Informal Group Read 2007

[Cameraman Jenn]

Ok, here goes:

The prologue gives us a bit of background and a bit of scene setting and even a bit of what is to come. Most importantly it tells the point of the story. We are told that Terisa is under an enchantment and that Gerarden is here to break her free of said enchantment. We are introduced to Terisa, a beautiful but completely passive and ineffectual woman who hardly even believes in her own existence. This is brought on by the "unlove" of her father. Her only defense of fading and non existence is to surround herself in mirrors so that she can see her own physicality and therefore cling to her reality. Although an adult, she is still being controlled by her father in that he pays for her apartment and her bills. This allows her to take a thankless job as a secretary for an impoverished ghetto mission, further emphasizing her ineffectuality.

Geraden is also ineffectual in his own sense. He is a failed Apt. He has been unable to earn the title of master through his own ham-handedness and fumble-footedness. Essentially he is the opposite of Terisa. His ineptitude is due to his overeagerness and his clumsiness which lead to frustration and anger which further cloud his abilities. He is given a great task, to make a mirror and to translate a champion that will save their world. He goes about this with great enthusiasm and hard work and approaches the imminent danger with bravery and loyalty and eagerness.

The action starts with Terisa having a very vivid dream, something that is very unusual for her. In the dream she finds herself in a field of snow bordered by trees and a ridgeline of hills in the distance, suddenly she hears horns that call poignantly to her heart. Riders on horseback suddenly appear from the trees and upon spotting her, they attempt to ride her down with looks of pure hatred emblazoned on their faces. Her utter passivity freezes her to the point that she thinks it might not be so bad to die if only to end the emptiness of her life. Her only regret is not hearing the horns again. Just as the riders are about to slay her, a rescuer appears out of the woods and fearlessly brings down the front rider so that the rider's fall causes the second rider to fall as well. He then slays the second rider with the longsword of the first rider and while thus occupied is unaware of the imminent attack of the third rider. Terisa finds herself still frozen with ineffectuality until almost the last second when she manages to scream out a warning. Her own action brings her awake and into her own reality as reflected by her mirrors. She is sweating and thinks she hears the sound of the horns behind the bustle of the city noises.

The next morning she wakes up and while she can see no visible changes in herself, she can't stop thinking about the dream and the horns. She goes about her NEVER changing routine, even putting on the clothes her father prefers her to wear and head out in a gray ugly rain to work. On her way she imagines she hears the horns again and in her shock, just for a moment she is given a completely opposite view of what the world looks like. Instead of dreary the world is vibrant. When this brief moment passes she feels sadness and confusion. She gets to work and finds that in addition to her usual duties she has been asked to type out the same pleading letter for donations over and over again. At first the task seems to add to her feelings of fading. Then she has lunch with the Reverend Thatcher as usual, however, the Reverend strays from the normal discussions. He tells Terisa the story of how he came to the mission in the first place. He was a honored graduate of the seminary and had been offered a vaulted place within a wealthy church. The appointment, while very attractive, somehow did not seem right to him. His wife solved the problem by telling him that 100 equally gifted men would be glad to fill the position but not one of them would take on the impoverished missionary and that was where he was needed most. So they took on the missionary and his wife never complained and he had been there for forty years. Terisa had heretofore seen the Reverend as weak and ineffectual himself but suddenly she hears the horns in her head and sees him as strong and dedicated and valorous. Again, this fades and she is left feeling like weeping.

She continues her day and then at the end of the day she does something unprecedented. She knocks on the office door of the Reverend. He tells her of how many people he called to get donations and how many turned him down. At a loss for why she is even there she offers him a comment of sympathy over the loss of his wife. He replies by telling her that he misses his wife and needs his wife to tell him he is still doing the right thing. Terisa suddenly tells him that he is doing the right thing. In her heart, deeply and for the first time since working there she truly believes it. She could not have done so if not for the memory of horns.

The walk home is especially miserable with cold gusting winds and rain. She makes it to her condo complex and realizes that she is in for a bad night. She takes a hot shower to warm herself up and makes herself eat dinner but she can't stop reliving memories of the past and her parents neglect and abusive behavior of simply ignoring her. Since she still can't shake the feelings of fading and unreality she grabs a chair and plants herself in front of a mirror so that she can see herself reflected all around. It doesn't seem to help as much as it should and she still feels like she is fading to the point that the mirror edges seem to blur. Suddenly she sees a man in the mirror, he is actually in the mirror, not just reflected. He is coming towards her and waving his arms and shouting soundlessly. She puts her head down and the glass of the mirror in her apartment is shattered into powder. She looks up and he is lying on the floor of her apartment apparently missing the lower half of his right leg. He was initially frowning but when they made eye contact he smiled and introduced himself and said that he wasn't where he was supposed to be.

