Continental Divide; and from the textile mills of the American Industrial Revolution to the homes of Americans who changed the course of history.

Currently she lives in a log cabin in Maine where she writes full time and pursues interests reading, guitar playing, and cartoon illustration, supervised by a cat and a dog. She enjoys exploring the magical places around her and can often be found paddling a canoe in stillwater, ambling through the woods to mountain summits, or sitting along the rocky shore listening, watching, and daydreaming. This is her fantasy, at least.

Reviews

[Vinaya · Rating 1 out of 5]

Warning: This reviewrant contains sarcasm, bad language, more sarcasm and a liberal use of quotation marks.

Dear Ms. Britain,

CONGRATULATIONS! You have finally managed to piss me off to the point where it became imperative that I emerge from review retirement to yell at you in a public forum! I have stuck with you through derivative writing, GRRM-level work outputs, incredibly annoying plot twists and smug condescension to your readers, but Mirror Sight has turned into the straw that broke the camel's back.

Imagine if you will, Ms. Britain, that you have spent the last year taking a course in medieval history. It is a reasonably good course, and you have spent a fair amount of research, effort and money in the course of your studies. However, when you appear for the exam, it turns out, much to your horror, that they are quizzing you on an entirely different subject - say, theoretical physics. What are your emotions at this moment? At first you are merely puzzled and confused; once realization dawns, you still have faith in the system, a strong and honest belief that things will sort themselves out and once you have explained, the correct course of events will come back on track. But as matters proceed, you find that there is NO rescue for you, that you are indeed stuck in this nightmare and so you do your best, plough through this trial by fire and emerge on the other side with a fury boiling through your system, but also a certain amount of triumph at having survived the ordeal. At which time, your professor pats you on the back, announces that it was all a practical joke and NOW it is time for you to get back in there and write the actual exam. Speechless with fury? Imagine how your fans felt when this travesty of a Green Rider novel suddenly landed on their bookshelves!

I understand perfectly your dilemma. You contracted to write a four-book series, and had your plotlines neatly laid out for those four books. Then that most seductive of temptresses - success - beckoned and you fell into her trap. Here you were, stuck with a series that was suddenly double the length, your fans were in love with the "subplot" that least appealed to your "intellectual" side, and worst of all, what you really, really wanted to do was chuck the damn Green Rider series and focus on the new idea setting your brain on fire - a steampunk fantasy with sufficient ideological and philosophical undertones to satisfy your quest for "intellectualism". And of course, the logical, reasonable thing to do, you felt, was to just write the awesome new book using the same old characters. Genius!

Not. I think your fans like(d?) you enough to be willing to read a non-Green Rider book if you had written it as such. And really, as a stand-alone, I would probably have given Mirror Sight three, maybe four stars. But when people who have been left dangling by a hideous cliffhanger ending, wait almost four years to find out what happened to the characters they love, IN THE WORLD THEY LOVE, then nobody really gives a flying you-know-what about an alternate universe that gets destroyed in about NINE HUNDRED PAGES(!!!) anyway!

Now let's talk about your "intellectual" hypocrisy. Again, Ms. Britain, I understand your dilemma. I may not sympathize (at all) but I assure you, I DO understand. You don't want to be a "girl-fantasy" writer. You want to be a "serious" fantasy writer. It's hard to fool yourself into thinking you are a "serious" fantasy writer when all people want to know is whether your star-crossed protagonists are going to get together (and when your books all seem like Tolkein rip-offs). But. Nobody held a gun to your head and forced you to write the romance "subplot". Despite the fact that it is the only original idea in your whole entire series. Still. There are a million ways you could have terminated that "subplot", up to and including in this very book. However, YOU are choosing not to. You are choosing not to because you know, not even all that deep down, that Zachary-Karigan shippers form the majority of your fanbase, and so leaving them still longing for each other (even at the cost of diminishing all alleged "character growth" by Karigan, and assassinating poor Zachary's character altogether) means you get to sell more books. (Maybe. I live in the vindictive and petty hope that everyone drops your crappy books and moves on to reading serious fantasy authors with great romantic plots, like Brandon Sanderson and Jim Butcher and Ursula K. LeGuin)

Also, for someone who claims to want her readers to focus on more than Karigan's love life, you sure didn't do much about it in this book. You know all everyone's talking about is Karigan's rebound relationship with Cade (can I just say, insta-love was the only trope left unused in your novels and you finally got around to it! Yay you!) and where her relationship with Zachary's going now.

Some people may wonder, Ms. Britain, why I am being so vitriolic about a book that is, after all, not badly-written or badly plotted. But you know, don't you, Ms. Britain, that best friends make the worst enemies? You know that you had a duty to your readers, a relationship of trust with them (to the tune of 23-freaking-dollars a book!) that obliged you to take their desires and hopes into consideration while taking their hard-earned money and that you failed utterly in fulfilling this obligation? That you lured them with the promise of something beloved and delivered a lemon?

I regret to inform you, Ms. Britain, that our relationship is hereby terminated. I liked your books, once a upon a time, but I'm not sure I like them anymore and in any event, I'm pretty sure I don't like YOU very much, so that kind of supersedes the rest. Also, relationship angst can only stretch so far (ask those Castle showrunners) before people get tired and really don't give a shit anymore. So, this is me. Not giving a shit anymore.

Your former fan,
V

[Jamie Sopko · Rating 2 out of 5]

plot spoilers **** Let me preface this review by saying that I have been a fan of The Green Rider series from the beginning. Britain has an excellent writing style that hooks you in leaves you wanting more... I love this series. This book was well written and had it been a stand alone title or a much much shorter novella I might have enjoyed it.

That being said I was extremely disappointed in this latest installment. While it was well written, I am sad to say that the 3-4 year wait time for this title wasn't worth it. While I appreciate the focus on Karigan that this book tries to have, it doesn't seem like this is THE KARIGAN I've grown to love. My Karigan is full of action and defiance. She does what she feels is right and she fights for her country with unwavering loyalty. To steal a line for from another reviewer, this Karigan was too "twilight teen angst" for me. She seemed to sit back and let the action happen, a meek side of Karigan that was brought on by Morphia, but seems to continue for too long. About the only true defiance stems from saving the "supposed green rider" horse, Raven.

I was hoping that this book would continue the story forward for the war with the second empire, the Karigan/Zachary/Estora story line, Estral's lost voice, the crumbling Wall, the new riders being called forward, The Eletians and their sleepers, her connection to Westrion, Karigan's swordmaster training and her link to the Weapons... I wanted the Green Rider world. Instead I got post Industrial Revolution lacking in Magic, action and really any storyline interest I tried to drum up.

I like that the book was written to focus on Karigan, but part of what makes her Karigan is her interactions with the other characters in Sacordia. Her interactions with the characters in the Empire seemed to feel forced and one dimensional. Yes Karigan finds "love" but it seems born more out of loneliness and attraction to the one person in the Empire that listens to her, Cade. It didn't ever feel like the back and forth that we see with her and Zachary (that seems to be never ending though). Now I'll be the first to admit that I'm definitely team Zachary, but had the character of Cade really stood a chance of not getting predictably killed off by Britain, maybe I could have gotten excited by Cade... on second thought, no, still team Zachary, sorry.

I feel like the whole Cade/Karigan love plot was forced simply for Estora to have twins... as there is no other point to mentioning Karigan's potential pregnancy, then ripping it away from her the minute she arrives and Estora doubles over in pain, except for adding a previously unmentioned second child. Subtle plot twist for future books it was not. But once again giving Estora what should have been Karigan's seems to be a running theme.

Then for Karigan to spend the last 30 pages having gone mad because of the time travel, to lose a child (that could not have existed in the first place), to lose "love" that can't be remembered, to lose her eyesight, to lose months in Sacordia, for all to think her dead and grieve, just seems like too much for 30 pages. Not to mention summing up all the other 870+ pages by tossing her into the abyss for a 5second chat with Westrion, naming her his Avatar, which we knew from previous books. Forced much?

