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Im Sturm der Echos

(La Passe-Miroir #4)

Christelle Dabos

3.75 · Rating details · 9,024 ratings · 1,200 reviews

Risse überziehen die Welt der Archen. Einer jagt den nächsten, die Abgründe werden immer größer. Babel, Pol, Anima – keine der Archen bleibt verschont. Die Bewohner müssen ungläubig mitansehen, wie ihre Welt nach und nach auseinanderbricht. Um die unwiederbringliche Zerstörung der Archen zu stoppen, muss so schnell wie möglich der Schuldige gefunden werden. Muss »der Ander ...more

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Kindle Edition, 560 pages

Published June 22nd 2020 by Insel Verlag (first published November 28th 2019)

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Jun 06, 2020 Mary rated it did not like it · review of another edition

I hated this book. The more I think about it the more I hate it, I better stop or I'll end up despising the very paper it's written on. I had a feeling this would happen because I wasn't a fan of La Mémoire de Babel but I hoped this book would redeem it: silly me for thinking that, when the signs were all there.

Thinking back to the first two books in the series (which I really loved), I realise that what pulled me in was the whole politics-and-court-drama thing and there was nothing like that he I hated this book. The more I think about it the more I hate it, I better stop or I'll end up despising the very paper it's written on. I had a feeling this would happen because I wasn't a fan of La Mémoire de Babel but I hoped this book would redeem it: silly me for thinking that, when the signs were all there.

Thinking back to the first two books in the series (which I really loved), I realise that what pulled me in was the whole politics-and-court-drama thing and there was nothing like that here: the series changed so much it doesn't even look like itself anymore and it's become something I just cannot get behind. I'm not opposed to change, but after a disappointing book three things took a turn for the worse: nothing made sense anymore, there were white rabbits being pulled out of black hats, the pacing was all over the place, characters disappeared, like the author had forgotten they existed; I don't know what the thinking behind the plot was but at this point I would be surprised it there was any thinking at all, because this seemed like a fake-it-until-you-make-it situation.

Plot and characters were the two things I liked the least and what's a book without a plot and characters? Thorn wasn't acting like himself anymore, he was a whole different person and his motivations were complete nonsense: suddenly his whole life depended on Ophélie and where was that coming from? Ophélie was boring or annoying, there wasn't a single page I was invested in her actions or her thoughts. All my faves were nowhere to be seen (Archibald my darling, and Berenilde I missed you dearly).
The plot was all over the place: at this point I think it's safe to say that the first two books were completely useless plotwise. This is not a quartet really, it's more like a double duology. In this last book everything was overly complex and sometimes I found myself lost in there, and it's not because French isn't my first language: I understood what was going on but I didn't truly understand it. All that talk about gods and echos and other worlds, while the Pôle stuff was completely dropped and never talked about (a shame, because that was the thing I was interested in). I won't talk about the ending because it's one of the worst endings I've had the misfortune of reading in my entire life.

Even the writing wasn't up to its usual standards? It was needlessly convoluted, or maybe it's the things that were being said that were convoluted (and they were indeed, trust me) and that spoiled the writing for me too.

I hated this book, there's not way around it. I'll keep it around for the pretty cover because honestly, it is pretty indeed and that's its only redeeming quality. ...more

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Jan 25, 2020 Gaelle ✨ (asparklingchapter) rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Mais ce puits n'était pas plus vrai qu'un lapin d'Odin. 🐰

Honestly, my emotions are all over the place. This was a brilliant conclusion to this marvelous series. This book was truly moving and self-reflecting. I am in awe and heartbroken, wow. I'll forever cherish those characters, and Ophelie is for sure in my top 5 main characters of all times, hands down. Also, Christine Dabos has some wonderful writing skills, I hope the English version does justice to the original.
5/5 stars, THIS BOOK. I CRI ...more

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Nov 27, 2019 The Artisan Geek marked it as to-read · review of another edition

27/11/19
Bruh. I needed this book like yesterday. I would honestly start learning French just to read this lmao.

You can find me on
Youtube | Instagram | Twitter | Tumblr | Website ...more

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Dec 19, 2019 Sara the dreamer rated it liked it · review of another edition

3.5*
Ok so. I stayed up late last night to finish this book and I’m very sad to say that this is maybe my least favorite in the entire series. The very very end - and by that I mean the last ten pages or so - were extremely disappointing.
Overall, I felt like this last book was trying too much: the plot was too complicated for nothing, with new characters suddenly having so much more importance than the other ones we followed since book one, plus plot points that served nothing and were introduce ...more

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Feb 16, 2020 Mathilde rated it really liked it · review of another edition

There's always going to be high emotional stakes when it comes to the final book in a series you really loved, and I knew that going in. Nevertheless, even that knowledge couldn't protect me from being very sad at the end. I have so many thoughts (and feelings!).

