The Water Mirror (Dark Reflections)

by Kai Meyer

Book Overview

In Venice, magic is not unusual. Merle is apprenticed to a magic mirror maker, and Serafin -- a boy who was once a master thief -- works for a weaver of magic cloth. Merle and Serafin are used to the... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0689877870
• ISBN13: 9780689877872
• Release Date: August 2005
• Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry
• Length: 256 Pages
• Weight: 0.85 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.5" x 1.3" x 6.5"

Customer Reviews

Fresh new fantasy...

As a fan of the fantasy genre, I was very happy to read this innovative book, which finally breaks free of the tired conventions authors have been following for years. From the very start, the setting (a magical Venice, in the early 1900s) is a change from the standard Middle Earth ripooffs and medieval castles. Main character Merle is a well-rounded character who acts quite a bit more like an actual person than any heroine in recent memory. And the supporting cast is no slouch, either; in this well-crafted universe, even standard archetypes have been transformed into fresh new personalities. As is required for any magical world, the fantasy Venice is sprinkled with all kinds of mythical objects and creatures, from stone lions and mummy warriors to "mirror phantoms" and mermaids. All of these are described in a way that makes them seem like they could really exist. The constant stream of unique ideas only helps to drive an intriguing plot. Since this is the first in a series, the ending leaves plenty of loose ends for readers to ponder until the translation of book 2. This book's pretty cover art drew me in, but its strong plot hooks and great writing will keep me coming back until the series concludes.

BooK Review

Fourteen year old merle is an orphan, abandoned when she was only a few days old. She was placed in a wicker basket and placed in a canal, but she wasn't the only thing inthe basket. There was a mirror, a mirror with a surface of water. Merle lives in the city of Venice in an orphnage. All this while her great city is at somewhat of a war. The only thing protecting this great city is the flowing queen that protects this wonderful city. every citizen hopes and prays this will be enough defense against the Egyptian. Merle and her friend Junipa are orphans, but one day they found out that they were going to apprentice at acrimboldo's mirror shop. This is not a surprise because Acimboldo always picks orphans to apprentice. When they get there Merle finds out that the Housekeeper is a mermaid. Soon they find they are at their own war with the apprentices across the canal and she meets serafin. Her and serafin find out that the city councillors are traitors and helping the Egyptians seize the city of Venice. I would recommend this book to readers who love a great fantasy. I liked tyhis book because the fantasy it brings. In the book there are great stone lions that walk the streets and some rule the sky. Guards ride on the backs of the lions patrolling the city. In this city their are mermaids but thay are not like the ones in the little mermaid. These mermaids have hideous mouths thet go from ear to ear and they are filled with many rows of razor sharp teeth. This book has lots of suspense. When Merle and Serafin were running from the flying stone lions and had to hide. When Merle and Serafin were listening to the city Councillors give the essense osf the flowing queens to the Egyptins and the floorboards were breaking. You would like this book if you like fantasy and suspense in a book. This book will keep on the edge of your seat and keep you turning the pages. A.Johnson