This book doesn't answer many if any questions for me (for those who said it answered your questions, what were they?). It doesn't carry the series forward. To spend 800 + pages on a story only to erase almost all of it in the last 30 seemed to tell the reader it was a filler book, that it didn't matter, that none of it was important. And now I'm sure we'll have to wait the predictable 3-4 years for the next one to come out. My only hope is that if I decide to read it, that I like it better than this one.

[Melissa ♥ Dog/Wolf Lover ♥ Martin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mel 🖤🐶🐺🐾

[Trinitrit · Rating 1 out of 5]

I enjoy this series very much, have been a fan for 16 years, and could not wait to read the latest installment "Mirror Sight" after 3 years of waiting. I bought the hard-cover as soon as it was available and am writing this 3 days later. I interrupted reading frequently thinking:"What the...?!", "Why?!", "This does not make sense!", and ended up being utterly disappointed. I feel like a fool having looked forward to this volume and then being served a meaningless filler by the author.

The whole book has no meaning for the overall story, by author's choice made irrelevant at the book's ending.

The previous volume finished with an awesome cliffhanger: Karigan in a box unable to get out. The author could have chosen any setting to continue. She chose a pseudo steam-punk post-industrialisation society that has no connection to Karigan's world - and still won't at the end of the book. The characters are wooden, Karigan behaves unlike herself, is meak and weak and accepts dictations from others; There is no character growth whatsoever. Her interactions feel fake. The actions and responses of all characters were unlikely and the emotions and relationships just not believable; without giving too much away, one example the "Eternal Guardian" who is protecting (!) an emperor that killed his king; He claims to remain loyal to said king but is still serving that emperor in a vital function. How does that work? Another example the blind attachment to a royal bloodline that the characters aim to establish after hundreds of years of emperial reign not considering that the person in question is utterly unfit to lead. Why not chose a person with proven leadership skills? Don't worry if you don't understand the context: this has no bearing on the real story and -literally- will be erased from the real storyline. Of the real storyline we see little, a glimps here and there to know that life goes on, but at the end of the book, NOTHING has progressed here either. What a waste of 770 pages.

Hopefully the author will continue with the real story in the coming volume, although I am not sure I will read that one. After 16 years of following, I feel offended by the author not taking this more seriously but wasting the 3-4 years she requires for a new installment on something that she herself makes meaningless. If you want to skip this one, the only things you need to know are that only 4 months pass from the end of Blackveil/ Estral, Alton, and The Wall = not developed further/ Zachary and Karigan = not developed further (the letter remains unopened)/ Mornhavon = not developed further/ Amberhill continues beach vacation = not developed further / Grandmother, Lila, and the 2nd empire = not developed further / marriage of Zachary and Estora enters phase 2 (mentioned in passing)/ Karigan experiences a physical change at end of book

Anything else that happens in this book has been made irrelevant to the real storyline, by author's choice, and the little that is relevant will have to be repeated and developed in the next volume. You won't miss anything if you skip this one; it is just af filler to increase the number of volumes. Nothing more.

[Brittany · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book is very well written so in that aspect it deserves a three. But in relation to the Green Rider storyline. . . well there really is no relation in my opinion.

This book is so bloated with unnecessary CRAP! Seriously! 770 pages when it could easily have been told in 200! And that's being GENEROUS!

*Possible Spoiler*
Many have said it before, so I will be brief, I love the Green Rider Series but this book pretty much had nothing to do with it. 740 pages were dedicated to a place that is going to change and never exist because Karigan is going to change the future anyway. 30 pages were dedicated to "summing up" all the problems that were left over from the 600+ page disappointment called Blackveil. I loved this series but I am certainly not going to wait with bated breath, if at all, for the next three years to find out what happens.

*Definite Spoiler*
This book dragged and I felt like Karigan slept for a solid 300 pages of this book in one aspect or another. I also felt like her relationship with Cade didn't feel natural. I really wanted to like the guy, I was even happy when she kissed him the first time, but then things were just off. It felt forced and I felt like she didn't retain any sense of self and her personality was just off.

I really wish I could get the time back that reading this book wasted.

[Stephaney · Rating 5 out of 5]

I wavered between giving this 4 or 5 stars. Due to fairness to the book and author, I decided to force myself to objectively evaluate the book on its own merits. From this perspective, I feel that 5 stars is well deserved.

I would be remiss, however to fail to qualify that overall, I can’t help but be somewhat disappointed. While this book is an excellent read, it seems more like a standalone or a book that is part of a different series altogether. While I understand how/why this book fits into the overall story arc, it didn’t serve to actually move the overall plot threads forward. It was almost like a side trip, or a deviation from the main story arc in that at the end of MS, though a lot of stuff happened in the book itself that was interesting and exciting, I feel like nothing actually happened to the overreaching story line.

I would definitely recommend this book to any fellow readers, especially ones who like steampunk type fantasy. I would hate for my ambivalence over this installment to discourage anyone from reading it. The disconnect lies in the difference around what I thought about the book (a 5 star read) versus what I felt about the book. I was so excited to get my greedy little hands on Mirror Sight to see where this story was heading, find answers to long awaited questions, and revisit the characters I had grown to love. Alas, all my anticipation on those aspects were for naught, thus my feelings of disappointment and even a little touch of sadness. Sadness because when I think about waiting another 2-3 years to finally get the plot development I was so excitedly anticipating in this installment, all I can do is sigh. I sincerely hope I feel different when the next one comes out and my fervor is renewed, but at this point, I’m a little sad because I feel like now, after all, I care about this series a little bit less and where it is going than I did when I picked this one up. While I enjoyed reading the book itself, I am losing interest on the previous story line that I was so desperate to learn about only days ago. When I finished BV, I wanted the next one so much that the longing was strong enough to carry me over the next couple of years to this moment. (and not because of that terrible cliff hanger, but because the story itself left me wanting more) After MS, I just don’t feel that same way, and that lack itself is what has made me sad.

One thing I really enjoyed about the book was its originality. I can honestly say, even after all the pre-release speculation, that man, I did not see that coming! It was truly a unique experience. If Ms. Britain ever wants to start writing a steampunk fantasy series, I want to be along for the ride. This new world that Karigan found herself in was strange and disturbing, yet written in a way that you believed that the possibility for such a future was real. Her world building attempt at a far-out-there idea was successfully anchored in plausibility by the realistic people she created that inhabited this strange possible thread of time.

[Noor = BookreadingFiend♥ · Rating 2 out of 5]

What a disappointment of a book, the only good parts were the last few chapters when we actually got to see some old characters.

I was thoroughly bored reading this book, i had real troubles finishing it! Years of waiting for this book was so not worth it! I rated it two stars just for the love of the first books. I was so annoyed by Karigan, i just wanted to kick her in the face!! She was constantly sick or injured and on several occasions doing the whole damsel in distress thing, really fucking annoying. I wanted a KICKASS heroine, instead we got a non-decisive watching from the side lines wallflower. I just found this fifth installment really lacking.

I really didn't like the whole new world thing in the future. If i wanted guns and machines/robots i would read another kind of book. I wanted the arrows, sword, castles, green riders and some kickass fighting!

The whole "I love Cade" thing was for me a mere mutual sexual attraction then anything else. Also an excuses because Karigan is so "virginal". Their love affair felt way too rushed en forced for it to feel real! And the ending was so predictable, Cade not being able to get back to the past and she losing her "baby" (and Estora conveniently getting twins, hmmm??!! Obvious much??). I'm totally team Zachary, but it would be fun to see how things would go if Cade did return to the past. I think that would give Zachary an incentive to do something about his feelings.

This book didn't answer any of my questions or satisfy me in anyway. Now we have to wait another 3-4 years. Fucking crap. I'm pissed.







