My son and I managed to finish Mirror Sight just in time. We are entering a new phase in our lives with him going off to college. Hopefully this will not be our last story to be read together. Hopefully this isn’t the last book of the Green Rider series either. It did have a sense of closure to it. Except maybe not.
Once again we have enjoyed ourselves immensely. Kristen Britain‘s writing lends itself to being read aloud, something I wish all writers could learn from. She did throw in a couple of tongue-twisters this time but I consider that a chance to laugh together and good practice in getting my mouth around new sounds. Anyways, excellent writing from the oral point of view.
On to content. Let’s take my son first. He loved this story about Karigan and her journey into the future. When Blackveil ended with Karigan trapped in the sarcophagus, my son wanted to write Kristen an extremely irate letter stating how cruel he thought she was toward him as a reader. Not so this time. He seemed to enjoy himself very much. There were a couple of spots that both he and I found funny. One was when the professor caught Cade and Karigan fighting. We also very much enjoyed the interactions between Miriam and Karigan and the meeting of the Riders underneath the glass ceiling. Another funny incident was the table Cade, Karigan and Silk were sitting at during Silk’s evening of entertainment. Neither of us enjoyed the way Stirling treated Cade nor the way he and others had treated Yolandhe. But we found Silk’s animal encounter in the museum satisfying and also Yolandhe’s way of getting back at both Silk Sr. and Stirling. Very satisfying. He was impressed with Ms. Britain’s background information at the end of the book about her time as a guide. We are both people who like details like that. When we were finished my son wanted me to find out if there was to be another book in the series.
In the past I used to ask myself a lot of “What if?” questions. Perhaps all of us do. Kristen Britain must have done so herself at times, as Mirror Sight is very much about what could be given certain choices or events. While we never discover what could have happened in real life, Karigan has the chance to see what might be if certain events take place. The future she lands in isn’t a pleasant one but in many ways it reminds me of the one many of us live in.
Sometimes I wonder if we humans see how destructive we are with our inventive abilities. While all species on this planet consume and procreate without a thought for balance, we seem to have taken things up several levels from the other races inhabiting earth. In that sense Karigan’s future is very similar to our own present.
Women’s place in society had been extremely curtailed in the time Karigan landed. Karigan’s real time seems somewhat like my own space in time and the opportunities women have here in Norway. The future she lands in is much more like the lives that women of Afghanistan, Iran, Yemen, Oman, Quatar and so on are living. In Mirror Sight their only role is to bear children (sons) and be property. Servants are somewhat freer (but way poorer) and slaves, well they are slaves and treated as such. I believe my reaction to suddenly having to live a life like that would be much like Karigan’s to having to adjust to her experience. But in addition to having to adjust to being a woman in such a place, Karigan has to figure out a way to get back to her own time. Britain hasn’t made life any simpler for Karigan by doing this to her main character.
Oppression is very much a part of the life Karigan lands in. Eastern Germany, the Soviet Union, Russia today, Egypt and increasingly the US are only some countries that come to mind when the propaganda of the government and the curtailing of people’s rights of Karigan’s future are shown.
As entertainment Mirror Sight is a wonder. From her first story about Karigan G’ladheon, I have been enchanted with Kristen Britain’s writing and was happy when my son shared my enjoyment. These are fun, interesting, informative stories that help me question my own version of truth.
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Mirror Sight available at: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, IndieBound, Penguin
Available in audio at: audible, iTunes
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