Review: The Mirror’s Truth by Michael R. Fletcher
Blurb:
Where belief defines reality, delusions are both strength and curse: The deeper you sink into madness the more powerful you become. But that power comes with a price. Your darkest nightmares hunt you at night. The face in the mirror hates you and wants to be free. Your fears manifest and plot your destruction. ******Bedeckt defined himself by the list of crimes he was unwilling to commit. It was such a short list. How could straying from it have gone so wrong?Now Bedeckt must undo the damage caused by wandering from his precious list. The Geborene god seeks to remake the world with his obsessive need for cleanliness and perfection, but Bedeckt is going to bring him down. Nothing can stop him. Not even death.The two friends he abandoned in the Afterdeath chase after Bedeckt, bent on revenge. Psychotic assassins hunt him. Something cold and evil follows, lurking in the clouds above, shredding reality with its delusions. Madness and sanity war, stretching and tearing the very fabric of existence. The dead shall rise.
Review:
I thought I’d start my first official review with something lighthearted and fun. You know the type of thing I mean; a beautiful fantasy world, swirling with colors and so vibrant with life you could see it when you close your eyes! A cast of lovable characters, banding together to overcome their obstacles. A story of hope, leaving you with a feeling of warmth and happiness, as you work your way through it, and end up feeling fulfilled as you experience the climax, where the heroes defeat the evil and save the day! That type of story!
Oh….oh man, I think I may have picked the wrong book. But I could have sworn this series was in the #1 spot on a few lists, people rave about it! What do you mean the list was called “Most Grimdark” of all time? Ahhhhh.
“Those whom you slay must serve in the Afterdeath. Gather yourself an army of dead for what awaits is endless war.”
Wow, I can’t believe I didn’t pick up on it sooner!
Well, lucky for us all, this book, The Mirror’s Truth, is well deserving of a #1 spot not just on that list, but right up there with best middle books of all time. I thought it would be hard to top Beyond Redemption, book 1 of the Manifest Delusion series, but Mr Fletcher has done so and this ranks in the upper echelon of sequels right alongside other incredible works like Empire of the Damned, Kings of Ash and King of Thorns.
The book picks right up with Bedeckt back in the real world, escaping the Afterdeath with a new companion, Zukunft who is a Mirrorist. Hopefully you’ve read the first book (if not do so immediately), but a Mirrorist is one of the types of Geisteskranken, or Delusionists. They’re appropriately named, as each of these types are, well, delusional. And the more delusional you are, the more powerful you become. After escaping the Afterdeath and leaving behind his previous companions, Stehlen and Wichtig, Bedeckt is left trying to pick up the pieces that were broken when he killed the Geborene god, Morgen. And by pick up the pieces, I mean kill Morgen again. After all, the god wants to create a perfect world in his vision; a vision that means death and destruction for almost every other living person not following his lead, that is.
Unfortunately for him, both Stehlen (a Kleptic; a master at both stealing and killing) and Wichtig (the World’s Greatest Swordsman; his powers are based in charisma and manipulation) were approached individually by Morgen, who is using both of them for his own reasons, namely to kill Bedeckt. After returning from the Afterdeath, Stehlen who is now traveling with Lebendig (a swordswoman) begins to hunt Wichtig, who Morgen tells her will lead her to Bedeckt. Wichtig meanwhile goes to look for his young son he left behind, but his son finds him first and we realize that although only two weeks have passed in the Afterdeath, years and years have gone by in the real world.
The book also introduces several more powerful Geisteskranken who are near their pinnacle, which is the point at which their insanity peaks and they self-destruct in some way, shape or form, and are working on behalf of their Geborene god.
The “leader” of the three most powerful is Erdbehuter, who believes she serves the earth goddess and bends the earth to her will, essentially controlling it, especially things like rock, mud and other physical objects. Drache, who believes she’s a massive dragon thoroughly enjoys dropping people and animals from the sky, while also trying to hit those on the ground with their bodies is the most dangerous we encounter, but I think the most purely psychotic is Ungeist. He believes all people to be possessed by demons and has no problem exorcising them, which of course kills the person outright.
“War isn’t insanity, it’s the base state for all reality. Plants war for sunlight. Animals war for food and water. Wolves battle to decide who leads the pack. All life is struggle. Peace, now that is insanity.”
On the religious front, Morgen is also taking his troops to war against the country of Gottlos is also a very interesting side of things. In book 1, he was being molded to be the perfect god by Konig and his followers, and in this book Konig is still trapped, and working with one of Morgens doppels (reflections) named Failure to either overthrow, or kill him. Morgen’s perfect war is an obsession, one which will either lead to him ruling the world or destroying it completely.
As the book progresses, the journeys of all three intersect and lead to a climax that I didn’t see coming, and really set the tone for what’s sure to be an epic conclusion to the trilogy. I’d love to say more, but I’m avoiding spoilers at all costs; trust me, it’ll be worth it to know nothing going into it.
Final Thoughts: I loved, loved, loved this book. The new characters added from book 2, especially those who are traveling with the trio are a welcome addition. The three main characters are also traveling solo from one another in the book, which adds a lot of great interactions we wouldn’t have seen if they were together, since they’re being forced to work their beliefs onto strangers, as opposed to each other again.
One of the best parts overall of the book is Wichtig. He’s not only insane, but hilarious. I know the series is well known for being ridiculously dark, but one of the things that gets overlooked is the humor throughout it.
“Talking has nothing to do with lying. I never lie. Or I always lie. I don’t know. I can’t decide. And if I don’t decide, I’m not lying.”
Quotes like that are not nearly as far and few between as the label the series has would make it sound, and Wichtig especially has a knack for making the most of his on-page appearances. Even when he’s getting brutally tortured, he’s keeping you entertained.
As the story goes on, the world building gets even better and more fleshed out. Lots of new places are introduced, along with new powers, religions, and the like. It remains a huge plus, diving into a world as brutal as this, but also enjoying the journey is a testament to how talented Fletcher actually is.
The writing itself remains absolutely fantastic. There are phrases in here that I wouldn’t have thought of in a million years, that make the world not only feel incredibly real, but also horrific. After 34 years of living, I think I can safely say this series is by FAR the last place I’d ever want to end up in fantasy. It is absolutely brutal, unforgiving, bleak and despite all of that, incredibly fun to read about.
One of the best things about falling in love with a series after it’s finished is that I don't have to wait for the next book to come out. Jumping right into the next one is the best, and really the only reason I haven’t so far is because I needed to write this review, and give my thoughts on it. So now that I have, I’m giving it my final grade, which is going to be on a sliding scale of insanity, which I think the author would appreciate.
I give this book 5 flayed and decaying corpses left in a latrine pit out of 5. Do yourself a favor and check this series out; if book 3 stays the same level of quality as both 1 and 2, I think it would be a top tier series ever.