------------------------------------------------------------------
I'm literally:

[Brittany · Rating 2 out of 5]

I loved Green Rider. I loved it to the point that my paperback was falling apart. I gave it to my mom and my sister. They loved it.
We devoured the sequels.
And now this.

This book is a dream sequence that has almost no consequence to the main story. There are no lasting consequences to this book. When reading the series, you could skip this one and it will make sense.

Kristen Britain is an excellent writer. She has great style and the ability to weave a great story. That was the saving grace for this book. But even with her wordsmith skills, I had a rough time with this book.

First problem: I hadn't read Blackveil since it came out. That was four years and 200 other novels ago. I didn't have time to go back and re-read it, so I had to go find a synopsis after about 2 pages in. This is more my problem than the book's, so I was willing to let it slide. (At least I won't have this problem for the next book!)

I had this book preordered, so I hadn't read any of the reviews. I actually stopped to after 300 pages of Karigan just chilling in the house (not worried that someone might have come through time with her and not even bothering to ask around) and went to go see if it was just me or if others were having this issue. With 70 reviews at the time, it was a clean split between 4/5 stars and 1/2 stars on Amazon. This is a huge contrast to the overwhelming 4/5 stars on the other books. I went back to the book at least knowing that it was going to get interesting at some point.

I liked the romance between Karigan and Cade. I was glad to let her have him, and I liked the character of the professor, but I missed the original characters. Britain had 4 books building this amazing world and giving the characters depth and friendships only to basically ignore all of it for this ridiculously long book. I like a little bit of length, but the unending "I'm just chilling here. Wonder what the prof is up to?" was hard. Once Lhean came into the picture, things got good and I couldn't put the book down. The whole first part felt like filler. I would rather have a tightly woven 483 page book (GR1) than a rambling 784 page book. If this had been 483 pages like the first, cutting out a ton of boring in the beginning, my rating would have been higher.

But what gives this book 2 stars for me is the fact that none of it mattered. A 35 page novella could have done what this book did for the series. (And would have done it better, in my opinion) This has the bitter taste of a money grab. I'm sure that's not the case, but a book with no plot development (because it all disappears at the end) is a hard pill to swallow.

Seriously, a rider with a dream talent could have come up with the details about Amberhill and Mornhaven. In two pages. The character building of Karigan is nice, but SHE DOESN'T REMEMBER IT. There was no change in her character because, as far as she's concerned, she just slept for 9 months and had a really nice dream about a cute boy. The whole damn book is a dream sequence. KARIGAN DOESN'T EVEN REMEMBER IT, so why should I? Even the character building that others are so excited about doesn't have an impact here, because: she doesn't really remember it. The trials, love, and experiences of the entire book are no more than a dream to her.

Unfortunately, because of this experience, I don't plan on pre-ordering the next one. I hope that Ms. Britain and her publisher are seeing the discontent going around with the book and go back to what made the first books so good.

[Mirkat23 · Rating 1 out of 5]

***MAJOR SPOILERS***
And ranting, major ranting. Do NOT read unless you don't mind having large parts of the ending revealed to you.

Why Britain? Why did you write that book? It had nothing to do with the plot you'd been building up and we just read over 700 pages of a story that, by the end, doesn't even exist anymore. This wasn't the Green Rider series that we all have come to love, this was some other story. This wasn't even the same fantasy genre that the series belongs too; it was practically steampunk! If I'd wanted to read steampunk, I'd have purposely gone and read one. We waited four YEARS for answers and you gave us nothing. You took Estral's voice and then only gave her a brief mention in this book. You tell us that Mapstone went to visit Karigan's father and then don't mention it at all in this book. We wanted the world that you've already given us - the Berry Sisters and the Green Rider family. Instead we had to learn about a whole new world with people that, in the end, don't matter, a timeline that has been made irrelevant, and a villain that was practically a convenient plot device to sum up a bunch of sub-threads. So now what with Mornhavon? Is he gone because Yolandhe drowned his followers or is that an irrelevant point as well because Karigan finally went back? And what was up with Cade? Is Karigan not allowed to have any lasting happiness in her life as Westerion's avatar? Not that it was surprising he couldn't come with her, but why even bother? Are you that tired of hearing people wonder about her and the king?

I understand that Karigan needed information from the future. That's understandable for your plot. I understand that the Amberhill thing was going somewhere. And it was cool to get to see the future of the royal tombs and how some of the other parts of her time lasted into the future. But what I want to know was why it had to take up the whole book? Why did we have to read so much about a rebellion that literally doesn't even exist now? It seems like after taking so long to write the thing, you could have given the readers at least some of what they wanted . . . like ANSWERS. Not all, just some.

Anyways, I'm clearly upset and I'll calm down at some point. Will probably come back and change this later or at least give it a better score, but it'll never receive all five like her other books have. It was good in some parts. It made me laugh and there were some well-played revelations throughout. It simply doesn't seem to really be a part of the series. I know from the end that you lived near a Mill City-esque type place; but if you had wanted to write about that, why didn't you write a different book or series about it? I know it's your book and your world, but something about it all didn't seem quite fair to your loyal readers.

UPDATE: It's been nearly two years since I wrote this and I'm legitimately still upset. My soon-to-be husband still remembers the day when we were first dating that he came to hang out and I was furious over this book. He'll occasionally mention it and every time, I still get worked up all over again. This was one of my all-time, favorite series, yet I feel like a reader base has never been more sh@t on by an author. Thank you for an awful experience, Ms. Britain.

[Rachel · Rating 1 out of 5]

My original review said something like “this doesn’t belong in the series.” It sets the momentum backwards. I still remember the bitterness when I realized I’d just waited years to get this book, only to have to wait more years to even get back to the main plot! Why did I even bother?
And worse, this series never really recovers from being screwed over.

Honestly at this point the author creeps me out. She can’t write healthy relationships, she enjoys torturing her good (sweet and selfless) characters over and over like trauma porn, descriptive horse sex in Winterlight wtf?!, having Zachary be r*ped basically.. but that’s okay for the goal of the throne.
Do yourself a favor and stop at book 3. 🤷‍♀️

[Miyu · Rating 5 out of 5]

the releasing date is known: I think I will die from happiness *_*

edit: Time travel <3? Am I dead and is this heaven?

edit2: Not enough sleep, not enough work done, but hell yeah! In the end, Mirror sight felt more like interlude than a book with "real progress" still I can see how the character changed during this book and it was awesome. So the most obvious questions now is: When can I expect the next book? And please don't let me wait for another 3 years.

[Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mirror Sight was wonderful. It is a bit of a stand alone book, but it answers some important questions for the series, and raises new ones. I read the entire book the same night that it was delivered. I would gladly recommend this book to friends and family.

Edit: I feel the need to add to my review in response to some other reviews that I have read. I am not removing my original review above because it is still an accurate description of how I feel about the book. I was fortunate enough to receive my copy 12 days early because the store that I ordered it from shipped it early. Many other people did as well. Some of the people who don't like this book need to ask themselves if the book was the problem, or if they are just upset because what THEY wanted to happen between the characters didn't happen. As usual, Kristen Britain's writing was excellent. This was a bit of a stand alone book in the series, however several long standing fan questions are answered if the reader pays attention. The characters are interesting, we get to watch our heroine grow and become accepting of herself, and we finally see how Karigan gets out of the cliffhanger that she was left in at the end of "Blackveil." I would recommend this book to anyone familiar with the series, but someone who is not familiar with the series could read it independently. I have already suggested that many of my friends read it, and I have even bought extra copies as gifts. Many of the people that I discuss the series with on a regular basis agree that the book is worth the read. I would gladly recommended this book to any reader who enjoys the fantasy genre.