First off, I definitely understand why people did not like this book as much (the lower average rating on Goodreads had mentally prepared me a little- though ofc it's still above 4 stars). In any instance where you build your world arou There's always going to be high emotional stakes when it comes to the final book in a series you really loved, and I knew that going in. Nevertheless, even that knowledge couldn't protect me from being very sad at the end. I have so many thoughts (and feelings!).

First off, I definitely understand why people did not like this book as much (the lower average rating on Goodreads had mentally prepared me a little- though ofc it's still above 4 stars). In any instance where you build your world around fantasy, ancient libraries court intrigue, and all, it's going to feel like a huge shift when you set your last book in a mysterious medical facility with a clandestine purpose and strange protocols that mess up the patients' psyches. I myself was often creeped out.

Additionally, this book seeks to answer every question that's come up in the series with very tangible metaphysical/sci-fi explanations. It was really fascinating to see how the author envisioned her world being created, (I have so much respect for her creativity), but there were frequent info dumps that left me more confused than I started. One twist, in particular, felt like it was added a little late for my taste. Plus, sometimes it's nice for fantasy to stay unexplained, y'know?

And while the last third was indeed dramatic and action-filled, I'd hoped for more involvement from the cast of important side characters that had been slowly growing throughout the series.

The ending also wrecked me a little. When you love a series so much, short, bittersweet/ambiguous epilogues are never going to cut it. *Cries forever* these characters deserve happiness.

All that being said, I still found things to love about this book, and I don't think I would say the author let me down. Every single interaction between Ophélie and Thorn was truly beautifully written. Dabos wrote the transition from dislike, to respect, to fondness, to love between them in this series so well , without sacrificing/changing any of the characters' true natures. And with characters so complex, that's not easy to do.

And of course, there's the world. I've said this before, but Christelle Dabos' world-building is unparalleled. I have never read anything like this series. The blend of imagery between old fantasy (magic, illusions, nobles, balls), classic steampunk (dirigibles, telegrams, trains, mad inventors), and sci-fi (psych wards, robots, utopian metropolises with totalitarian governments) is a bold choice, but Dabos executes the balance perfectly, and create a mesmerizing world like no other.

I have infinite respect for her, and love for this series (her début!), and I hope she continues on to write more. ...more

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Nov 12, 2019 Marine rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: third-person-pov, argent, killer-queer, read-in-french, 2020

~2.75 stars.

Well, I’m disappointed. RTC

Original review: I am so, so excited for this book, y'all have no idea. ...more

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Mar 01, 2020 Michael Finocchiaro rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: french-21st-c, fantasy, young-adult, fiction, novels, series

- NO SPOILERS -
The end of this quartet was sometimes hard to follow, but still fun to read and of course it was great to accompany Ophélie on the end of her adventures. I wish we had seen more of Archibald and Berenilde, but there was a LOT of ground to cover in this book and I think that Dabos just didn't have the space to include any more about them. It is a compelling end to a fun quartet and a real pleasure to have read the whole thing in a few weeks. My kids (10 and 13) both enjoyed it as ...more

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Apr 08, 2020 Ksenia A. rated it liked it · review of another edition

Let me start this review by saying that I don't tend to read Young Adult books. If anything, I usually look down on adults that read them. And yet I picked up this series. Partially because it was highly visible near the checkout of my local library, partially because the world building intrigued me.
Do I regret it? No, despite all the mandatory YA tropes that I cringed through. And yet this series overall has left me with a sour aftertaste.

Now onto A Tempest of Echoes specifically. It has been Let me start this review by saying that I don't tend to read Young Adult books. If anything, I usually look down on adults that read them. And yet I picked up this series. Partially because it was highly visible near the checkout of my local library, partially because the world building intrigued me.
Do I regret it? No, despite all the mandatory YA tropes that I cringed through. And yet this series overall has left me with a sour aftertaste.

Now onto A Tempest of Echoes specifically. It has been a very mixed bag. Following up on the events and setting of the previous book, Ophélie has to join the Observatory of Deviations to learn more about echoes, the Other, and herself in the process, all the while pieces of the world fall down into the abyss.