A Great Fantasy Book

Will Merle be able to rescue the Flowing Queen from the Venetian traitors? Merle was a teenage orphan girl until she became an apprentice for Arcimboldo a magic mirror maker in Venice. She quickly became good friends with a blind girl about the same age named Junipa. Arcimboldos rival, Umberto, the weaver across the canal from him, has an apprentice named Serafin who Merle starts to like. During a festival Merle goes off with Serafin to see what some of the city councilors are discussing in their secret meeting. When they get to the meeting place they find somewhere to hide where they can still see and hear what is going on in the meeting. The city councilors were about to give the essence of the Flowing Queen, the only thing that had protected Venice from the Egyptian Empire taking over, to a representative from the Egyptian Empire. Merle and Serafin bust in the room and save the vial with the Flowing Queens essence in it. During their escape the councilors catch Serafin, but Merle makes it back to Arcimboldos factory to tell him about what had happened to her that evening. After she tells her story she is taken to a tower to free a stone lion that can fly and talk. She then rides this lion away from Venice to find somewhere where she might be able to find someone willing to help her save her country and the Flowing Queen from the Egyptian Empire. I definitely recommend this book to anyone looking for a good book to read. I can relate to Merle because she is like a normal teenage girl in many ways. Merle quickly develops a strong friendship with another girl named Junipa when they became apprentices for Arcimboldo. Merle has a big sense of adventure and shows it by going off with Serafin to find out what the city councilors are doing on their secret meeting. Merle doesn't just get what she wants; she has to work for stuff. The relationships in the book are described very well. The bond between Merle and Junipa is that of two best friends who can practically read each other's minds they know each other so well. The competition and hatred between the weaver's apprentices and the mirror maker's apprentices is obvious by the way the apprentices act toward each other. Serafin and Merle also develop a strong friendship and this is shown by how concerned they are about each other when the councilors notice that the teenagers were spying on them. This is a well thought out fantasy book. The city guard rode around patrolling Venice on living stone lions. The canals were filled with mermaids, whose mouths split their faces from one ear to the other and were filled with small sharp teeth. The warriors for the Egyptian Empire, who were trying to take over Venice, were mummies that had been put under a spell to fight. I would recommend this book to anyone who wants a good fantasy book to read. This book is very well thought out and excellently written. The characters seem so real that anyone reading the book can relat

Same as The Flowing Queen?

I think this is the same book as "The Flowing Queen" but with different covert art and title. The author writes in German, so this is a translation. In an alternate reality, we have a story set in Venice during medieval times, with its many canals and bridges. The Egyptian Empire is using its incredible mummy warriors to invade the city, after having conquered most of the rest of the known world. The spirit of the water, the Flowing Queen, has kept the city safe so far. Two orphan teen girls are made to apprentices to a mysterious man who makes real magic mirrors. They soon discover a plot to capture the Flowing Queen by traitors in the city, leaving Venice vulnerable for the first time in 36 years. And why are city officials holding the flying lion as a prisoner, when he can help save them? Venice and the world portrayed by the author is full of fantasy and horror, and plot twists at every turn. From stone lions that walk, scary mermaids that live in the canals as pull the gondola boats as slaves to the humans, terrifying mummies, a demonfrom hell, and magic mirrors, she has created a unique world for the reader to visit. I found the book to be full of enjoyable characters, courage, and inspiration. Kids that are 10 years old and up should enjoy this book as well as adults. My only complaint was that it is too short, but it is the first book in a series.

The magical first installment of a fantasy-filled trilogy

When fourteen-year-old Merle is sent to be apprenticed to the mirror maker Arcimboldo, she's thrilled; she will finally escape the horrors of the orphanage. Besides, the mysterious master craftsman is rumored to be a magician of sorts --- how exciting to be that close to magic, even if it does mean relocating to the ominous Canal of the Expelled at the dead end of one of Venice's famous waterways. Joining Merle as one of two new apprentices is Junipa, blind since birth. Merle is impressed by Junipa's heightened abilities to hear noises and sense feelings, and she's even more impressed when Arcimboldo cures Junipa on their first night in his home. The master replaces Junipa's own pupils with flat mirrors, enabling the girl to see even better than her friend. Merle has a mirror secret of her own; set adrift on a Venetian canal as a baby, Merle was left one present by her absent parents. She is the possessor of a magical "water mirror," a hand mirror whose surface is water and whose watery depths are warm and inviting. The mysterious hand that grasps Merle's own inside the mirror and Merle's own dreams lead the girl to believe that she might have a secret connection to the Flowing Queen, the elusive power that has protected the city of Venice from the menacing Egyptians who have taken over much of the rest of the world. When the Flowing Queen is threatened, can Merle and her allies help save the city --- and even the whole world? THE WATER MIRROR is full of richly imagined characters who seem familiar and yet strange. Marauding mummies threaten cities, soldiers patrol on stone lions, and mermaids seem more like sharks than sirens. In addition to these vivid fantasy images, Kai Meyer has created engaging and admirable heroines readers will be compelled to follow. Fortunately, they will have a chance to do so, because THE WATER MIRROR is the first book in a trilogy. Like Cornelia Funke, Meyer, a bestselling author in his native Germany, will certainly find audiences in this country as well. --- Reviewed by Norah Piehl