[Kathryn Ford · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have alot of mixed feelings about this book. I was going to give it a much lower rating, but decided that that would not be fair. Just because the book was not what I wanted to be, does not make it a bad book.
Kristen Britain was extremely brave in writing this book, I think she knew that most of her readers would not enjoy it; yet, she still wrote it, and for that I applaud her. After all, it is her story to tell.
To take us to the future was perhaps annoying, but it showed one very important aspect, What If The Bad Guys Won! Yes, this is essentially what this book is about. What if things went to hell, and the bad guys did win? This book displays exactly what would happen. Something you would not normally read.
The concepts in the book were very interesting like, Amberhill who was tripply possessed.
I never really felt much attachment to the characters in the future, and more often than not found myself rejoycing when they died!

I really hope that the next book does not take so long to come out. Because I missed our usual characters and we did not spend enough time with them in this book. So, to wait another 3 years would be absolute torture!

[Natalie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Spoiler warning!!Spoiler warning!!Spoiler warning!!Spoiler warning!!Spoiler warning!!
!Give the book chance before you read this review, read a sample or something!


* * *


Mirror Sight reads like an experiment; 95% of the book did not posses the spirit of series. The last 5% redeemed it but not by much. I'm truly regretful to write this review as I really loved books 1-4 and followed Ms. Britain's blog and Facebook page passionately. I no longer like where the story is headed.

Anyway, I'll start with the weaknesses:

1. The first weakness of the book was the pace; It really dragged. While previous installments had excellent balance, Mirror sight takes three chapters to tell an event that could be told in one. You could say it is part of the world building, but many of the elements were intuitive or derivative of other fantasy series (not wanting to mention any names). The story only picked up around 65% or so (and it still lagged, mind you). If you took 300 pages out of the book it would still have the same impact.

2. The characters talked a lot and a a good part of dialogue was stilted. And most events were repeated twice, three times and more. The monologue was also repetitive, not just events from previous books, but reminders from other chapters in Mirror Sight...Yes we know, we read it twice already.

3. Karigan was different this time. I think she was the one who caused my detachment with the book. She was a pale copy of herself.

4. The setting could have been described in less words and made more impact.

5. While I liked the mini present-time chapters, they were too fast and too shallow.

6. The biggest glaring weakness: The whole Zachary debacle. He is one of the most interesting characters in the book, if not the most. His chapters practically vibrate with life. Using him as a melodrama instigator is sad. If he cannot be with Karigan, then it's time to stop beating that dead horse and move on. Seriously, he's about to be a dad. I don't like Estora, but I also don't like how Zachary's honorable character is being tainted and twisted. He's also dragging Karigan down with him.

7. Someone needs to punch Laren Mapstone for being a hypocrite. We get it, she has to save the world but she needs to be consistent. She either sees Karigan as pawn or she doesn't. She's willing to sacrifice Karigan time and time again (in her absence ofc), but then Karigan shows up and Laren starts acting like a doting mother. Having her go back and forth doesn't really make her character likeable.

8. Deus Ex Machinas everywhere! and not as entertaining as the previous books, except Dragons. Those are cool.



While the book was mostly bad (read = filler), there were some strengths:

1. Some character had good motivations and transcended the goody-two-shoes/mustache-twirling villain mold such as the professor; for all his faults, he was believable and he reflected his social class well. Ezra Silk had black/white morality, but he was interesting in the sense that he made the plot move forward. Cade was good as a Weapon and as a love interest, but I would say Karigan's motivations for being with him were not right and it's regretful.

2. The biggest success for me was Raven. He completely stole every scene he was in, I also liked him more than Condor. I think the way he was written was beautiful and dynamic. His end was the only one that affected me and I wished she could have taken him back.

3. The witch and the dragons....should have been more malicious.

4. The mirror Sight, that's a cool trick. Terrible yet so full of plot-armor potential.


That being said, I'm sure other people will feel differently about Mirror Sight. Give it a chance and see how it goes for you.

2/5 Stars: One star for Raven and one star for the last chapters (the parts without melodrama). Finished in 4 days (With lots of paragraph skimming and chapter skipping toward the end.


ps: Sadly the series has gone from instant pre-order to read reviews before buying. Maybe if the story had ended as a trilogy like it was intended, the plot would have wrapped up nicely without silly shipping.

[Natalie · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book does NOT belong in the series.
I'm so disappointed. To become so emotionally engrossed in a set of characters. To wait YEARS to see how each character will continue on, then to be left waiting still.
It seems like the author went on a little field trip, learned about mills and hydro-power, and then felt the need to write a book about it. This seems like a filler book and a huge waste of my time. What about the STORY?

Fuming. Sad. Totally bummed.

[Alice · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am so excited!! 2014 can't come soon enough :)

Omg there are 990 pages yesssss!!! The wait is way worth it!

EDIT:

IT CAME OUT OMG OMG OMG. This book is going to be my end of IB exams present :) so excited. May 15th can't come faster!

EDIT:

I truly don't know how I feel about Mirror Sight .

Before reading I was like



*thats right, a middle aged man slappin' his cheeks* I forced my parents to drive 30 minutes out of their way and then wait for me, so that I could spend my allowance on Mirror Sight .

And for awhile it was great, not what I had expected, but GREAT. Britain had really changed it up.
But then I was like



Where was this going, and was anything actually happening?

So for the whole middle part of the book I wallowed in disappointed - which didn't stop me from reading, but still, disappointed.

The ending however made me look like this



*which I think slightly worried my parents - and the neighbors.

This is all to say, that while Mirror Sight is a bit of a let-down considering the lofty expectations with which I regarded it, it is necessary to read it in order to get to the ending. And the ending is awesome, great, fantastic worth reading 700 pages .

But especially Mirror Sight makes Karigan grow as a person and as a charater, leading to me to believe that the NEXT book is going to be awesome!!

[Kaylan · Rating 2 out of 5]

As a stand-alone book, I felt like this was a good book. The writing was solid, the story was engaging and there were some interesting twists and turns. You find out very quickly what our intrepid hero was stuck in at the end of book 4, and the story is off and running from there.

Why did I give it 2 stars then, you ask? Because this isn't a Green Rider book. Karigan isn't the strong-willed, has to survive character we've grown to love. She isn't a strong female lead. She is stifled a lot in this book, and she spends a lot of time being acted upon rather than acting.

Not to mention this book somehow manages to throw away everything we've grown to know and love in the last 4 books.

By bringing Karigan ahead in time, all the people and plotlines from the previous books are gone. The only characters that she brings with you for the most part are an arrogant nobleman whom we didn't *really* love before and an Eletian that was sort of a jerk and we didn't really love either. And being honest, neither of those 2 characters play much of any active role in the book. Amberhill is responsible for the current state of affairs, but we don't actually meet him until the last 100 pages and even then we barely see him. Lhean has a few pages scattered here and there... but he isn't really integral to the story. Fastion's appearance in the late book is welcome, but oddly done. Its nice that he is around, he's one of my favorite support characters, buuuut... come on.

We get very brief glimpses back into the present time and what is happening with the riders and Captain Mapstone and Zachary, we get what was it- 2 pages about Alton and Estral? Estora is on the page for approximately one page...

And then, at the end- the new characters that we have grown to have some fondness for -are gone. They don't exist anymore. We will likely never see them again. Everything that took place in that world has no meaning on the present time. The relationships that were developed, the actions... i mean- it matters so little that after the sea goddess is released she just wanders off to go do SOMETHING and we don't even get to have a resolution to that story line- not really. We know that she gets to her loves, and we know that they awaken the dragons again and the dragons start destroying everything... but that's really it. Was that all we needed to know? They were destroying the world? What about Mornhaven the Black? Does he survive Yholande's attentions? I don't know. That whole scene was such an afterthought in feeling that I almost forgot it even made it into the book.

But yea. I think that's what bothers me. This isn't a Green Rider book. This is a great Steampunk novel with an interesting setting, with characters that I really did grow to like- that if she had written this as a start of a new series in a different time with a different name for the lead, this could have been awesome.

It just did absolutely nothing to further the story line of the Green Rider series. I mean, we've learned that we have 2 years until Amberhill has his problem with Mornhaven. Okay. Did we need an entire 700+ page book to tell us that? I don't think so. It could have been accomplished in a shorter way that allowed for more progress in the story we were expecting.


