Obsidian Mirror

Catherine Fisher

Time travel, mystery, fantasy creatures. All the things I like. Jack Wilde is at a posh private school, but is angry and the world since his dad disappeared last year. He will do anything to find him. Oberon Venn lost his wife several years ago and it was his fault. The man with a scarred face had his Obsidian Mirror stolen, and in the process was sent into an exile of sorts. Piers is a man who wants his freedom, Summer a Shee who wants her lover, and Sarah a girl who simply wants the world not to end. Lots of characters, each with their own motivations, some clearly written by Fisher, others intentionally withheld, revealed or guessed at as we traverse this first book in a trilogy. Tying the entire plot together is the mirror, which is not completely understood (hence Jack's dads disappearance), that allows time travel. One thing I love about this is the idea of the replicant. Most time travel storylines avoid at all costs the mixing of timelines. If you "see yourself" the timeline implodes. Here, Fisher has created a scene where traveling back to a time before you left just creates a copy of yourself, a replicant. It raises the question of identity and soul, but she doesn't let that stop her from making replicant creation become somehow central to at least one of her storylines. This is very clearly a trilogy, so the entire world must be worthwhile before getting a recommendation. After only one installment, we have to wait.

Wait