A Shadow on the Glass
core novel 1998 The Three Worlds Cycle
Record
| First published | 1998 |
|---|---|
| Original language |  EN |
| Work type | novel |
| Canon status | core |
| Reader rating | 3.77 (3,684 ratings, collected 2026-10-09) |
| First-edition ISBN | 9780648186977 |
| Internal chronology | 1 |
Synopsis
Once there were three worlds, each with its own human race, and in ancient times the Way Between the Worlds was shattered, leaving bands of the Aachim, the Faellem and the Charon trapped with the old humans of Santhenar, where their immortal leaders have schemed against one another ever since. Llian, a brilliant tale-teller and chronicler at the College of the Histories but inept at everyday life, uncovers a three-thousand-year-old mystery too dangerous to be revealed and is expelled from his college. Thrown together by fate with Karan, a young woman with the rare gift of sensitivity who has stolen the Mirror of Aachan, he struggles to reach the city of Thurkad, snared in the machinations of immortals, the vengeance of feuding warlords and the magic of all-powerful sorcerers who all want the mirror, while the twisted secret it holds threatens a millennial war.
Where it sits
- Universe: The Three Worlds Cycle
- Series: The View from the Mirror core; position 1 of 4 in the series' recorded order
- Author: Ian Irvine
Awards (verified)
- Aurealis Award (Best Fantasy Novel), 1998: nominated; Shortlisted.
Notes
- From the series record (The View from the Mirror): Ian Irvine's first Three Worlds quartet: the chronicler Llian and the sensitive Karan, drawn into a three-thousand-year-old struggle between the immortals of the three human races trapped on Santhenar since the Way Between the Worlds was shattered, and the Mirror of Aachan that can reveal it.
Neighbouring works
Publication order and internal chronology are tracked as two separate orderings and are never conflated: a book's place in one says nothing about its place in the other.
- Publication order, within the series The View from the Mirror: position 1 of 4: next The Tower on the Rift (1998)
- Internal chronology, within The Three Worlds Cycle: position 1 of 15: next Geomancer (2001)
Sources
- Ian Irvine (official site)
- Fantasy Literature (review)
- Ian Irvine (official site)
- Ian Irvine (official booklist)
- Wikipedia
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