REVIEWED BY ANONYMOUS​
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Genre: epic fantasy
Pairings: f/f, f/m, m/m, poly, references made to various enby pairings as well
Queer Representation: lesbian, gay, gender fluid, transgender, bisexual, intersex (sort of)
Warnings: rape, cannibalism, a ridiculous amount of death
Rating: 3.75 stars. Is that a thing? It should be a thing




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Review
On the eve of a recurring catastrophic event known to extinguish nations and reshape continents, a troubled orphan evades death and slavery to uncover her own bloody past.
There’s more to the back blurb, but the above is the A plot line, and the one with the most depth, IMO. As with most modern epic fantasy, we are exposed to a staggering number of POVs. While I delighted in every moment of the worldbuilding in this book, especially in the queer representation, the volume of characters and their (general) lack of significant growth had this book feeling more like the wanderings of George R.R. Martin than the dynamic head hopping of the Mistborn books (well the first three, anyway).

So let’s start with what I loved.

Queer Representation

I had no idea how to even process the start of this book. Queer characters are everywhere. In fact, I’m not certain anyone is straight in this book. Lilia, our orphan girl from the blurb, has two romantic arcs with women. Roh, a minor POV character, has relations with men. There’s an assassin, another minor POV character, who is an interesting variety of intersex in which his sex actually changes by season. Some countries have five genders (assertive male, passive male, assertive female, passive female, other, although these aren’t the titles they’re given), and people are allowed to pick which fits them best. Some people are flat out gender fluid, some have ambiguous genitalia (I think? There’s some vagueness here). Queer relationships are onscreen everywhere, and no one thinks its weird at all.

How refreshing.
 
Worldbuilding

The concept of the mirrors and alternate dimensions is pretty standard across portal fantasy, but this takes the genre into high fantasy and wow, does it do it well. The viciousness of the landscape, the colors of the sky, the hopelessness of some of the people, the rage of others, it all blends perfectly into a world you could drown in.

I was engaged as well by how smoothly the author transformed standard fantasy tropes on their head. The saturation of females over males in the narrative, especially in the backdrop characters, the casual in-world rapes and power struggles, the sort of casualness of it all, the this is just how it is, served as a poignant reminder of how ridiculous epic fantasy often is. By turning the gender ratios around, Hurley manages to make an effective example why gender ratios matter, especially with background characters. Where were all the men in these worlds? Don’t know, don’t care, this isn’t their story. Don’t like it? Maybe you should look at why that is.

With all that praise out of the way, let’s get to issues.

Character development

At it’s most basic level, the characters developed. They grew up, they learned, they met new people and engaged in battles and magic and whatnot. At a more interpersonal level, we never spent enough time with any one character, never got enough real internal monologue or motivation from any one character, to really see substantive growth. The only character I ever got emotionally attached to was a minor POV character–Zezili’s husband–and his entire purpose in the narrative appeared to be titilation and social commentary. He was the only character with real emotions though. Even Lilia, our primary protagonist, failed to really engage throughout the book. Her early chapters are a reasonable hook, but the middle of the book has so much, so much POV shift that not only is it hard to keep track of who is who, but it’s hard to stay connected to any character long enough for a POV chapter of them to come back around.

Names, Places, Things

Reading this book reminded me of the first time I picked up an Anne McCaffery Pern book. I didn’t know where to start so I just grabbed one and started reading. There were so many words I didn’t know, like klah, and I thought I’d never sort everything out. I did though, by about halfway through the book. Mirror Empire has to be, what, five times as long as that first McCaffery novel I read, and by the end of it there were still words I didn’t know the meaning of, and character names I had to go…wait, who is this again? There’s a glossary at the back, which includes a dramatis personae, but I hated going back to it every fourth word. There was just too much in terms of names for me to keep straight. I’d probably have been fine if I took notes, but I hate taking notes.
 
In general, this book really scratched my ‘epic fantasy’ itch for the year, and I’ve got no complaints as far as queer rep goes. I wish I could have connected with one of the primary protagonists more. Of the main three–orphan girl Lilia, ruthless killer and domestic rapist Zezili, and Ahkio, the dead kai’s brother–Lilia was the most interesting. Her later chapters moved her into the same sort of hard emotion of Zezili though, and I lost interest. Zezili herself seemed human only when thinking of her husband (which is all sort of messed up, since she kept him basically as a sex slave), and Ahkio I never cared for.
Lovers of large cast epic fantasy, dark epic fantasy, and anything even remotely similar to Game of Thrones, will enjoy Mirror Empire. The book is a lot darker than the epic fantasy written by Sanderson, however, so those wanting cleaner, lighter epic fantasy should probably pass.

You can buy THE MIRROR EMPIRE in paperback here and ebook here.

REVIEWED BY J.S. FIELDS

Is that not one of the most beautiful book covers you've ever seen?!

A while back I wrote a review for L.M. Pierce's Trans Liberty Riot Brigade and, those of you who have read my review, would be aware that I just loved the book's unique voice and brave themes. It's wonderful, as such, to be able to share a few thoughts from the book's author. 

1. What is the last novel you read? What's one feature of the book that really stood out for you?

The most recent book I read was Dali by EM Hamill - it was absolutely stunning. I'm not a huge romance reader, but this book had some steamy elements that I loved. It struck a perfect balance of being sexy without overly awkward (no "heaving bosoms" in these scenes!) The voice is also amazing, coupled with a really great story line. Also - can we talk about CHANGELING GENDER? Yes, PLEASE. Seriously, read it :)


2. Thinking about your recent release Trans Liberty Riot Brigade, what's one aspect of the book you feel really proud of? 

One aspect of Brigade that I'm really proud of is the voice of Andi. It's not everyone's cup of tea and some readers struggled with the slang, but it's absolutely my favorite part. The challenge and the sheer joy I have channeling Andi's spirit, creativity, and razor tongue, are aspects I am glad I stayed with and cultivated. 


3. Cats or dogs?

I have two cats and two dogs. Staring at me. Waiting for my answer... *sweats* Uhhh, I'm an equal opportunity fuzz-butt lover! 


4. How do you choose your character names when writing fiction?

I use a divining rod and Ouija board. Heh, I might as well though, as they really just "come" to me. Elenbar isn't exactly a name you'll find in a baby book. There are a couple names inspired by real world sources, but a lot of them just generated naturally as I wrote them. 


5. Please tell us a little about your process for writing TLRB. How long did it take? Do you plan everything out before starting?

I am a total pantser. I'm having more method to books 2 and 3 because I'm worried I'll drop important plot points otherwise, but my writing form is true pantser.  I started writing Brigade during NaNo in 2015, finished it after a summer writing conference in 2016, and then it underwent several rounds of revision. All in all, I probably spent a total of 5 months writing and revising. The writing part was relatively fast because Andi waits for no writer and basically screamed in my metaphorical ear until I got the story on the page. 


6. Star Wars or Star Trek?

Good lord, BOTH. Star Trek NG and Voyager for sure ,and I love all the Star Wars movies that count (don't you dare speak of the three monstrosities I've tried so hard to forget). Making people choose is mean. 

Fair enough! I can understand that :)

7. If you could send your teenage self a 140-character-or-less message, what would it be?

You count and your life is going to kick SO MUCH ASS, you don't even know! Keep your journals, you'll need them.


8. Thanks so much for your time! I really appreciate you sharing your thoughts. How can people buy your book? Which, for the record, is excellent. I've read it! 


Aww, thanks! You can pick up my ebook from NineStar Press (www.ninestarpress.com) and my print book from Amazon! I hope you all enjoy Andi's journey thus far.

Thank you so much Rebecca for your time!