Book Review: The Mask of Mirrors, by M.A. Carrick

A plotty pseudo-Renaissance swords & sorcery caper.

Orbit, 2021, 630 pages

This is your past, the good and the ill of it, and that which is neither.
Arenza Lenskaya is a liar and a thief, a pattern reader and a daughter of no clan. Raised in the slums of Nadežra, she fled that world to save her sister.

This is your present, the good and the ill of it, and that which is neither.
Renata Viraudax is a con artist recently arrived in Nadežra. She has one goal: to trick her way into a noble house and secure her fortune.

This is your future, the good and the ill of it, and that which is neither.
But when corrupt nightmares begin to weave their way through the City of Dreams, Ren realizes her masquerade is just one of many surrounding her—and if she cannot sort the truth from the lies, it'll mean the destruction of her city.

Darkly magical and intricately imagined, The Mask of Mirrors is the unmissable start to the Rook & Rose trilogy, a dazzling fantasy adventure from an incredible new voice.

( Decent worldbuilding, magical capers, flashing blades and romance, and a fantasy Zorro. )

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