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27966
The Tower on the Rift
(2000)
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Author: Ian Irvine
Publisher: Orbit
Language: English
Pages: 688
Series: The View from the Mirror
ISBN: 9781841490052
Genre: Science Fiction & Fantasy
Format: Paperback

Irvine picks up the challenge of following "The Shadow on the Mirror" with great gusto in this novel. Having brought all of the major characters together for the climax of that novel, he now flings them apart again and then slowly pulls them back in together for the finale of this one. Such a tactic is extremely dangerous - but Irvine pulls it off extremely well.
The main thrust of this book is the fact that Tensor has the Mirror, has kidnapped Llian and wants to use the Mirror to enact his revenge upon Rulke. However, this main strand is intertwined with the lives, relationships and goals of all the many characters in the first book.
The pace varies wildly in the book. The first hundred pages are at breakneck speed with a huge amount of activity, then Irvine gives the reader a necessary lull, before plowing onwards again. He switches his focus from character to character with alacrity, although on one occasion it did actually become quite confusing.
The novel is mainly a picaresque one, dealing with the journeys made by the characters, but works well. It contains some very humourous moments as well as truly touching scene when the lovers are re-united. However, in areas cracks are beginning to show. The power of the "Secret Art" seems to vary wildly from chapter to chapter and the characters survive and recover from spear wounds, knife slashes, scorpion stings and falls of cliffs with such alacrity that I'm never really worried that they won't survive. Despite that, it's a great read and I'm leaping on to the third book.