Just like the Memory of Babel, Thorn and her are separated, and forced to work undercover for most the book, reuniting only for confusingly vague sex scenes. Then, the plot really picks up towards the final third of the book in a succession of locations and confusing metaphysical info dumps.
There is a parallel plot where Archibald, Gaëlle, and God in the guise of Renard found the Arch of the space benders they were looking for, but it's pointless to talk about it since it's barely relevant and amounts to absolutely nothing. (A huge waste of good characters from the first two books, by the way).

And herein lies the problem - the author has completely ditched everything about the first books of the series from the characters to the setting to focus on a philosophical quest for answers about the universe oddly similar to His Dark Materials, set in a futuristic city-state. And in my opinion, it's not really done well.
The new characters from the third book like Ambroise, Octavio, Elizabeth, Lady Septima etc. are suddenly absolutely integral to the story (view spoiler). Thing is, they aren't as interesting as the ones from Anima or the Pole. Same goes for Babel as a location. Giant library, got it. Dystopian psych ward, check. Discount Hogwarts Academy, yes. And yet none of them are as intriguing or page-turning as the space-bent corridors of Clairedelune.

I am also not sold on the metaphysical explanations for the events, the past etc. (view spoiler)[
I'm still confused about many things - how echoes become sentient "others" or "cristallise" as they put it in the book? How exactly did Eulalie / God make the family spirits? (I mean, it is explained that she passed her manuscript through the Horn of Abundance but not why it didn't fail.) Why was the original Ambroise following Ophélie around for ages and how was he able to be seen in the actual world by her when needed? What the hell was Victoire (Berenilde's daughter) doing in the "reverse" world? What was Seconde's whole spiel about? (Probably pseudo-intellectual padding, but still). Why is Archibald suddenly sick? If the Other is Eulalie's sentient echo, couldn't they just "blend" together again like Ophélie did with hers?
And more importantly, why did Eulalie want to roll the world back? How is this supposed to fix anything? "Oh, the humanity I trapped in the "reverse" world where they basically became vegetables has given up on war. Time to reunite both worlds then." I get it, she shouldn't have played God in the first place and split it. But I'm highly dubious that the outcome of reuniting everything is going to be good.

I think the biggest problem is that the author tried to cram too much info dump into too little. In like one third of a book in a quartet, you're basically told that people have shades, these shades make echoes or whatever (see, confusing already). Some people have shades that separate from them, and that somehow gives them the possibility to make an echo sentient (and Ophélie does it by listening to "Who is I?" words repeated over and over again in a locked room). A sentient echo is needed to fix the Horn of Abundance, which is actually a speck of light that vacuum sucks matter and turns it into dysfunctional echoes that then get stabilised by a mad inventor into automatons and stale food. And unless an echo is stabilised by lines of code, it dissipates into the "reverse" world, which is like the a photo negative of our world except everything is fuzzy and no one can talk. And that's where half the world went during the famous historical Split.

The last chapter is also quite disappointing, and not because I was invested in the romance. It's an open bitter sweet ending that just leaves you saying "is that it?". Same goes for the deaths of Ambroise, Renard, Gaëlle etc. You're just left saying, "wait what? Did he just die?". It just doesn't have any payoff. (hide spoiler)]

All in all, it is an interesting series with a great premise, but the author swerves from the promising path of the first two books of the series to go on a Golden Compass tangent about being and nothingness that's more confusing than enlightening. I would still recommend reading it, but if you like the first two books and their setting / characters, might as well stop there, because The Memory of Babel and this one barely hold any similarities to them.

I wish I could say something about the romance, but there's nothing to really tell. It's organic I suppose, though Thorn is more of a caricature than an actual person. I also saw some people comment about how misogynistic the world is or whatever, but can't say it's really jarring or ruins the experience. Seems pretty on par with early 20th century morals, and since the protagonist evolves into a "strong, independent woman" anyways, it doesn't really matter. ...more

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Jun 25, 2020 emilia rated it it was ok · review of another edition

What kind of fuckery was that?!
This book felt COMPLETELY rushed. It wanted to be so smart, and failed horribly.
It had (some) great ideas, but lost its way in the first hundred pages. It was also very confusing, and just WAAAY over its own head with all the topics it wanted to cover.

I’m so disappointed because I LOVED the first two installments of the saga, and thought that the third one was solid. But now this?! WHAT?!

...

