Doppelganger

Doppelganger (2006) Marie Brennan

Doppelganger. Doppelganger. Doppelganger!

Okay, now you know why I picked up the book. What a fun word: doppelganger! Luckily, I looked at the back cover first, and read the blurb and found the story interesting. Because if I’d seen the front cover first I might have put the book down without a second thought. What an awful cover–it’s a sword & sorcery book. That means they don’t have skin-tight leather and zippers. It’s not that kind of fantasy.

But as I said, I read the back cover first, and was intrigued. When a witch is born, her mother creates a doppelganger, and then destroys that twin so that child may become a full witch. (Nice society, ‘eh?) The book starts out following two characters: Mirage, the doppelganger, and a Hunter; and Miryo, the witch who is sent out to destroy her doppelganger, armed only with the knowledge that to become a true witch, her twin must be destroyed.

With that bit from the back cover in mind, I was really set not to like Miryo. I mean, anyone who sets out to kill their twin, can’t really be a good person at heart, can they? And thus I was really cheering Mirage, who had no idea what was coming for her–even if she was the far more prepared of the two.

This is a very good debut novel. The story was fast-paced, and the writing was very good. It is also a stand alone story–everything told and resolved in a single book–which makes it all the better. Which is not to say that the story didn’t have its weaknesses. Both Mirage and Miryo were able to accept very difficult ideas and circumstances very easily. I suppose it could have been because they were doppelgangers, but I just found it a little surprising. However, I also have to admit that I’d rather someone come to terms too quickly, than to wring their hands over a situations for weeks and months, with little or no resolution. So although I found it surprising, I also enjoyed the decisiveness.

I also thought that although Mirage was trying hard to be a rogue, she was simply too nice to really be as hard-assed as she came across from time-to-time. We learn she is not adverse to cheating at cards when we first meet her, yet she seems to lack the qualities that would make her a pure rogue–the delight in trouble for it’s own sake. This isn’t a bad thing, but I am fond of scoundrels, and was hoping that Mirage would have been a bit more of one than she turned out to be.

And I would have liked a little more about Eclipse. He starts out strong, but kind of falls off the map toward the end of the book. I wanted to know a little bit more about him, why he got alog with Mirage so well (the story he gave sounded hokey) and the males place in what seemd to be a more female dominated society. Not that I found him submissive, but considering that one of the major power centers is not just a matriarcy, but is entierly female, I just think it would make things slightly different.

But really, I’m making these things out ot be far bigger than they were, because I really enjoyed reading this book. In addition to being a fast read, I also found the story to be one that grabbed me from the first page and made the book hard to put down. It was light and fun, and despite the few flaws I found, I thoroughly recommend it. Though I really do wish it had a better cover.
Rating: 7/10

P.S. Doppelganger!

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