This is not to say, again, that the book is BAD. Its just not a Green Rider book. I feel like someone else said it best; this is a filler arc like what you see in Anime shows when they're letting the books catch up to the series. You have some familiarity with the cast of characters, it is enjoyable.. but none of it is Canon to the universe. At all. It could have happened or not, and it wont make any difference. The heroics of those characters is for basically nothing, and while it appears that through Yates' efforts Karigan will remember them... I don't know.

The book left me disappointed. I'm not sad I read it, because when I stopped thinking of it like the 5th book in Green Rider and instead started thinking about it like a Steampunk novel with some familiar people, it was enjoyable. I just really don't see how it can be considered the 5th book in the series. 4.5th maybe, if we're being generous. But assuming the next book actually includes the characters we've been developing and enjoying for the last 16 years and picks up the threads of those plotlines... we'll be good again, and we'll have book 5.

[Ali · Rating 1 out of 5]

Warning: This is a blunt review and includes a very long rant. Not for the easily offended.

Like so many other reviewers I had been a fan of the Green Rider series from the beginning. The first book was so very, very promising, and while Ms. Britain's writing style is not the greatest the book was enjoyable and I liked the characters for the most part.

The second book was equally good. The author expanded the world decently and added in more history and characters. I enjoyed it, and it seemed to confirm where the books were going enough that I was delighted to keep up with the series.

Book three, however, was a step down from the first two, but still decent. Characters that really shouldn't have been given too much time started popping up in annoyingly high amounts. Ms. Britain's PoV changes were always, in my mind, exceptionally weak, and High King's Tomb really showed it.

Blackveil was like sliding down a cliff. Gone was the Green Rider aspect in the series and instead of tying up -any- part of the series more random characters were added, minor characters got wayyyy too much time, and the PoV shifts got worse.

Despite all this I had invested a great deal of time into the series and was determined to see it to the end. After this book though? I'm not certain I ever want to touch this series again.

This book was a waste of words, a disaster, an embarrassment for both the author and anyone else who let it see the light of day, and a big let down for a bunch of fans. It was decidedly not worth the money to buy, and thank goodness I am a fast reader as I only lost a couple of hours of my life on this piece of trash.

I haven't added most of the books I've read to my goodreads account because a) too much work and b) I generally forget I have this account. That being said this is the -first- series I've been involved in that has delivered this much of a disappointment. Never before have I considered not finishing a series off of a book mid-way through it. I've had series I've hated that I've read for friends, but those I hated from the get-go. This series I actually liked.

***Spoilers below***

There are a lot of things wrong with this book, but to start with the whole cliff-hanger in Blackveil led to the dumbest beginning ever. But...I could have overlooked that as it was kind of a random thing to have happen given where this book went. From then on though...ugh. This was a time traveling crappy attempt at some kind of steampunk writing and it just kept getting worse!

First off Karigan seems to have lost herself somewhere in transit. The character I knew and liked was tough, stubborn, creative, and unwilling to let anything stop her. She also had a pretty solid head on her shoulders. This one? Oh my, where to begin:

Emotional
Lazy
Stupid
Content to just sit around and learn/do nothing rather than try to get home
Easily discouraged

And the list goes on. On top of that Ms. Britain finally decided the book needed (of all the stupid things) a 'romance' for the main character. Okay fine, I'll deal with a romance if it's done right. FYI...this was not. Enter male chauvinist pig and eventually Karigan and said idiot fall "in love". Now we have our head-strong (previously) character going head-over-heels with the first male she had sex with like some weak-brained fifteen year old girl, awesome...not. For some reason there seems to be this following of readers that think sex magically makes someone more mature and/or "grown up". I have news for you people...it doesn't, but whatever.

Seven hundred or so pages of Karigan being the mentally youngest and weakest she's ever been and stuck in the "future" in which Amberhill (and why he is still around/alive is beyond me. Worthless character that he is) is the main villain with his split personalities. Which...Ms. Britain tried to hide it was Amberhill from her readers and I laughed at the attempt. It was no secret. I had it pinned down wayyyy before Karigan ever found out.

But what happens basically in these several hundred pages? Karigan travels to the future, meets some people, falls in 'love', gets pregnant apparently (yeah...because that totally made the story move forward...NOT. Add in the fact it was always just a "potential" since the time line wasn't right for it to be an actual living baby and...like really what was the stupid point? I don't think there is an intelligent answer for that question), wanders around. Does more wandering. Meets more people. Oh finds the "hidden" tombs. Does some more wandering. Ends up in the Emperor's path. And then leaves.

Hundreds of pages of nothing and then a brief stint with the split personalities dude and a poorly written/rushed escape where her "beloved" is left behind (thank goodness!).

So then Karigan returns home and you'd think things would kind of get back to normal? Nope. Instead you have the over-emotional, and mostly insane Karigan moping more about the fact she can't remember her stupid male chauvinist "love-of-her-life" and she pretty much just mopes on that. She can't tell anyone anything about her time in the future really because the "gods" are preventing her from telling her people anything other than there is this device that "might" be useful against the so-called dragons that Amberhill will summon. Oh and she can mention Amberhill. That's about as much use as she is. Totally worth seven hundred pages of nothing to get that...not.

Add to this the fact Ms. Britain cannot keep to her own rules about time travel and it just adds to the absolute fail of this book. Somehow Yates travels with Karigan to the future. Despite the fact she leaves before he is dead. There is a very high lack of other ghosts around in the future. And his journal wouldn't have been able to come with him.

So Yates somehow tags along. Draws pictures of everyone. And then when Karigan gets back said pictures are "magically" added to his book so she can remember everyone. Seriously? Given the rule is only old things can move forward not new things go back right there Yate's magical drawings are impossible. This is not even adding into the fact he was alive when she left/they had his journal/there were no other ghosts. It is pathetic how that was used so Karigan would remember the stupid characters we were stuck with for a whole book basically.

I'm not entirely certain what the point of the book was. It didn't make the story really go forward. We still have not tied up any loose ends (the wall, the building of an alliance, Estral, Grandmother, any of the Second Empire, Amberhill-who-needs-do-die...yeah -nothing- was concluded. Just more random crap added). Not to mention the PoV shifts got worse, the writing style got worse, the characters all seemed to regress in maturity and age...in other words I'm still stuck wondering how in the world this got published. Was the editor drunk at the time?

But yeah. Single biggest disappointment in all my years of reading. Hundreds of books...if not a thousand books...over the years and this one is the only one I really want to stab, then burn, then bury, the stab, burn, bury again.

So if you're looking for something that has nothing to do with the series other than characters with the same names (with major personality shifts) and pages and pages of just nothing including a fifteen year old's version of romance...Congratulations, you've found the book!

I'm still trying to forget I actually read this. It's been over a year though and I am just now posting this review so you can see how well that's gone. This book has also managed to spook me from trying new series. If this piece of trash is what people believe is good fantasy then I'm terrified of what else is being published.

[Katie Thornton · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have waited 2 years for this book to come out, and I ended up getting it early. I read the whole thing in 24 hours. I laughed, I cried, I laughed some more, screamed, tossed the book down, and kept reading. Kristen Britain is a brilliant writer, and this book was one of her best.

Karigan was sent to the future and finds herself in a very unfamiliar place, but the bad guys are all-too-familiar. She goes through a lot to fight for both her freedom and to return to her own time. The ending was so much better than Blackveil, promising us more adventures with Karigan and the rest of the Green Riders.

