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3.98 AVERAGE
3.98 AVERAGE
Traitor's Gate left me both satisfied and heartbroken.
Some of my favorite characters (Uncle Hari - *sigh* - I quite loved him) ended up so dead or sad. But all within the realistic construct of the story.
I must say, Anji broke my heart (as he did Mai's). I am so disappointed in his actions, but at the same time, I totally get why he did what he did, and what he has become. It was not surprising, but I hoped and hoped that I was wrong.
Of course, I loved Mai because I kept imagining her to look Chinese (and since I'm Chinese, it's not hard to love her because of that) even though I suppose the Qin also reminded me of the Chinese. heh. I'm very ethnocentric!!
And I loved Zubaidjit (I can't remember her spelling). She just rocks the party so much.
All in all, a superb ending to the trilogy. I can't wait for the rest of thhe series.
Some of my favorite characters (Uncle Hari - *sigh* - I quite loved him) ended up so dead or sad. But all within the realistic construct of the story.
I must say, Anji broke my heart (as he did Mai's). I am so disappointed in his actions, but at the same time, I totally get why he did what he did, and what he has become. It was not surprising, but I hoped and hoped that I was wrong.
Of course, I loved Mai because I kept imagining her to look Chinese (and since I'm Chinese, it's not hard to love her because of that) even though I suppose the Qin also reminded me of the Chinese. heh. I'm very ethnocentric!!
And I loved Zubaidjit (I can't remember her spelling). She just rocks the party so much.
All in all, a superb ending to the trilogy. I can't wait for the rest of thhe series.
Assuming that you read and enjoyed the first two parts of this trilogy, the final installment does not disappoint in any way. I stayed up very late reading the near-last 100 pages (still left about 30 to go for today, just could not stay awake any longer) as they were extremely compelling, in that ongoing slow-burn manner of the entire series. Events from long ago in the earlier books that may have seemed superfluous or innocuous come back to life with surprising relevance. Overall I will highly recommend this series to intelligent fantasy lovers who can appreciate a focus on character.
adventurous
challenging
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
So many points of view makes this hard to get through at times, but it all comes together in the end, and it's a great ending. Leaves me wanting to know more, but at the same time wraps nearly everything up. There's hope for the future of the characters, which is heartening.
challenging
dark
emotional
slow-paced
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I liked this series mainly because I like the societies and characters portrayed. Much more interesting that the usual fantasy nonsense.
(I actually give this 3.75 stars.) TRAITORS' GATE, by Kate Elliott, is the third installment of a fantasy trilogy called CROSSROADS. It was preceded by SHADOW GATE and SPIRIT GATE.
The world of The Hundred is inhabited by merchants and such, but also by people called Reeves who are chosen by enormous eagles to help patrol the roadways and keep peace in general. There are Guardians, who fly on winged horses and are initially dead, but have been risen by a cloak to act as what we would call a judge for villages that they pass through.
The Qin arrive from the south as conquerors/protectors. They are called Outlanders by the people of The Hundred. Some of the Guardians turn evil and start to invade the land with armies, so the Qin band together with the Reeves to fight them off. Without giving too much away, two main couples are the romantic conflict of the plot.
The language of the Qin is a bit stilted, but it helps to portray them as stoic. Descriptions of land, buildings, and people are done well. Passages skip between the viewpoints of many of the plentiful characters.
I was slightly disappointed that there was not a grand finale; after the final battle, there was more of a calm get-on-with-life attitude. Nevertheless, I look forward to the next book set in the world of The Hundred.
You must read the first two books before this one or else you will be extremely confused. Overall, I would recommend this trilogy to fantasy fans.
The world of The Hundred is inhabited by merchants and such, but also by people called Reeves who are chosen by enormous eagles to help patrol the roadways and keep peace in general. There are Guardians, who fly on winged horses and are initially dead, but have been risen by a cloak to act as what we would call a judge for villages that they pass through.
The Qin arrive from the south as conquerors/protectors. They are called Outlanders by the people of The Hundred. Some of the Guardians turn evil and start to invade the land with armies, so the Qin band together with the Reeves to fight them off. Without giving too much away, two main couples are the romantic conflict of the plot.
The language of the Qin is a bit stilted, but it helps to portray them as stoic. Descriptions of land, buildings, and people are done well. Passages skip between the viewpoints of many of the plentiful characters.
I was slightly disappointed that there was not a grand finale; after the final battle, there was more of a calm get-on-with-life attitude. Nevertheless, I look forward to the next book set in the world of The Hundred.