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Jan 27, 2021 motsdouxetinfinis rated it really liked it · review of another edition

not thank you for destroying my soul

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Aug 03, 2020 Mo So rated it did not like it · review of another edition

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. This last book of the saga is one of the most disapointing ending I ever read. The main story has taken an unnecessary complex direction in which one gets lost and for which we dont care anymore. The author goes to great lengths to destroy the assumed logic in notions that were introduced before. More specifically, I am thinking of the idea that a reflection can separate from someone, the echoes (set up very early in the saga), and the excellent idea of a reversed world, which are very good idea This last book of the saga is one of the most disapointing ending I ever read. The main story has taken an unnecessary complex direction in which one gets lost and for which we dont care anymore. The author goes to great lengths to destroy the assumed logic in notions that were introduced before. More specifically, I am thinking of the idea that a reflection can separate from someone, the echoes (set up very early in the saga), and the excellent idea of a reversed world, which are very good ideas when taken separately, and could have given something coherent when we would make the link between them. Instead, every notion presented end up mixed up together in an incomprehensible jumble of notions that is not only hard to follow, but also not consistent when you start to understand the global idea. The story also lacks suspens and tension. Characters that we learned to love in the previous books are forgotten, and the loss of some of them at the end of the book has no weight. The unnecessary complexity of the story makes it difficult to identify with the character of Ophelie, and thus to care about anything. And -BIG SPOILER- the disclosure of the identity of Eulalie as Elizabeth is the most unconsistent plot twist of the book. It is presented without any previous clues in the books, and let the reader with the very weird impression the author had no idea who had to take this role and chose randomly among the characters. Maybe such a complex story would have been better if longer and more detailed. I feel one of the main problem is the fact that Ophelie is always alone with her thoughts in this book. Thus, we do not understand how she jumps to correct conclusions by herself and how she finds solutions to her very complex problems. Having characters talking together more often and sharing their ideas and having personal moments could have solved this problem. It could have make the story easier to follow and it could have deepen the relationship between them. This would have worked well with such well written characters...

I am quite mad with this saga's end as it had such a good potential full of wonderfull ideas and characters that made me dream of something big. Instead, I did not feel the suggested immensity of the plot. I did not feel for the characters. And I still have a lot of questions that remain unanswered... ...more

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Jul 11, 2020 Serena rated it liked it · review of another edition

The last volume of the Mirror Visitor Quartet is a breath-taking, over-the-top page turner. It’s also messy, confusing and convoluted. Some subplots from the former books are left adrift and even if the most important questions are answered, not everything is explained or clarified. It’s not a perfect book, but it’s a fitting closure for this bizarre and imaginative story full of heart and wonder.
In this finale, the author focussed on the core mystery of the plot and on the two main characters. ...more

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Aug 18, 2020 Vio rated it liked it · review of another edition

2.75 ☆
I enjoyed reading this fourth book, but to be honest it is not nearly as good as the first two.
Such good ideas and characters, I am disappointed at how all of it feels kind of wasted here. Too many unnecessary new plots and too many great characters left behind.
So sad, it was so close to entering amongst my favourite series!

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Oct 22, 2020 Kat (Bookish Blades) rated it really liked it

Shelves: fantasy, lgbt-main-character, good-friendship, good-romance, family-love, favourites

ok
um
what the fuck
what
this ???? this is the end ???? am I supposed to write a fanfic now ??? what
is this a joke
*bangs fist on table*
give me more than that

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Jan 15, 2021 andhercoffeecup rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Do you know this utterly desperate search for one last sentence, even one last word, after finishing a really good book? When you flick through every last page because you're hoping for something - anything! - more to come? That's me with this beauty of a book.

I totally get why people might've had some trouble enjoying this finale. I really had to concentrate and focus on every word to follow up with all the explainations - because not even the tiniest bit of information seemed to be irrelevant Do you know this utterly desperate search for one last sentence, even one last word, after finishing a really good book? When you flick through every last page because you're hoping for something - anything! - more to come? That's me with this beauty of a book.

I totally get why people might've had some trouble enjoying this finale. I really had to concentrate and focus on every word to follow up with all the explainations - because not even the tiniest bit of information seemed to be irrelevant to the story. But it was so interesting, though: to finally figure out all the things left unanswered from the rest of the series. To figure out the mystery surrounding God and the history of the Arks. And if you let yourself fall into the story completely, it actually wasn't so hard to follow along after all.

I loved the series by Christelle Dabos from book 1. It's such a fantastic and brilliant idea:
the world building is something so different to anything I've ever read before.
The characters are so well-written and have such unique personalities: each one of them has flaws which can annoy the hell out of you but at the same time make them so perfectly human.