[Kaitlyn · Rating 2 out of 5]

I just, I just can't. I don't understand any of this book. It is unrelated to the other Green Rider series which we have all come to love. We had all been clearly very anxious and excited to read this book and when it finally came out it was like HALLELUJAH, IT'S FINALLY HERE!!!
Well the jokes on us. From the very first pages we were suddenly questioning everything, our excitement slowly growing dimmer with every word.
I gave it three stars because, yes it was well written and would have been an amazing book if only it WASN'T A PART OF THE GREEN RIDER SERIES.She could've just written a stand alone book that would have had us all raving and praising her, but no.
*MINOR SPOILERS*
I am just going to leave it there. I am still sitting here after just finishing reading the book, stupefied and wondering, what trick is Kristen Britain going to pull out of her sleeve next? Karigan suddenly gets pregnant, but some tragic accident makes her miscarriage? OH WAIT, been there, done that. What about a love interest that lasts more than a couple chapters and she actually has a chance with? THAT SHE ACTUALLY REMEMBERS, that would definitely be a first for sure.

[Myra · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was such a disappointment to me. This book read as a filler book, a very long, drawn out filler book.

*small spoiler*
I love the Green Rider series because it is an epic fantasy but the 5th book reads as steampunk, which is not what I wanted to read. I felt that the other world was interesting but it shouldn't have taken up the whole story. There was hardly any mention of the supporting characters that I have come to love, it was as if their stories were put on hold.

*bigger spoilers*
I am also very frustrated with Karigan relationship with Cade and Zachary. I think that the relationship with Cade was abrupt and felt flat. I never felt like I had a connection with Cade. But I am glad that Kariagan opinion on relationship/sex evolved. When I read about the baby I was dumbfounded and couldn't figure out how a baby could be woven into the storyline. I was glad that it went away. I wish she and Zachary would sit down and talk about what they feel. I am getting tired of the back and forth.

I will keep reading the series but I will try not to get my hopes up so high.

[Kathylill · Rating 2 out of 5]

..."Why? What had it all been for?"...

Why write a 11k Kindle Book, more than double the size of a normal book if it doens't move the overall story of the series forward? Why of all things would the author of a medieval fantasy feel the need to write a post-industrial steampunk without fantasy, in the middle of the series? And why would she now focus on romance and introduce the reader to an unwanted (by the fans of the series) new love interest if before the romance was only a minor romantic subplot that fans of the series were adoring. I am totaly baffled.

I do get that authors sometimes write a fill-in that doesn't add much to the series but instead focus more on character development. This is not the case here. Mirror Sight is all about an alternative romance without a future. As this book takes place 200 years in the future (a horrific future) and Karigan has to go back in time to try to change the future she has seen, it is quite clear that Britain will have to kill the love interest in the end. And it's back to Zachary. There is simply no sense to this romance at all. And above all else this romance is just not believable to me. Cade is inferior to Karigan in every aspect. He is kind of naive and unexperienced, making dumb decisions, not thinking things through (like with the rebellion). He acts the big shot thinking of himself as a Weapon but in fact he can't hold himself in a fight against Karigan. So Karigan starts to teach him. At Dr. Silk's party it is clear that he has no finesse and can't fit in. He acts like a dumb bull. To put it in other words: I don't really get what Karigan could have found attractive in Cade at all, apart from his nice body. The romance fell short for me. And above all else: Just because they have sex doens't mean they have to be in love. But Britain really does turn the story this way because after her first sex with Cade, Karigan talks to Raven about loving Cade when up until this moment she only ever thought about mutual attraction and not wanting to be lonely.

Another point in this story that I just couldn't tolerate was blind adherence to monarchy and the royal heir without a reason. In the previous books Zachary always talked about ending the monarchy in favor of democracy and now 200 years in the future the opposition to the evil Emperor is adhering to Arhys, the many-times over granddaughter of Zachary and last heir of the royal line? That stupid girl is the worst kind of shallow-brained nightmare brat you could imagine. And everybody just comes to her defense. WTF? To make matters worse when Karigan returns from the future where she was pregnant she no longer is in her own timeline but instead the Queen now bears twins instead of only one child? Why does the author fuck with my head?

And then the storyline with the Eternal Guardian, a steampunkish version of Darth Vader just not in black but scarlet with the most clichéed dialogue you could imagine

."I am a King's man"
"Death is honor."
"I was King Zachary’s Weapon. And the queen’s." The Guardian's words grew faint. "Proud." Cade bowed his head, realizing there was little he could do to help him. A true Weapon, dying right in front of him. "Tell . . . tell Rider G'ladheon. Tell her I died well."

.

PLEASE SPARE ME

So although this book was nicely plotted I did not enjoy te whatthefuckery in here

[Nara · Rating 3 out of 5]

It seems strange to give a 3 star rating to this installment which I didn't like and wished I could un-read. But I am such a fan of this series overall that I couldn't bring myself to rate this lower. In the end I left it at 3.

*Minor Spoilers*
This is not your grandmother's Sacoridia. I was disappointed at the world of MS. Not enough Green Ridering, Weapons, Training, or Eletians. No question that Britain is a world building machine(heh) and this book was written well and kept me reading despite my disappointment. But I was disappointed (I may have mentioned that already). Perhaps it was because where K. ends up is so unfamiliar that I had nothing to anchor myself to. Perhaps that was the point.
Regardless, I feel bereft. The poignancy of the r'ship between K/Z - two people both bound and separated by honour and circumstances - a r'ship moreover that Britain had deftly woven together over the course of the previous 4 books, is here handled so roughly that I can't help but wonder if Britain had just grown tired of the will they/won't they distraction of it all. I'm not looking for improbable and clumsy machinations that leave K/Z living happily ever after in a perfect world. Realistically the chances of this are slim in the world as it is and with them being the people they are. Don't get me wrong - I would be happy if E. just ceased to exist, because for me the point of her has never developed beyond her role as a fly in the ointment, or as an underscore to the improbability of overcoming the commoner/royal block to the K/Z subplot.

So maybe my disappointment is due to the the weight of all the years I've vested in waiting for the series to develop (I could have raised a couple of teenagers by now if I were inclined towards childbearing). The point being I've seen how small details in one book reappear and fully manifest in later books so I know Britain has the patience, the attention to detail, and the sensitivity to let the story unfold. That sense (of a story unfolding naturally) was missing for me in the r'ship that is introduced in MS. It seemed shoe-horned in, impatient, imperfectly developed, rushed. C to me felt like an underdeveloped character - convenient to resolve somewhat K's aloneness but as a character and a counterpoint to the weight that Z brings to the table, C did not measure up. It might be the fault of the proscribed world he lives in. A world by the way I never came to care about, and was so alien to the series I wondered if this should have been a short story or a GR4.5 offering; a side-trip if you will while K is enroute to wherever she is really supposed to get to for the real start of GR5...
This in turn made me wonder whether Britain's original story arc was for a 4 book series, and whether being contracted for 8 books (or however many) mucked up the story as it was originally conceived. This may or may not be so - there were plenty of threads in HK or BV that have yet to be explored (I am still intrigued by what it potentially could mean that K. took a nap in the future Queen's tomb...)

Meanwhile, I know this is Britain's story to tell as and how she will. She does not answer to me so I will just say this: I lost something after MS that I hope to regain in GR6.

[Émi (Slavic Reader) · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was so scared by what I'd heard whispered about the fifth book, that I put off reading it for a whole year. And now having read it, I have to say, the whispers were exaggerated. I went into it expecting something a lot more Alice in Wonderland trippy and honestly? I'm not even sure if that would have been better or worse.

To start off, the new setting was, interesting to say the least. I'm glad it still held some magic, otherwise I would have noped out hard. It had some moments that were intriguing and fun, but for the most part, it wasn't my type of setting. To me, Green Rider is trad gorl fantasy at its best. I read this series for the adventures, travels, forests and some court politics, served up with a dash of drama. So for me, this was a deviation from the usual - as I'm sure it was for many others. But it also wasn't my preferred setting at all.

There were a lot of plot points that had been left hanging in the air at the end. As I've not yet read the sixth book, I cannot say if these will be tied up further or not. If not, what was their purpose? Was there one to begin with?

Without any direct spoilers - Cade. I did not mind Cade, no strong feelings regarding the character one way or another. It did feel a bit convenient and like, all of a sudden?