At this point she jumps up from her chair and retreats a bit, still keeping her eyes on Gerarden. He continues to smile and then babble about himself making mistakes. She realizes she should by all means be afraid but she is caught up in bafflement and wonder. She asks how he got in there and what he means when he tells her that he isn't supposed to be there. He apologizes for frightening her, says he doesn't know how it could have gone wrong because he did everything right and then says he is looking for someone completely different. At this point he sees all her mirrors and acts totally crazy and terrified. Then when he realizes he hasn't been harmed he looks around in awe and comments about Terisa using mirrors too. She is unsure of what he means. She counters with not knowing what he is talking about and not knowing what he is doing here and how does he know she isn't the right person. He then asks her a series of questions she can't possibly answer about the augury, and her knowing he was going to try a translation so she counters with asking him to get up and telling him he looks silly on the floor.

At this point he explains the reason he only has half a right leg. He then makes allusions to his mistakes, mentions Adept Havelock and flat glass and then makes assupmtions about Terisa's knowledge. Then dismisses any responsibility for the mistake by reinforcing his inablility. He furthers this with an explanation of his lack of value to the Congery. She counters with the questions of where he is supposed to be and who is she supposed to be. He then explains about the congery and how the interpretations can be wrong. He explains about the champion appearing in the Augury and Master Gilbur's mirror. He also explains about the Congery sending him, Gerarden, somewhere. He introduces and sets up Masters. Master Quilllon, wanting him to go, Master Eremis, opposed to it. He also reveals that the augury didn't exactly say whom Gerarden was supposed to "get" via translation. They go through more logic conversation about how the Congery might be wrong and then Gerarden accuses her of bringing him there. At this point Terisa realizes this might be crazy and tries to retreat to her kitchen under the pretense of making tea so that she can actually call security. Before she can leave, Gerarden appeals to her through honesty and intuition and desperation to keep the conversation going so she stops and realizes that security might mean too much effort. Gerarden then makes a final plea telling her of the dangers and renegade imagers and intrigue and horribleness and the need of Mordant. She rejects it. Gerarden then appeals to what he senses in her self interpretation and asks her if she is happy and if she is needed. When she can't claim either she does the unexpected and bravest thing a person of passivity could ever do. She jumps into the unknown and trusts for the first time.

[danlo]

Informal, my butt! That was much more sussinct and detailed than Pro/Cpt 1 in Casting the Augury-I may have to merge all this stuff down there when we're done. Where were you 3 years ago when we needed serious MN-heads?

[Cameraman Jenn]

I'm sorry. I just got carried away. It's my first group read and so much is established in the first sections of the book that I didn't want to leave anything out. How is anything that is said to establish the main charactors of the book able to be left out of a synopsis? I'll calm down more in future writings, I promise.

[matrixman]

Terrific summary, Jenn!

So, Terisa is a passive person who seems to sleepwalk through her life. I can relate to that. She is yet another Donaldson character who either resonates with you or who irritates you to no end.

[lucimay]

so...

do we just now discuss or whut?

[Cameraman Jenn]

Well, She resonated to me from the beginning. I thought, anyone who is unloved by their own parents is indeed a tragic figure. Also, she does the bravest thing she is ever asked to do right in the second chapter. She takes the hand of a stranger and does something impossible, full well knowing that the place she is going to is wrought with dangers. Even braver that she just does SOMETHING!

[Cameraman Jenn]

Sorry for the double post but hey, deal with it. One of the moments that really made me feel for Terisa was her memory of when she was six or seven and hobbles into the dining room because she has skinned her knee and is frightened by how MUCH she is BLEEDING and her mother looks right through her and tells her to go to her room. She can't even be fussed to use Terisa's name. She calls her child. That brought home to me the extent of emotional and mental damage she suffered to bring her to the point she is at when we start the story.

[Mortice Root]

One of the things that struck me right away in the prologue is how different this is, tonally speaking, from SRD's other stuff. The tone of the prologue is this balance between melancholy and humor ( Humor! In an SRD book!) that I think is absolutely great.

I was also surprised at how much information we are given about Geraden, and Mordant in general, that probably wouldn't make any sense at all to someone on their first read.

The first chapter is where I had some difficulty on my first read through the book, but I think I understand why now. SRD conveys Terisa's apathy so well, that it threatens to make the reader apathetic. Everything is grey, dreary, unimportant and seems to echo with defeat. Knowing what comes later, now I think this sets up a brilliant contrast, but it was a little tough to take the first time. Of course, one of the things I really love about SRD is that he is never afraid to write something that may challenge the reader, if that is what would fit his story best.