My love for these books didn't change a bit while reading the last one. Each book got a solid 5 stars rating from me and I wish I could've rated them higher. What I probably enoyed the most was how Christelle Dabos portrayed Ophelia's character development throughout the whole series: she keeps growing with every book but never loses track of who she really is. Her change is visible, but so is her very own, unique personality. Ophelia will forever be one of my favourite book characters.

And the relationship between her and Thorn? I mean, can't you already see me melting away by the thought of it?
They make each other grow and get better while at the same time accepting the other's individual personality and habits. They make a wonderful team and I wish we could get more of these two together.

With this book, Christelle Dabos created such a brilliant, incredibly fantastic, but somehow also bittersweet end to a wonderful series. I wish I could continue following Ophelia's journey through the mirrors and find out more about the miracles & secrets of this world. But luckily, books offer us the opportunity to come back to such special places and pay another visit to such unique characters.
(And yes, I have the slight feeling that there could possibly be another book coming. Someday, maybe...) ...more

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Aug 24, 2020 Erofan rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Finally, the full picture of the world invented by the author opens before the readers. The puzzle of the past and present has been formed and all the secrets have surfaced. I admire this series of books!

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Apr 03, 2020 aboyreading rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Idk what to say. I feel weird

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Jul 15, 2020 Alessia Teofilo rated it liked it · review of another edition

Meh.

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Jan 10, 2021 Kyat Meow Dragon rawr rated it really liked it · review of another edition

I'm not crying
Don't touch me
How dare you
Pain
No
One star. ...more

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Jan 19, 2020 Henry rated it really liked it · review of another edition

I gave it four stars but I honestly don't know what to think of it. My heart aches and I've been crying for the last fifteen minutes. This book was. So good. And so much, and so many things, and I feel I won't ever be able to truly put my thoughts about it into words. ...more

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Jul 31, 2020 Lisa rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: favourites-2020

What a phenomenal ending to this series! It was intriguing all the way through, the atmosphere was amazing. I couldn't put it down. Ophelia and Thorn really have come a long way.

This is definitely one of the most unique series I've ever read. I'm already looking forward to rereading it. ...more

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Oct 15, 2020 Eule Luftschloss rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, trigger-warning, hetero, read-in-translation, disabled-person, steampunk

trigger warning
(view spoiler)

Love this whole series. ...more

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Nov 29, 2019 Appoline Piotrowski rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, ideal-library

I have too many feels to process right now to give an elaborate review.

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Feb 29, 2020 Manon rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: favourites

Oh my god.

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Dec 16, 2020 Francesca rated it really liked it · review of another edition

This series absolutely swept me away. The lore, the story, the characters, and the writing are so beautifully and intricately done that it really grabs the reader and keeps a firm hold until the very last page. I love Ofelia as a protagonist, and her growth throughout the series is incredibly satisfying. The world-building is so well written and developed, and is seamlessly interwoven in the main plot to provide information without slowing down the pace of the book.

My only criticism, which is la ...more

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Apr 05, 2020 Hadjer rated it liked it · review of another edition

I have very mixed feelings about this book.
I kind of fell out of love with Ophelie, i felt like she has lost what made me like her before. She made poor decisions and stupid ones tbh. It's like she became a stupid naive girl that could not understand obvious things like she used to before.
The series of events felt boring and some scenes didn't make sense at all.
Also, wtf with all the stupid questions that ophelie asks herself every single chapter, it was unnecessary and boring.
Too much going on ...more

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Dec 03, 2019 Rachel rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites

This has absolutely DESTROYED me. 😭

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Mar 17, 2020 Lena rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

no talk to me I'm in pain ...more

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Aug 20, 2020 Louisa rated it really liked it

Shelves: fantasy

I loved how the overlaying mystery was resolved but I'm kinda mad at the ending tbh.. . ...more

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Dec 30, 2020 Jakub Marek rated it did not like it · review of another edition

There will be SPOILERS.

I have been involved in publishing a translation of the series from the first book (except for the third one) and I have to say just... wow, it took some really bad turn. I have always had some reservations about the series (I am not a fan of the romantic subplot, especially Ophelia's U-turn towards the end of the second book when she realizes her undying love to Thorn in like two sentences; I am also kind of annoyed by the Mary Sue stereotypes) but I always considered the There will be SPOILERS.

