Review: The Mask of Mirrors

The Mask of Mirrors by M.A. Carrick
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Disclosure upfront: I'm on a writers' forum with one half of M.A. Carrick, which is a very open pseudonym for Alyc Helms and Marie Brennan (it's Marie that I know). Her sensible and knowledgeable comments there, and the excellent work I've seen from her in the past, were both factors in causing me to pick this up, along with a favourable review from Fantasy Faction.

I didn't regret my choice even for a moment. This is fine work, from authors who understand how real societies work, and are capable of layered worldbuilding that feels realistic even while being fantastical. It's baroque in more senses than one; it captures the feel of the baroque era, but it's also elaborate and intricate. The prose is sound, the copy editing excellent. And it pulls off the difficult feat of introducing us to multiple viewpoint characters who all win our sympathy, even when they have directly conflicting agendas.

It's a long, complicated book. An indie author would almost certainly have broken it into at least three books, and it would have been the poorer for it; it's one continuous narrative in several parts.

Of those, I found the first part the least engaging, though certainly engaging enough to persist with. There are a lot of characters introduced (I was glad the Kindle edition had X-Ray to remind me of who some of them were, on more than one occasion), and because the worldbuilding is dropped in contextually rather than in expository lumps - which, let me be clear, is a good thing - I spent some time not being sure exactly how some of it worked. There are three main and a couple of subsidiary complex cultures involved in the scenario, with several different elaborate magic systems. There is a glossary and a list of characters at the end, and it's worth your while to look at them if you're getting confused (there are no spoilers). Even in this early part, though, there are several motivated characters in dynamic situations, and I was in no danger of bailing out at any time.

As the book continued, I became thoroughly gripped by the mystery that all of the characters, in different ways and for different reasons, were pursuing, and also the other mystery of the identity of the Rook - a combination of folk hero and superhero. As the characters came to care about each other, as they revealed elements of selflessness and goodheartedness (incomplete in at least one case, but still there), I found their struggles more and more compelling. And as their various plots and agendas intersected, and some of them even confided in each other for the greater good, they became a powerful ensemble cast capable - barely - of resolving the situation, at great personal cost and with courage, intelligence and determination.

This is exactly the kind of book that shoots into the upper tiers of my annual Best Books list, and if I hadn't read the amazing Piranesi this year it would be right at the top, no question. I'm very much looking forward to reading the sequel.

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