And oh my. Our poor Karigan. Will she ever get her happy ending? Is it even possible anymore? She's gone through so much and it just keeps on going and going. Give Karigan a break! Let her rest! Whilst I sincerely hope that she gets an ending she's worthy of, I also cannot predict what will happen next. Mirror Sight was not an addition to the story I could have anticipated. And I cannot see how things could possibly work out for her, especially not with, you know who. There's only one way to find out.

[Dana Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

I started rereading the first 4 books AGAIN....... this series never gets old for me! Cant wait to read what happens next!!!!!

[Eric Allen · Rating 4 out of 5]

An Opinionated Look At:

Mirror Sight, Green Rider Book 5 by Kristen Britain

By Eric Allen

Before I get started let me give you a bit of my history with this series. The first book came out either when I was at the end of High School or beginning of College, and I received a copy of it through my book club as one of the two monthly featured selections. I loved the book then, but never kept track of the series between the several I was following at the time. Last summer I received a review request from a Goodreads member who wanted to hear my opinion on this series, and especially Mirror Sight, the most recent release. I was surprised to find that the book I enjoyed way back when, was actually the beginning of a series. Over the last few months I've read and reviewed the series until now, when I've finally come to Mirror Sight. I have heard nothing but bad things about this book. I don't think I have ever heard anyone say a single positive thing about it. And considering the fact that I was not really all that impressed with books 3 and 4 of the series, I went into this one with quite a bit of dread. But, you know what, I actually really liked this one. I thought it was one of the better books of the series. And before that torch-bearing mob gathering over there starts hurling pitch forks in my direction, let me tell you why.

After shattering the looking mask at the end of Blackveil, Karigan G'ladheon was thrown two hundred years into a bleak future where Sacoridia has been crushed by the Serpentine Empire and its people enslaved. She must find her way back to her time in order to prevent the horrors she sees from coming to pass.

The Good? Okay, the reason I like this series, is very simple. I like Karigan. I think she's fun and awesome. I enjoy reading stories about HER. And since she's the main protagonist of the series, you'd think that wouldn't be a problem... yeah, wrong. Books 3 and 4 barely focused on THE MAIN CHARACTER OF THE SERIES at all. In book 3, she went on a busywork errand unimportant to the plot in any way whatsoever, which put her at the right place at the right time to save the day, rather than having her central to the plot, and book 4 focused on so much other unimportant crap that she barely had any screen time at all. Little wonder that I was not very impressed with those two books. But Mirror Sight is almost entirely about Karigan. She's basically the only one that got sent to the future, and so the story centers around her, and I really liked that. I mean, is it so much to ask that a story about a particular character's adventures actually be about that character and her adventures?

I liked the setting too, the bleak future where everything has been destroyed and rebuilt in the new emperor's image. I liked seeing Karigan trying to reconcile all of it to the world she knows and loves, and having gone from a place and time of relative equality and freedom to a place where women are treated as simple-minded and good for nothing but breeding. Now, I'm no expert on feminism or anything, and usually, speaking about issues of feminism presents me with many wonderful and various opportunities to put my foot in my mouth, but I thought Karigan's reactions to the way women are treated in the future were quite well thought out and executed. I know I'd be horrified to go from my life as it is now, to a time and place where I'm thought of as less than a fourth class citizen, and barely one step above a slave.

I thought that the separation of Karigan from everything she knows and loves presented her with many opportunities to grow as a character that she might not otherwise have come across in her everyday life. I enjoyed watching her work through things, convert people to her way of thinking, and find her way back home. That's what I read the series for, to see her do awesome things and solve her own problems.

The bad? Okay, I don't know about you, but I am REALLY starting to effing hate Amberhill. Seriously. At first he was an extraordinarily cliche douchebag that kept being shoehorned into the plot in places where he really didn't belong AT ALL. When that didn't work, the author made up a sidestory for him to go off and adventure on his own, which was extremely boring and pointless because it didn't have anything to do with ANYTHING ELSE happening in the book in any way. And here, he's the friggen immortal emperor? My god, Britain, the character didn't work the first two times, quit trying to force him on us and let him friggen go already!!! I haven't seen an author try so hard to make an awful character work since freaking God Emperor of Dune. I hate the character, and I hate how the author keeps trying to make him relevant when he's not... at all... in any way whatsoever. I get that SHE may enjoy him as the writer, but when he literally serves no purpose whatsoever to the plot at all except to be there, maybe it's time to either just remove him and stop trying, or rework everything about him so that he actually has some relevance to ANYTHING.

The Ugly? My biggest problem with this book is the love story. It's so pointless, forced and unnecessary. This is what I like to call a Single Serving Romance. You see this a lot in TV series and movies. It's where a character will fall in love with and have some sort of romance with another, and at the end, the love story ends, the characters go their separate ways, and it's never spoken of again, doesn't leave any lasting impact on either the characters, or the story, and really serves no purpose whatsoever except to be a love story for the sake of having a love story. I don't mind love stories. I actually kind of like it when characters have a truly meaningful romance. But when it's just a love story to be a love story, I absolutely hate it. Not every story needs a love story in it, and this one didn't. Especially considering all of the attachments that Karigan already has. She's in what, a love septangle back in the past now? This love story was unnecessary, and really rather uncomfortable for me, because it makes Karigan look very shallow. The sort of character that will fall in love with the nearest member of the opposite gender when away from the ones she truly loves. And because of that, I award Mirror Sight the rare and highly elusive "Twilight is Legitimately a Better Love Story Award." Cherish it always, Kristen Britain, you earned it. But that is, of course, the male perspective on it. I found out long ago that if you want to know what women think of something, the best way is to ask a woman. I know, it sounds crazy to some men out there (like the entirety of the US Congress), but women actually have opinions about things, and if you ask them, they'll be more than happy to share them with you. So, let me ask, Ladies, what did you think of this love story? Did you think it was pointless, shallow and contrived, a love story just for the sake of having a love story, rather than one that is meaningful and lasting? Did you like it? Somewhere between? Did you think it worked, but would have been better in a different story with a character that wasn't already entangled in a spagetti bowl of romantic plotlines? I honestly would like to hear your take on it, and I promise I will treat your opinion with all due respect.

Despite hearing nothing but terrible things about this book, I honestly really liked it. I'm not as attached to this series as many other fans are, having only just picked it up, and I didn't have to wait several years for this book after the massive cliffhanger ending of Blackveil. I totally understand the hatred that this book gets from longtime readers. I know what it's like to be left on a horrible cliffhanger ending for several years waiting for the next volume of a series, only to have the author decide to change things up and write something of a side adventure rather than continuing on as I wanted. Believe me I understand where the frustration and anger is coming from on this book. But I enjoyed it quite a bit, because for the first time since book 2 the series actually focused on the main character of the series. I concede that this book is probably not for everyone, and it can likely be skipped over with only reading a plot summary when book 6 comes out, but I had a lot of fun with it.

Check out my other reviews.

[Justin · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book represents the epitome of the old, understood cliché that “great things cannot be created in a day, but they certainly can be destroyed in one.” This book was insulting - to the reader and to the series. The wanton disregard of the author for the previous four books, and the storylines contained therein was reckless abandon that may result in the disenfranchisement of many of the faithful readers.

I am not going to go into detail about the book itself. Many other reviewers have adequately described the multitude of problems within it. I bought the book the day it was released and started reading. It took me two days reading as hard as I could to read the 784 pages; the first 710 or so of which were miserably slow. Well written, but slow. Somewhat like a Kevin Costner movie. Several times I had to force myself to continue reading instead of skipping a few pages, in hopes that a turn-around for the better was just a page away. It was not. The last 70 pages or so were great, but by that point the damage was done. I purposely waited until today to write a review so that I could give myself some time to let the anger subside in order to think about this book objectively and based on its own merits. I am less angry about feeling duped into buying what amounts to a money-making filler book, but my opinion has not changed much. KB effectively destroyed the continuity of the storyline, and Karigan's character in one fell swoop of her pen (or rather stroke of the keyboard).