You must read the first two books before this one or else you will be extremely confused. Overall, I would recommend this trilogy to fantasy fans.
This series didn't grip me as much as Elliott's others, but the conclusion (to this book and the series as a whole) is amazing.
So, this is book three, so to give a quick recap would be to give spoilers for the previous books, so I won’t. However, I will say that this is less of a review and more of “oh my god” feels sort of wandering thought process. I don’t know why anyone would read it if they haven’t read the books, but I’ll still try to hide spoilers and not get to specific in my burblings.
First off, I loved this book. Loved it.
I mean, I really liked book 1, and enjoyed book 2 even more, but this one… yeah it just did he job. All of the job. Which isn’t to say that it is perfect, because nothing in life is, but I can’t come up with anything wrong with it at the moment.
Second of all the characters. There are so many of them, and they all have their own journeys and character arcs, and they are all so real. Even when I didn’t particularly like a character1 I still found myself utterly caught up in their story, and didn’t want to leave it, even when I really wanted to find out what was going on in another characters story.
And then there were the stories and characters that I loved and adored but that went in a way I so didn’t see coming and were so sad and heartbreaking… but I’m venturing into spoiler territory there, so I’ll leave it at that.
But yeah, lots of unexpected events and developments here. The title of the book, Traitors’ Gate, that’s all I’m saying, okay?
And then there is the world building. The main setting for the story is The Hundred, where there are no kings or queens and every town rules itself, with help, in theory, from the Reeves and the Guardians. But at the start of Spirit Gate the reader learns that the Guardians haven’t been seen in at least a generation and the power of the reeves has been slipping. The peace of The Hundred is not to last. In other, bordering, lands things are done differently. Most are ruled by one person, and that centralisation of authority can be useful in times of war. But not only are they organised in different manners, they also have different religions and customs. Even within The Hundred there are those who do not follow all the usual Hundred customs.
These different cultures allow Elliott to explore themes such as sexism, racism, slavery, power and privilege, and so much more. And boy does she! There is loads and loads to discuss in this book.
One issue I did have with the book was that at the start of some of the chapters names of characters and places weren’t capitalised, it is strange how much that interferes with the flow of reading, but I can’t lay the blame for that with the author :) now can I.
I think this book means that I will have to read everything by Elliott that I can, I was already working my way towards that idea, but this has cemented it. Good thing I have her Jaran series already on the kindle, and that her new short story collection The very best of Kate Elliott arrived last week.
First off, I loved this book. Loved it.
I mean, I really liked book 1, and enjoyed book 2 even more, but this one… yeah it just did he job. All of the job. Which isn’t to say that it is perfect, because nothing in life is, but I can’t come up with anything wrong with it at the moment.
Second of all the characters. There are so many of them, and they all have their own journeys and character arcs, and they are all so real. Even when I didn’t particularly like a character1 I still found myself utterly caught up in their story, and didn’t want to leave it, even when I really wanted to find out what was going on in another characters story.
And then there were the stories and characters that I loved and adored but that went in a way I so didn’t see coming and were so sad and heartbreaking… but I’m venturing into spoiler territory there, so I’ll leave it at that.
But yeah, lots of unexpected events and developments here. The title of the book, Traitors’ Gate, that’s all I’m saying, okay?
And then there is the world building. The main setting for the story is The Hundred, where there are no kings or queens and every town rules itself, with help, in theory, from the Reeves and the Guardians. But at the start of Spirit Gate the reader learns that the Guardians haven’t been seen in at least a generation and the power of the reeves has been slipping. The peace of The Hundred is not to last. In other, bordering, lands things are done differently. Most are ruled by one person, and that centralisation of authority can be useful in times of war. But not only are they organised in different manners, they also have different religions and customs. Even within The Hundred there are those who do not follow all the usual Hundred customs.
These different cultures allow Elliott to explore themes such as sexism, racism, slavery, power and privilege, and so much more. And boy does she! There is loads and loads to discuss in this book.
One issue I did have with the book was that at the start of some of the chapters names of characters and places weren’t capitalised, it is strange how much that interferes with the flow of reading, but I can’t lay the blame for that with the author :) now can I.
I think this book means that I will have to read everything by Elliott that I can, I was already working my way towards that idea, but this has cemented it. Good thing I have her Jaran series already on the kindle, and that her new short story collection The very best of Kate Elliott arrived last week.
adventurous
dark
tense
fast-paced
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes