The Obsidian Mirror (Chronoptika #1)

I realized the other day that I, for some reason, always seem to mix up Catherine Fisher and Cornelia Funke. This led to me being a little hesitant to pick up The Obsidian Mirror because I was thinking it was written by Funke and I haven't particularly cared for any of her books. I did, however, enjoy Incarceron and ended up being rather pleased with The Obsidian Mirror as well.

I'm not going to lie. I was pretty darn confused for the first few chapters. Heck, I didn't realize it was set in the present until they were on a plane (and then I only realized halfway through the ride), but then again, I can be pretty unobservant. There's a lot of mystery and dancing around the main story, but eventually things start coming to light and I don't think it took too long either.

I often don't like the third-person omniscient POV because it can be confusing and feel too far removed from the characters and the story, but Fisher does an excellent job with it. Sometimes it will transition from one person to another within the space of a few paragraphs with no warning, but it was so smooth that it didn't bother me at all. And thankfully, I liked all the characters. I wasn't particularly disappointed when it would move from one character's situation to another because I was equally interested in them.

I loved learning all about the mirror, it's past and future. I'm really hoping that we'll eventually figure out the mirror's backstory because even while everything else is going on, there's the ever-present question: where did the mirror come from and what was it's original purpose? On top of that, there's both the past and present strorylines which I'm dying to know more about.

The Nutshell: The Obsidian Mirror has pretty much everything you could ask of a scifi/fantasy. Time travel, a desolate future, a man determined at all costs to get what he wants, interesting faeries, and about a million storylines that manage not to get all tangled and confusing. If you're looking for a story that will capture you with it's mysteries, you should definitely check out The Obsidian Mirror.
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If I had to describe The Obsidian Mirror in one word it would be: rebel. No, this book is not about some revolution but it simply rebels and defiest to be labeled. I really had problems tagging it. Should it be young adult or middle grade? Where would you put Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling or The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman? Well, put this book right there with them.

If you try stuffing The Obsidian Mirror into one genre only, you would run into similar problems. Is it contemporary? Yes, since most of the plot happens in present tense. Is it science fiction? Well, you could say so, since there is time travel involved and description of society in distant future... Is it historical? There are excerpts from old journals and some parts of the story happens in 19th century - so yes, it's historical fiction also. Is it fantasy? There are fey and magic and a lot of unresolved plot elements that may turn to be other supernatural surprises, so you can definitely call The Obsidian Mirror fantasy or urban fantasy or paranormal... So there you have it. This is contemporary historical paranormal science fiction/fantasy novel. Ha! Take that Catherine Fisher! You thought you could fool me, but nothing stops my OCD. :D

The Obsidian Mirror is a thrilling adventure set in England at the estate of Wintercombe Abbey. The atmosphere in Wintercombe Abbey is so dark and gothic and one of the big mysteries in The Obsidian Mirror is the house itself and the secrets hidden in it.
"Nothing in the house was straight; everything leaned or tilted; even the floors sloped, and Jake had the unsettling feeling that the Abbey was warping almost as he walked through it."

Story is about multiple characters who all gather in and around Wintercombe Abbey to accomplish their personal, often mysterious goals. Narration is told from third person point of view and jumps between different characters constantly, the more intense the moment, the more switches you should expect. This turned out to be a great tension builder, it does not help for you to really connect to the characters. Although I liked some of them very much, especially Sarah, girl of unknown origin but suspected runaway from mental hospital, and Piers, ever-present all-knowing butler.

The Obsidian Mirror covers a lot of topics. Coping with loss of a close family member, human greed and manipulation, does goal always justifies the means, fight for the better future, lost love, family, friends,... And surprisingly, solution to all of their problems seems to be The Obsidian Mirror.

This is the book that will keep you puzzled and on your toes until the last page. There are so many twists and turns in plot and always something new is happening. The Obsidian Mirror is definitely not ordinary novel full of tropes and cliches. But, for some unknown reason, I had hard time reading it. Or should we better say slow time. I would read and read and read, for ages, and when I check only ten pages passed. This is very strange since I am usually a fast reader, especially with books I like. And I liked The Obsidian Mirror.

If you liked gothic atmosphere of Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere, scary but beautiful fey from The Iron King by Julie Kagawa or you enjoy reading middle-grade/young adult fantasy novels that revolve around large set of characters and involve mystery, time travel, paranormal and a lot of thrilling action, you are probably going to enjoy The Obsidian Mirror by Catherine Fisher. You are definitely not going to say: "Meh, I read it all before" after finishing this book.