Mirror of Reality: Geb War Chronicles by Alexander Schmid

The wildly magical imagination of fantasy author Alexander Scmid brings to life a hero’s journey of sword and sorcery in Mirror of Reality, a classic epic battle of wills, legends, and leaders with plenty of mythical beasts and lands to be explored in the Empire of Geb. Re-imagining many aspects of existing legends into a war of magnitudes, this novel’s impressive world-building and lore will be savored by fans of Arthurian fantasy.

Schmid’s writing style takes on the intricate, belabored pace beloved of many epic fantasy fans, similar to The Buried Giant or almost any Donaldson tome, with the classic use of antiquated turns of phrase to immerse the reader in another world. The prose is thick and surly, contributing to the book’s overly-long near-800-page count, something of a mammoth commitment for any reader, not to mention a feat of memorization to recall small details that may have happened many pages – or days of reading – before.

By concentrating on the world-building so avidly, much of the plot’s drive is often lost. The story frequently languishes in the fun of creating a creature or a societal oddity for several pages in lengthy dialogue or description, which – interesting as they may be – halts the momentum of the story. Moreoever, editing is an issue throughout, with odd punctuation and redundancy that slows the pace of the story even further. No doubt, Schmid sticks to his guns when creating a mash-up world as extravagantly as possible, but the book could do with trimming to make the story even more engrossing.

All told, Mirror of Reality is a highly creative and impressively elaborate read for those fantasy fans who want to fully immerse in an expansive, all-encompassing world.