One of my main problems with this book is something that I have only seen one other review mention, and hesitate to bring up myself – but this book was full of political undertones and subliminal innuendoes. I hesitate to review about political undertones because I majored in Political Science so sometimes I see political undertones where none were intended to be, simply because my mind is geared to see everything from a politically tainted spectrum. In this case - as much as I hate to say this about my favorite series - I believe the political current is very intentional. The book is chock full of political inferences about guns, capitalism, industry, the environment, feminism, and social equality just to name the big ones. While these are topics that play a role in the story line (and I can understand that) it is obvious that KB is going out of her way to ensure that these issues are mentioned repeatedly. This is apparent based simply on the fact of: how easy it would have been for the author to avoid it, how far she went to include it, and how often the point was attempted to be driven home. Some people may not be as bothered. As I said, I am already sensitive to political undercurrents, but I found it distracting, and irritating. I read books like this to escape politics, not to have them reinforced via what amounts to attempted indoctrination. I hate when authors use their fictional work (minus books that are specifically about politics like “1984” by Orwell) as platforms for their political agenda – no matter what party or agenda it is. I want to read about Karigan slaying some groundmites – not about how evil guns are.

I do appreciate a return to a larger focus on Karigan, but this character was not Karigan. At least not the one we are accustomed with and have become attached to. She seemed foreign. The romance plot line of the first four books was not what kept me reading, but I did believe it added something to the already excellent storyline. However, the romance with Cade in Mirror Sight was forced, almost as if KB felt like there HAD to be a romance soon, but she wanted to pull an unexpected fast one and gave us the anti-climactic version of a relationship with the opposite of a King Zachary type character. Karigan has always been reserved, modest, and afraid to open up to people on a personal level. That is a great deal of what makes her so attractive. In this book KB throws her into an all too predictable relationship that equivocates into a twisted weekend bender type of romance where two people who hardly know one another become bedmates. There never feels like there is any true feeling in the romance plot of Mirror Sight. It was rushed, forced, and poorly executed in writing.


I cannot help but notice that the reviews that give this high ratings lack substance or were given well before the release date of the book. I gave it one star because I was on the line of whether I "hated" it, or "disliked" it, but ultimately I had to force my way through it, and was left dissatisfied, angry, frustrated, and disgusted. If I had given it two stars it would have been solely because KB is an excellent writer. This book does not deserve "mercy stars" based on its own merits. Even KB's superior writing and attention to detail could not save this book, as it read too much like a Stephen King novel with page after grueling page of endless, irrelevant descriptions.

The reviews giving it poor rating are detailed as to why, and do not seem to be written by people who just hate the series in general for whatever reason. Most are people who love the series (or identify that they have read the rest of it) and simply hate this book. I love the series. I have since I accidentally found Green Rider in my middle school library in 1999. I hate this book too. I question if anyone who gave this book 4 or 5 stars, read the same book that I did. I could understand why someone who was not familiar with the series, and read this book as a "one-off" may give it good ratings - but anyone invested in this series cannot seriously claim to have liked this book for its substance. I believe at least half of the 4/5 star reviews are bogus reviews; either by people who know the author, or by people who did not really read the book before they wrote a review. I guess opinions are opinions, and not everyone will agree with mine either.

I am going to do my best to forget this book, and will not read it again. In the future I will skip from Blackveil to book #6….. That is….. As long as book #6 is not this bad. I will read the reviews before I purchase book #6 sometime in 2017 or 2018 (at this pace).

[James Harwood-Jones · Rating 4 out of 5]

Almost a standalone. Our heroine is flung into the future and needs to return to her time. Lots of chaos and romance and moves along quite well.
This series cleans my palate so I pick up the next episode once in a while. :)

[K · Rating 5 out of 5]

SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS

SPOILERS

According to Amazon reviews I'm in the minority on this but I really enjoyed the book overall. I'm still in absolute denial about Cade but there you go (probably not going to change for another 3-4 years). I really enjoyed the Industrial setting throughout the book as a *contrast* to what Karigan had at home. It really showed exactly how much Karigan's people have to gain AND lose if the war goes to Mornhaven/Sea King/Amberhill. I do believe that by seeing this difference Karigan will have renewed determination against Mornhaven.

Was the book painful in some places? Hoo boy yes. Did it show some major (almost too much) character growth? You betcha.

One thing I really really really enjoyed was how much Karigan time we got. I don't read GRRM and probably never will finish the first book because I like a single protagonist. I'm fine with some alternating POVs but I like a central character. These past books, especially in THKT and Blackveil, we've been skipping around to other doings in the kingdom and following other characters. That's never really interested me. At all. Those two books in particular felt very bloated to me because all I wanted to read about was Karigan. I know some people say Mirror Sight is bloated and feels like a filler book because several things in Blackveil were left unanswered but I personally believe this book works very well by itself and has its own significance in the series. Nothing was outright stated, but again, Karigan SAW and EXPERIENCED exactly what Sacoridia has to lose. What's that saying about walking in someone else's shoes...?

Another comment I've seen in other reviews is how slow the first half of the book is. Well, it's not terribly action packed but there was enough new setting going on that I wasn't really bothered by it. And frankly, how action packed can it be when the protagonist has a cast on her arm and a bad limp? And if she had returned home sooner, she would have never experienced Mill City and it's denizens thereby making the trip forward moot. So yes, Lhean was unable to contact her (still kinda wondering why he didn't just ask a bird or something to pass a message on, but ok) and things were kind of at a standstill but it worked for me.

I'm also very glad to see some resolution to the K/Z relationship. By being with Cade and *remembering* Cade Karigan knows she is capable of loving another person deeply who isn't the King. And she also knows exactly how much is missing and will always be missing from her relationship with the King. So while I'm still in denial that we'll never see Cade again (again, 3-4 years for that to go away), I'm very glad we got to see him at all.

[Tammie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Where to begin...

I was extremely happy to be reading Mirror Sight. I've waited for 3 years for it to be released. There were major cliffhangers and plot threads just waiting to be resolved or to be moved forward even just a little. Unfortunately none of that happened in this book, well with the exception that we find out where Karigan ended up at the end of Blackveil, and we find out what happens with Amberhill. But then again it is nullified at the end of the book because it hasn't happened yet and likely will all change. So with a few small exceptions, this book is mostly irrelevant to the rest of the series. This was like one of those TV episodes where one of the characters finds themselves stuck in an alternate time or place and makes a life for themselves there only to have to leave and go back to reality. It's a well used trope in TV and books and I wasn't crazy about it being used here.

My biggest problem besides no real plot progression for the overall series is that I'm not even sure who I was reading about in this book. Karigan was so out of character throughout the whole thing. I had already figured out that she would most likely be thrown forward in time from the ending of Blackveil, but what I didn't expect was for her to stay there throughout the whole book and be so un-Karigan like. Where was the feisty Karigan? Sure she had her moments, but not enough. This resulted in a very unsatisfying read.

Also, so many of the regular characters were absent. We got very little of Zachary, nothing of many others. It was just a huge let down after waiting so long. The characters we did get in the future world were ok, but I never really cared about any of them. Cade was an alright guy, but the relationship that developed there felt forced.

There was also a lack of action in this book that made it very dull. It does finally pick up a little in that aspect, but the tone and world of this novel is so different from the others in the series it was too little too late.

I will say that despite my disappointment the book deserves 3 stars because the world building and the writing were excellent, even if it did feel out of place in the Green Rider series. Had they been characters from another series I probably would have liked the characters and the adventure and would have had no complaints.

I will still be reading more of this series because I'm convinced this was just one of those times where the author got sidetracked by subplots. Robert Jordan comes to mind. By the way this ended, I think the next book will be back on track...hopefully!

Review also posted at Writings of a Reader