And Jenn, yeah. That interaction between Terisa and her mother (w/ the skinned knee) is pretty wrenching.

[IrrationalSanity]

I had a friend who called the first couple chapters "A Study in Brown" the first time she read them.

Even though both Terisa and Gereden are shown as people who have a great deal of growing to do, they are also both clearly capable of that growth. Neither is willing to give up, even in the face of apparent futility. Terisa feels herself constantly fading, yet rather than yield to the fade, she confronts it with her mirrors - reflecting constant proof of her reality. Gereden has been an Apt for so long, he is a laughing stock; but he too is no quitter. He MUST become an Imager, and he's going to keep trying until he succeeds or it kills him.

[Cameraman Jenn]

Next Installment:

Gerarden reacts with disbelief and excitement at Terisa's decision to go with him and she quickly takes his hand, hearing in her memory the horns of inspiration. As they prepare to go through the mirror, Terisa asks Gerarden about invocations, magic words. Gerarden tells her that imagery is born not a learned skill. They proceed to go through the mirror and at the last minute Gerarden trips and they go hurtling through and end up on the floor of the Congery's meeting room. Various reactions are heard from the various masters as they are individually stunned, infuriated and amused. Master Eremis is quick to take over the situation by approaching and laughing off her appearance in the room as a joke of sorts. Master Barsonage admonishes Eremis for this behavior but Eremis quickly points out Gerarden's penchant for mistakes as his defense for amusement at the given situation. At that, Master Gilbur butts in with an angry disavowal of the kingdom and the cost of the failure of this translation. Terisa is too mesmerized by Eremis and his reactions to her, of really looking at her to keep abreast of the conversation. Gerarden protests that Terisa is the right one and that all the Masters are wrong. Almost all of the Imagers react with scoffing and disbelief. Gerarden protests that the belief that images are real is proved by Terisa's appearance and that King Joyse and Adept Havelock have been right all along. Gilbur quickly dismisses this as nonsense and brings the discussion back to the translation being a failed mistake of Gerarden's. Gerarden tries to protest and pushes himself to his feet only to stumble over and knock into several imagers, reinforcing his fumble-footedness and aptitude for error. Eremis admonishes Gerarden not to vex the Congery any further and when Gerarden tries to protest he is abruptly scolded by Barsonage. Further protests on Gerarden's part bring a scathing sarcastic retort by Gilbur. At this point, Terisa is no longer held by the sway of Eremis's gaze and begins to feel unreal again. She looks around the meeting room trying to regain her feeling of existence. Terisa then rejoins the conversation by stating that the Masters should give Gerarden a chance based on the reasoning that she must have agreed to come with him for some reason. Eremis immediately degrades Gerarden in front of the Congery using humor to hide his cruelty and bades Gerarden to speak up in his own defense. Gerarden apologizes then asks the Masters what Terisa means, how did she get there and if they have ever seen a mirror that could translate something it didn't show. This takes the Masters aback. However, Gerarden quickly loses his audience when he implies that this can only have two meanings, he has accidentally stumbled upon the greatest achievement in Imagery or he is in himself a Master with unheard of talent. Neither explanation sits well with the Congery based on his past history. After yet another scathing retort from Gilbur, Gerarden offers up the third possibility that another power intervened and that she IS the Imager that he was meant to find. Master Quillon shouts out that this proves that the images are real. Gilbur responds with scathing doubts about the abilities of Terisa. He points to the mirror that translated her and she gets her first glimpse of the Champion that the Congery intended. She is paralyzed by what she sees. It is a man of heavy gunpower and battle knowledge and she is taken aback and shocked that Gerarden thinks she could be the answer to the absence of that sort of champion. She is horrified by how she could be expected to fulfill that sort of need. Mutely she makes eye contact with Eremis and he is emboldened by her immediate aquiesence to his person and he then ends the meeting of the Congery with the suggestion of thinking about all that has happened. The Masters all agree and Eremis immediately suggests that Terisa accompany him. She is torn and Gerarden speaks up despite his acute embarrassment. Gerarden protests that Eremis doesn't believe that Terisa is real which cuts right into the heart of her deepest secret fears. Eremis protests and clarifies that he didn't believe she was real until she came out of the mirror which is a dubious distinction. Gerarden protests that Eremis thinks that Terisa is an object, a thing to be used based on this belief and rather than refute it, Eremis makes a show of storming from the room in disgust and the rest of the Masters file out, either laughing at Eremis's misfortune or shaking their heads at the insolence of Gerarden the mere Apt.

At this point Gerarden again apologizes but is then admonished by Master Barsonage instructing him to tell her nothing and that he is expressly forbidden to answer any of her questions. He threatens to take away Gerarden's chance at ever becoming a Master. Gerarden agrees to the constricts. Terisa's first reaction is to protest this condition but her years of training to be passive keep her silent. They are left alone. Gerarden apologizes to her and claims it is his fault since he didn't tell the Masters about Terisa's mirrors. She asks why he didn't and he says it is because he doesn't trust either Eremis or Gilbur. She realizes he isn't going to tell her anything regardless since he made that promise to Barsonage so she asks him if he thinks she exists. He says of course and explains that he wasn't sure before but after going into the mirror and finding her he is convinced. Terisa feels relieved and admonishes him that either accident or or not, she must be important and shouldn't he ask her who she is? His culture translates Terisa Morgan to be Lady Terisa of Morgan and with some teasing he then insists that she come to meet the king. This scares her because she still believes she is the wrong person, no matter what the others say so she hides this with asking him if he is certain that he isn't just practicing on her and that she really is there for a reason. He immediately protests and says that if she is a mistake he will do everything he possibly can to restore her to her old world and that he will do that anyway if the Masters don't start treating her more fairly.

The exit the meeting room and encounter Argus and Ribald, soldiers who are weathered and strong and crass. They banter a bit and as Terisa and Gerarden leave their company he explains that although their manner is uncourtly they are men of honor and that they trained with his brother Artagel and are therefore trustworthy. He states that he is going to try to get them assigned to guarding Terisa who then asks why she would need guards. Gerarden replies that accident or not, she already has enemies. Then he says that Barsonage did him a disfavor by insisting that he not answer any of Terisa's questions. They journey through the castle passing through a disused ballroom and encountering many people of different stations and Terisa notes that Gerarden knows them all. She observes that the people all seem to be living under a shadow. They are given admittance at the entrance to King Joyse's rooms but warned that the King and Adept are busy playing hopboard. The room is quite richly furnished compared to the rest of the castle she has seen so far. She observes the King and the Adept playing checkers. She has a recollection of a valet that worked for her father which actually payed attention to her and taught her the game. She reminisces about how the man was fired and when she asked her father why he offered up no explanation. She then thinks about how people just seemed to come and go in her life based on her father's whims.

Gerarden speaks up and gets the attention of the King. At this point he smiles at Terisa, a smile that lights her heart with joy and graciously welcomes her. He asks her if she plays hopboard. She says that she hasn't played since she was a kid. Joyse says no matter and alludes to the constant winning of Havelock. Gerarden interrupts and explains how she came to be there and what it means about the reality of translation. The King and he argue back and forth about the implications. King Joyse admitting that he has always believed but arguing that Terisa doesn't prove the theory. They bring this to an argument that if what King Joyse says is true then they can't believe anything is real. King Joyse counters that with the explanation that he wouldn't be taking a constant drubbing at hopboard if it was all in his head. Adept Havelock deems this wise and says that nothing but hopboard signifies. Gerarden states his arguments and the King is listens but he then asks what Gerarden saw that he didn't tell the Congery. Gerarden tells the King about the mirrors in Terisa's apartment. He goes so far as to say that she is a Master of Imagery and Terisa quickly protests. The King questions her and she protests some more. Adept Havelock then gets up and has a fit about her being a woman. After this, the King apologizes and asks how Gerarden was able to bring Terisa to him and Gerarden confesses that he didn't tell the Masters that she may be a Master herself. When questioned further, Gerarden admits that he couldn't tell because then the Masters would have forbidden him to tell King Joyse of her existence and that he could never be that disloyal. The King rewards Gerarden for being so loyal and then makes a cryptic comment about trying to see that Gerarden does not suffer for his loyalty. He then questions Gerarden about how the Masters reacted to Terisa's appearence. Gerarden tells of Gilbur's fury, Eremis's amusement, Quillon's agreement that she means images are real and Barsonage's admonishment not to reveal any information to her. The King goes into a well reasoned argument of politics that justify that no matter what her position, revealing information is not wise at this point. Gerarden counters with the supposition that keeping her in the dark may offend her and keep her from being an ally. The King then reacts by taking responsibility for Terisa's welfare off of Gerarden and onto himself. Gerarden is hurt by this and thinks it a statement of mistrust from his King and the King tells Gerarden that he is breaking his heart. Gerarden leaves the apartment, nearly twisting his ankle by tripping over a hopboard piece and Terisa finds herself lost by the hurt which the King just inflicted upon Gerarden. Terisa reacts by being snippy with Joyse and his reaction is that he hopes that someday she will understand. When she protests that Joyse is not going to explain it to her now, he responds by getting down on his hands and knees and looking for the lost checkers.

