Synopsis: “As they watched, the master raised his hand in front of the canvas and moved it in an elaborate gesture as if he were tracing a complicated line in the air. He moved closer to the canvas and – The trio gasped. ‘He’s vanished!’

Review:  Mirrorscape is a fantasy adventure set in a world kept in a stranglehold by five bureaucratic ministries, or ‘Mysteries’, each of which controls and trades in goods which have to do with one of the senses. The Fifth Mystery controls ‘sight’, and therefore the ‘Pleasure’ of colour. This means that no one can wear or use colour without paying for it. But deep undercover, a rebellion is brewing.

The hero of the story is Mel Womper, a poor country boy whose extraordinary drawing skills lead to him being granted a free apprenticeship in the city of Vlam, at the workshop of renowned artist Ambrosius Blenk. Although being a part of Blenk’s wealthy and artistic household is exciting at first, Mel soon finds the apprenticeship is not all it’s cracked up to be. First he’s bullied by Groot, a jealous senior apprentice, and then he makes a discovery that puts his life in grave danger: that it is possible to enter paintings and move around in them. He’s not in it alone, though; with the help of fellow apprentice Ludo, and Wren the serving girl, Mel is in for the fight of his life to defeat the Fifth Mystery and liberate the people.

Mirrorscape is artist Mike Wilks’ first novel. What sets it apart from similar lengthy (550 pages) good vs. evil epics, is the way in which Wilks’ artist’s eye has influenced the writing, and his fantastic imagination is used to evoke a dazzling world in words rather than pictures. Mel is a likeable hero, his story of ‘poor apprentice makes good’ raised above the norm by the uniqueness of the author’s vision. This is the first book in a trilogy.

2008-03-14