Mirror Of Stone  by Corie  J. Weaver is placed very rightly in the popular sci-fi /dystopian genre .  The author has taken us to a time in future when human civilization has extended beyond the planet earth . But the nature of exploitation and differences among the various strata of the society somewhat remain the same. The story starts in the backdrop of a colony moon Travbon which is treated by the Planer Claro just in the same way as a greater empire treats her offshoot colonies .

The protagonist of the story  sixteen-year-old Eleanor Weber finds it hard to deal with life after the death of her mother . Her father finds his recluse in alcohol and her dominating aunt Susan begins to reign over their family inn making her life exacerbating . One day when an unknown prospector dies a natural death in their inn she finds a strange device among other stuffs which he left behind. The device dazzles her mind with a live  recording , a video of some unknown place , colorful and bright , marked by the presence of some masked creatures. One day , when a strange woman arrives the inn and her aunt connives with her threatening Eleanor to take everything away from her , she settles her mind to find out the city which she had seen in that device and one night starts her journey toward a destination of which she has little clue.

Eleanor Weber ,once outside the shelter of her inn , begins to realize the harshness of the world outside . Moreover a false charge of theft is reported against her by Susan and eventually she finds a Guardsman , Adam Cole , chasing her frantically  . In order to escape she jumps into a river but is rescued by a group of prospectors . She starts her journey again under strange circumstances with Adam Cole trailing her way . By some unexpected turn of incidents she finds her way to the desired city , Ladril , where aliens or Tamkers reside.

The story doesn’t stops here , rather , it starts to bifurcate from this point. One branch dealing with Eleanor’s findings and adventures in Ladril , and the other with Adam Cole , his grandfather Jake  and the Claro government headed by the power-hungry woman Olympia Norris .

The story is actually a dissection of social and political structures of modern times. The way our leaders , in order to fulfill their own pride and interest , put the prosperity and wellness of common men at stake , has been cautiously delineated . The mentioned lady , Olympia , remains insouciant even at the threat of a civil war and takes it as a casual loss when a whole lot of soldiers die in a war which she camouflages just to turn the civilians’ eyes away from something more sinister.

There are several sub-plots which run parallel to the main . I think the story sometimes gets stuck due to the introduction of so many incidents happening simultaneously . As we find in any sci-fi the names of places and persons are out-of-the-world , literally , and so it’s difficult to keep track of so many of them . There are certain issues which remain unexplained at the end as what happens to Eleanor’s  aunt and father or to the owner of the farmhouse Laura and her family . I couldn’t understand why Laura killed her brother , no concrete reason or confession is there.

The story seems dragging too at the end. It could have shed a few extra pages to get a trimmed look .

However , it’s a story which I think the young readers will like . It has a message too , the message of peace which our younger generation needs to understand. The language is lucid and simple . The characters are well-built with different shades and dimensions. I liked the description of the Tamkeris and their ways of life. Especially the concept that they are not capable of  changing their facial expressions according to their emotions but the changing of mood is figured by their fingers .

I recommend it for all  readers , more for those who are fond of  Y/A science fictions and fantasies.

From my side it’s 3.5/5

About The Author
I didn’t grow up planning to be a writer. I was never one of those kids scribbling stories in a notebook, or submitting to the school paper. But I’ve always been a voracious reader. A few years ago, I realized I had some of my own stories to tell. I’ve been lucky enough to have participated in some fabulous crit groups, and to have attended the Taos Toolbox Workshop. I love reading. I love stories of adventure, stories that grab me and won’t let me go. Stories that will stay with me for years . Old and new, paper books, digital and comics – anything with a good story is fair game. And I love writing , telling stories, creating worlds and people and histories… and then doing terrible things to them! My background is in medieval history (Spanish manuscripts of the apocalypse, if you were wondering), but as I’m fond of being able to pay the bills, I work at our local university, as well some freelance work as a web designer . I live in Las Vegas, New Mexico (the smaller, older, and much quieter one) with my husband and our two cats and two dogs. We travel as much as possible, and are active with our local animal rescue group.

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