[Mortice Root]

I really like the introduction of Eremis, and his interactions with Terisa. He is the type of person, who, when they are focused on you, manages to convince you the the rest of the world doesn't exist. And then, when that attention is taken away, it makes you wonder if you exist without it. This plays perfectly into Terisa's dilema of doubting her own reality. Terisa reacts very strongly to him, completely overwhlemed by his level of interest.

For me, Eremis' introduction sets up one of the primary conlifcts throughout MN, ie Terisa's struggle for validation. Eremis would clearly make her feel important, but only as an object. This contrasts nicely with Geraden, who is much more interested in her opinions, and in her as a person. Watching Tersia grow and finally decide between these choices is one of the driving forces of the novels for me. (Of course, that magic-type stuff is cool too )

BTW is anyone else intimidated by these "brief" summaries?

[Avatar]

Huge paragraphs...

--A

[Cameraman Jenn]

I'm sorry. I just wanted to get something up there so I rushed it out. I can go back and edit it and shrink the paragraphs to more appropriate sections.

[Mortice Root]

Don't apologize, they're very complete! Much better than I would be able to put together.

[Cameraman Jenn]

Well, there is so much in the charactor introductions that I couldn't bear to leave some stuff out. Please don't be intimidated. I will not judge what anyone else writes but welcome their point of view and observations and interpretations and whatever else they choose to include with open arms and mind. I really really am interested in hearing how others "read" this story. Damelon is up next.

[Relayer]

I have about a chapter to go in my re-read of Mirror, and what really strikes me is how good the story is!! The first time I read it, way back when, I guess I wanted it to be more like TCTC, but it felt like TC-lite. He addresses many of the same concepts (translation to another world, reality/unreality/belief/unbelief, expectation of being a savior, believing in oneself, etc) but they're treated differently, and for the most part, not as "epic" or intense. So I liked it, but not that much.

This time, I had no expectations or preconceptions, and barely remember the story, so it's almost like reading it for the first time. I'm continually in awe of how SRD interweaves the various characters' agendas, and just in the way the thing is written... the descriptions and especially the dialogue are masterful (It hasn't replaced TCTC at the top, but it's certainly moved up a lot). I can't wait until my copy of AMRT gets here

btw, what's the rule on spoilers in this discussion? If people want to talk about whatever comes up, that's cool... just so I know to be careful

Speaking of Masters, it's funny reading that term in MN after reading Runes. I keep expecting the Imagers to act like Haruchai When I read Runes I'd completely forgotten about MN, so the word Master had no other connotation...

[IrrationalSanity]

I don't think we should discuss elements that are past the most recent chapter summary, at least for purposes of this thread. Other threads on the board, of course, are still fair game, though if the thread isn't obviously based on spoilers (the Trivia game, for example) you might want to use a spoiler tag.

[Cameraman Jenn]

I agree, I think that spoilers are best left out of chapter reads. The events that unwind later can then be put in a context of OHO!

[Relayer]

AHA!!

[matrixman]

Cripes, Jenn, your "informal" summaries will make the "official" MN dissection look bad!

The first time I read it, way back when, I guess I wanted it to be more like TCTC, but it felt like TC-lite. He addresses many of the same concepts (translation to another world, reality/unreality/belief/unbelief, expectation of being a savior, believing in oneself, etc) but they're treated differently, and for the most part, not as "epic" or intense. So I liked it, but not that much.

Yes, the comparisons are inevitable. You could almost picture SRD thinking: hmm, how do I make this different? Instead of a New Age-friendly group of Lords greeting our hero, I'll make it a secretive old boys club...

The initial impression is that the Congery seems as ineffectual a group of people as the Council of Lords were (in LFB). If anything, the Congery is even more divided and disorganized. One might think, what a sorry bunch of wizards. Barsonage appears to be the "moral center" of the Congery, though he's no Mhoram.

Terisa's response to her novel situation is more tactful and sophisticated than Thomas Covenant's response to his. But then, Terisa had been trained throughout her life to be demur and polite, whereas Covenant is all fire and brimstone, because his leprosy had trained him to reject all artifice.

There are so many ways to compare TCTC and MN...somewhere, SRD is rolling his eyes...

I immediately liked Terisa, but found Geraden somewhat exasperating in these opening chapters. If he were any more earnest, he'd explode. Terisa probably feels the same.