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Quondam: An Ancient Mirrors Tale
According to legend, only the dragonspawn born of both Man and dragon can unseat the usurper queen and restore order and magick to Quondam. When Cwen of Adracmora falls through a mysterious portal into Quondam, she discovers her fate and the world's are intertwined in ways that will drag her, heartbroken and vengeful, into the heart of a devastating war.
- GenresFantasy
328 pages, Paperback
First published May 1, 2008
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
February 27, 2009
Amidst death and destruction, Cwen of Aradan and her aunt Yávië, the Dragon Queen, fall from their home in Ædracmoræ through a mirror and into a new world called Quondam. It is a dangerous land, one full of death and shifting loyalties ruled by the harsh iron fist of Queen Karid, a corrupted wood nymph forced to wear the skin of humans as punishment for wrongly accepting a human’s soul. Karid will stop at nothing to get what she wants, in this case, destruction of the House of Aradan because of a prophecy foretelling Karid’s downfall at the hands of a half human dragon spawn, who can only be freed from his prison by an Aradan. There is both hope and despair in the promise of Cwen’s placement in this prophecy, but while there are those who want to help Cwen and shelter her from Karid’s wrath, Karid has quite a few allies of her own, and they, like their vicious queen, will do anything to ensure the failure of the prophecy.
This final installment in Gibson’s fantastical Ancient Mirrors series is by far my favorite. Cwen is my favorite character because of her physical determination and emotional fragility. She is the key ingredient that breathes life into this novel. Gibson is a fantastic storyteller, able to weave a fast-paced story with elements of fantasy in a way that makes Quondam hard to put down as well as create realistic characters that readers can connect to instead of making them mere machines to carry out the tale. One of the reasons I enjoyed Quondam so much more than the other titles in the Ancient Mirrors series is because the outcome is so dependent on Cwen and her fear of loving. This helped make the story in Quondam so beautifully romantic and unforgettable. The multitude of names and new species are surprisingly easy to keep track of, though the shifting points of view are sometimes difficult to get used to. Quondam ends the Ancient Mirrors series with an epic bang that makes me wish the series would continue.
Fantasy fans, especially those who enjoyed The Lord of the Rings trilogy by J.R.R. Tolkien, The Abhorsen Chronicles by Garth Nix, and Foundling by D.M. Cornish, will want to go back to the first installments in the Ancient Mirrors series, Dragon Queen, The Wreckening, and Damselflies, before delving into this fourth one.
reposted from http://thebookmuncher.blogspot.com
This final installment in Gibson’s fantastical Ancient Mirrors series is by far my favorite. Cwen is my favorite character because of her physical determination and emotional fragility. She is the key ingredient that breathes life into this novel. Gibson is a fantastic storyteller, able to weave a fast-paced story with elements of fantasy in a way that makes Quondam hard to put down as well as create realistic characters that readers can connect to instead of making them mere machines to carry out the tale. One of the reasons I enjoyed Quondam so much more than the other titles in the Ancient Mirrors series is because the outcome is so dependent on Cwen and her fear of loving. This helped make the story in Quondam so beautifully romantic and unforgettable. The multitude of names and new species are surprisingly easy to keep track of, though the shifting points of view are sometimes difficult to get used to. Quondam ends the Ancient Mirrors series with an epic bang that makes me wish the series would continue.
Fantasy fans, especially those who enjoyed The Lord of the Rings trilogy by J.R.R. Tolkien, The Abhorsen Chronicles by Garth Nix, and Foundling by D.M. Cornish, will want to go back to the first installments in the Ancient Mirrors series, Dragon Queen, The Wreckening, and Damselflies, before delving into this fourth one.
reposted from http://thebookmuncher.blogspot.com
September 5, 2008
Quondam is the fourth book in the "Ancient Mirrors" series by Jayel Gibson. Cwen and Queen Yávië are pulled through a mirror to the ancient kingdom of Quondam, currently under the iron fist of Queen Karid. Can Cwen survive long enough to fulfill her piece of the prophesy that will free Quondam?
The previous books in the series are Dragon Queen, The Wrekening and Damselflies
I really wanted to enjoy the book more than I did after reading the introduction, "Synergy" where Jayel Gibson describes the research she did at Gold Beach Books. Unfortunately after the strong start with a fiery assassination and the initial scenes in Quondam, the book begins to drag.
The weakest part of the novel is the romance between Cwen and D'raeken. All the political intrigue and the violence of Kalid's army and the nomads and the oppression gets put on hold while Cwen and D'raeken play house on a prison island and go through the motions of a typical situation based romance. This part of the novel is no different than Two Alone by Sandra Dallas save for the fantasy elements involving "magick" and dragons and so forth.
Cwen seems to flop around trying to figure out her role in the book. She's a bit like Colette from the video game Tales of Symphonia and she's every bit as annoying. From other reviews I've read there's apparently a "strong feminist theme" running through the book but I didn't catch that at all. For better examples, check out works by Ursula K. Le Guin, Jeannette Winterson or Margaret Atwood. This book instead felt like an unfortunate mashup of Mirror of Her Dreams, the Pern series and any of the Dragonlance books.
The previous books in the series are Dragon Queen, The Wrekening and Damselflies
I really wanted to enjoy the book more than I did after reading the introduction, "Synergy" where Jayel Gibson describes the research she did at Gold Beach Books. Unfortunately after the strong start with a fiery assassination and the initial scenes in Quondam, the book begins to drag.
The weakest part of the novel is the romance between Cwen and D'raeken. All the political intrigue and the violence of Kalid's army and the nomads and the oppression gets put on hold while Cwen and D'raeken play house on a prison island and go through the motions of a typical situation based romance. This part of the novel is no different than Two Alone by Sandra Dallas save for the fantasy elements involving "magick" and dragons and so forth.
Cwen seems to flop around trying to figure out her role in the book. She's a bit like Colette from the video game Tales of Symphonia and she's every bit as annoying. From other reviews I've read there's apparently a "strong feminist theme" running through the book but I didn't catch that at all. For better examples, check out works by Ursula K. Le Guin, Jeannette Winterson or Margaret Atwood. This book instead felt like an unfortunate mashup of Mirror of Her Dreams, the Pern series and any of the Dragonlance books.
April 21, 2010
I truly enjoyed this novel and plan on finding Gibson’s other works. Quondam is only one of the many Ancient Mirrors Tales and the other three that I know of – Dragon Queen, The Wrekening, and Damselflies. After I was finished reading this, Anne Bishop came to mind. Quondam isn’t as dark and twisted as the Black Jewels trilogy, but it has a lot of the same elements. Anyone who is a fan of Anne Bishop will have no trouble with this novel and I would seriously recommend anyone with a passion for fantasy to check this novel out.
To read my full review, click here
To read my full review, click here
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews