The Goblin Mirror

The 1992 fantasy novel *The Goblin Mirror* was written by C. J. Cherryh, an author known for both science fiction and fantasy. Ballantine Books released it in hardcover through its Del Rey Books imprint, with cover art provided by Cherryh’s brother, David A. Cherry.

Long ago, goblins were forced out of human lands due to their misdeeds, but before leaving they left behind clues for how they might be contacted. They could only return if someone summoned them. Centuries later, Mirela—a witch who also ruled as queen of Hasel—deciphered those signs and asked the goblins for help. She did not want her vain and ungrateful daughter and heir, Ylena, to succeed her. The goblin queen offered Mirela a potion granting eternal youth and beauty in exchange for one night each year in the human world. Ylena, furious at her mother’s immortality, struck her own deal with the goblin queen: advice on how to overthrow Mirela in return for a full year of goblin access to human lands. Mirela died mysteriously one night, and Ylena became queen. Though Ylena wanted no heir, she gave birth to a daughter, Ytresse, whose magic was so strong that Ylena suspected goblin trickery. On the last day of the goblins’ allotted time on earth, the goblin queen proposed another bargain: Ylena would live as long as the goblins possessed a nearby lake. Ylena agreed, and the goblins gained unrestricted entry to human lands, with the lake serving as the goblin queen’s center of power. Trapped by her agreements, Ylena wanted nothing more to do with them. However, Azdra’ik—a goblin lord leading a rebellion against his queen—offered Ylena a secret in exchange for three wishes. The secret was that the goblin queen’s power resided in a magic mirror. Azdra’ik received his wishes, and Ylena built her own mirror, filling it with every spell she knew. When the goblin queen discovered this, she sent an army to destroy it. Ylena was defeated, her mirror reduced to dust, and Hasel left in ruins. But the goblin queen’s victory came at a cost: her own mirror cracked in two, and a shard fell off. Azdra’ik stole the shard and gave it to Ytresse. Distrusting the goblin queen, Ytresse arranged for her own heir, Ylysse, without goblin interference. Ytresse later passed power—and the shard—to her heir, Ysabel. Ysabel and her twin brother, Karoly, were apprenticed to Ytresse’s daughter, Urzula. Seeking to escape Ytresse’