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Dara's Reviews > The Mirror Empire
The Mirror Empire (Worldbreaker Saga, #1)
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I had really high hopes for this book. Powerful women, sentient plants, mirror worlds... but ultimately, I was left disappointed.
Kameron Hurley has created a really interesting world. There are multiple universes, powers that are governed by satellites that orbit the planet, and blood magic. People use dogs and bears instead of horses, women run the government, men are used for little more than sex, and there are doppelgangers. Sounds like the makings of a fascinating book (minus the whole inequality thing... and ritualistic cannibalism).
Unfortunately, the world is populated by boring, forgettable characters. I love the fact that women are so prevalent but they have no personality and are incredibly shallow. I had no investment in any of them and eventually got so tired of reading about them that I speed-read the last 30% of the novel.
There's some plot to this book but it's bogged down by uninteresting characters and confusing factions. Some characters change gender randomly and it gets hard to keep track of everyone. I enjoyed Hurley's writing style but it wasn't enough to keep me interested. I wish she spend more time getting the reader invested in the world and characters rather than packing in so much plot.
Another problem I had: characters often did things because the plot demanded it rather than doing something for their own reasons/motivation. Their actions didn't feel organic and didn't make any sense. They would jump from one line of reasoning to a completely different one with no rhyme or reason.
I don't know if this book wasn't for me or if it's truly a dud. I'll give Hurley the benefit of the doubt and say it wasn't for me.
D
Kameron Hurley has created a really interesting world. There are multiple universes, powers that are governed by satellites that orbit the planet, and blood magic. People use dogs and bears instead of horses, women run the government, men are used for little more than sex, and there are doppelgangers. Sounds like the makings of a fascinating book (minus the whole inequality thing... and ritualistic cannibalism).
Unfortunately, the world is populated by boring, forgettable characters. I love the fact that women are so prevalent but they have no personality and are incredibly shallow. I had no investment in any of them and eventually got so tired of reading about them that I speed-read the last 30% of the novel.
There's some plot to this book but it's bogged down by uninteresting characters and confusing factions. Some characters change gender randomly and it gets hard to keep track of everyone. I enjoyed Hurley's writing style but it wasn't enough to keep me interested. I wish she spend more time getting the reader invested in the world and characters rather than packing in so much plot.
Another problem I had: characters often did things because the plot demanded it rather than doing something for their own reasons/motivation. Their actions didn't feel organic and didn't make any sense. They would jump from one line of reasoning to a completely different one with no rhyme or reason.
I don't know if this book wasn't for me or if it's truly a dud. I'll give Hurley the benefit of the doubt and say it wasn't for me.
D
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Reading Progress
June 25, 2014
– Shelved
June 25, 2014
– Shelved as:
to-read
August 26, 2014
– Shelved as:
fantasy
August 27, 2014
–
Started Reading
September 2, 2014
– Shelved as:
read-2014
September 2, 2014
– Shelved as:
reviewed
September 2, 2014
–
Finished Reading
July 14, 2015
– Shelved as:
lady-protag
March 8, 2017
– Shelved as:
lady-author
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Mpauli
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rated it 4 stars
Sep 02, 2014 09:19AM
Interesting review, Dara. I just started it, so I'm still at this point where I'm totally amazed by all the world-building goodness, which I really enjoy so far. Hope I like it better, cause characters aren't such an important part for me as world-building or plot.
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I hope you like it! Just wasn't for me is all.
Gardens of the Moon was more confusing than this book but Erikson is a wizard. I didn't know what was going on half the time but I liked the characters. Thanks, Alex. I'm bummed I didn't like it either but it's okay. Plenty of other books out there.
Nice review Dara. I've heard this one tipped a lot as one of the most anticipated fantasy books of the year but I've also read several reviews from my friends recently expressing disappointment with it. I think I'll drop this one down my TBR a bit.
Thanks, Conor. I hope you like it when you get around to it.
Nicely put. I somehow get the feeling this will be the general opinion.
By the way, do you like Prince of Thorns? Becuase I saw what was essentially your review, except much more detailed, and in depth, written by a male review. And because the guy has the audacity to appreciate PoT entirely due to the character, and consider Hurley's book a flop, he's apparently automatically a sexist.
No names mentioned, all socially acceptable, of course, but for anyone following her that also follows the guy's reviews, it's clear.
No names mentioned, all socially acceptable, of course, but for anyone following her that also follows the guy's reviews, it's clear.
I have not read Prince of Thorns.
Oh o_O You should definitely check it out sometime :p
Doesn't really interest me. The main character seems horrible.
Horrible is an understatement.
I think it's over-the-top grimdark for me. I don't think I would enjoy it.
Ah, that's understandable. If you're curious about Mark Lawrence, you can definitely check out Prince of Fools. I found it A LOT less grimdark than his first series; it's more along the lines of horror.
Perhaps someday. I'm really just excited to finally finish the Malazan series.
I'm sure there are some books I have enjoyed where characters do stuff for the sake of the plot, but I generally dislike books like that.
maybe my reply is 2 yeara too late but thank you for this review!! storygraph "ordered for u" recommended this to me and i wanted to see some reviews before reading. yours was excellent and i feel like is honest to the book and shows that it's more plot than character driven. i was v frustrated w reviews by cishet white men trying to paint some scenes as r*pe by purposefully omitting sentences, after literally saying they defended rapists in their daily lives. like, i feel like a lot of the negative reviews were by sexist men and im glad i actually found one that is sincere on what its actual short-comings are!
So it's not just me? I thought I might have been a little harsh but perhaps not.