I have been involved in publishing a translation of the series from the first book (except for the third one) and I have to say just... wow, it took some really bad turn. I have always had some reservations about the series (I am not a fan of the romantic subplot, especially Ophelia's U-turn towards the end of the second book when she realizes her undying love to Thorn in like two sentences; I am also kind of annoyed by the Mary Sue stereotypes) but I always considered them a decent YA fantasy with a really interesting and fun setting.
Well, that was in the first two books, which are more or less self-contained stories and when it seemed the author had any grasp on the plot.
I didn't read the third book and I don't feel like I missed anything, it frankly doesn't seem that anything relevant happens, besides discovering the name of Eulalia Booth.

Concerning this book, the story drags on endlessly with Ophelia occasionally making massive discoveries without it really being clear why. I am sure she at least used to find clues that she put together but she talks to something like 5 people through the whole story so she just gets semi-magical epiphanies. The fact she figures out the very final twist is breathtaking, considering there is exactly one sentence of foreshadowing this and it's completely crazy to assume she would figure out something so outlandish.

As usual, characters just pop up and drop out of the story without any sort or relevance to it. Especially those well established in the first two books make barely any appearance at all (namely Archibald, Berenilde and Roseline) - unfortunately they are also the best ones. The new characters coming from the third book are extremely flat or cliché. Ophelia's family comes on the stage once again, all several dozens of them or something, most of them being absolutely unknown to the reader besides their first name.

But the discoveries about the overall plot are most definitely the worst. The whole backstory turns out to be so incredibly convoluted it would probably be much better to roll with it and ignore the lack of logic. Well, it would be but I... just... can't.
Like, what was Eulalie's plan in the first place? Are we supposed to believe she ended wars by sending away people of all nations that were at war at the moment? Because at another point, she says she wants to solve this issue by giving all people special powers (which also makes no sense and totally fails, as proved by the existence of the powerless people, who by the way are second class citizens pretty much everywhere).
How did the ghosts get to their arches anyway? Faruk's memories are only from times before Eulalie left, this gap is never filled in. One flashback also shows Eulalie loses control of her emotions when she punishes Faruk by taking away his ability to speak - the story never comes back to this, even though it seems like foreshadowing of influence of the Other on her.
And what was the Other's plan? It at least involved re-establishing the balance of the two worlds (it is never addressed that he's not the one destroying the world). But it seems like he sticked to the deal he had with Eulalie at least for some time... so what changed his mind? And why did he need the final space-warping power? His endgame is never explained besides claiming people have too much freedom (while the arches we see are actually pretty dystopian).
Also, why is Eulalie treated like a random person at the end? Did people miss the part that she's a genocidal maniac? She sent half of humanity to another dimension and pretty much mass-lobotomized them. Are the people from the other world actually the same people she turned centuries/millenia ago? Why is she quickly ageing and they aren't? And is everyone supposed to be okay with her because she smiles and says Oh, after all, who are we to decide for them (after she brainwashed what I assume were 3 billion people).
Why was it mentioned several times Ophelia's father was able to pass through mirrors when it leads to absolutely nothing? She asks him about it in the second book and he's suspiciously untalkative, I'd bet Dabos planned something with it but dropped it. It generally feels like she had a plan and then changed it halfway through. The very final pages are also almost loughable, with people just going about their everyday lives after the world first almost ended and them completely changed.

As a side note, all the family ghosts meet at one point and the text gives 21 names. There are supposed to be 21 arches but as Babylon has two ghosts and I don't remember a mention of a ghost-less arch, there should be 22 of them?

I didn't mind the open ending so much, I actually rather liked it. But it dwarves in comparison to the nonsense of the rest of the story. ...more

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About Christelle Dabos

Christelle Dabos

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Christelle Dabos was born in 1980 on the French Riviera and grew up in a home filled with classical music and historical puzzles. More imaginative than cerebral, she begins to scribble her first texts on the benches of the faculty. Settled in Belgium, she intends to be a librarian when a disease occurs. Writing then becomes an escape from the medical machinery, then a slow reconstruction and final ...more

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Quotes from Im Sturm der Echos

“J'ai besoin que tu aies besoin de moi, c'est aussi élémentaire que ça. Et je sais pertinemment que, dans ce conflit d'intérêts qui nous oppose, je suis condamné à être le perdant. Parce que je suis plus possessif que tu ne le seras jamais et parce qu'il y a des choses que je ne peux pas remplacer.” — 7 likes

“Un ami est une route, un ennemi est un mur.” — 2 likes

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