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3.53 AVERAGE
3.53 AVERAGE
Still good, but this book felt either like nothing was happening, or everything was happening. Definitely still plan to finish the book, but I found it a little less fun than the first one. Plus, all of the girls throwing themselves at the main character started to feel a little overdone.
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I'm as torn about this book as I was about the previous installment of the series. The plot, worldbuilding en pacing are amazing (Card really IS an amazing storyteller, as other people will tell you). I love the story, and the depth to the mythology. Everything fits and is explained well. I loved the innate goodness of Danny North that is not naïve. The pacing had me finishing this book in no time. The story is different and interesting and just a great read. All this makes this book (and the series) great.
However what goes wrong in these books is SO wrong..
The dialogue and especially the way Card writes his female characters is just horrible. And although he explains some of his choices in his afterword, it doesn't absolve him. Sure there are women who are attracted to men with power (who are also nice to them and good people), but it would be a process that would play itself out much more subtle and inside the heads of these women. They wouldn't talk about cleavages and penises all the time and keep asaulting the men. The worst thing for me is one of the girls telling Danny that she felt her womb was empty, and that women just want to be pregnant when their man goes off to war. How would girls ages 16 ever, EVER think this way? Ridiculous!!
All the women are either sex obsessed, bitchy, bossy, or perfect caretakers. No nuance there. And the way they speak is not like any woman I have ever met in my life. Especially the teenage girls. The way Danny thinks about his relationships with these women is trying to show that he is a teenager, but is also trying to convey some sort of 'wisdom beyond his years' that doesn't go together (multiple times he observes himself as being 'such a teenage boy' WHO THINKS THAT WAY ABOUT HIM/HERSELF??) You either are immature or you are not, you can't rationalize stuff like that.
However the Wad storyline showed much more depth and maturity, so I think Card just got stuck with a main character he doesn't really get himself. Maybe this is harsh, but I think Card is too old to really understand the mind of a teenage boy and especially the mind of a teenage girl.
However what goes wrong in these books is SO wrong..
The dialogue and especially the way Card writes his female characters is just horrible. And although he explains some of his choices in his afterword, it doesn't absolve him. Sure there are women who are attracted to men with power (who are also nice to them and good people), but it would be a process that would play itself out much more subtle and inside the heads of these women. They wouldn't talk about cleavages and penises all the time and keep asaulting the men. The worst thing for me is one of the girls telling Danny that she felt her womb was empty, and that women just want to be pregnant when their man goes off to war. How would girls ages 16 ever, EVER think this way? Ridiculous!!
All the women are either sex obsessed, bitchy, bossy, or perfect caretakers. No nuance there. And the way they speak is not like any woman I have ever met in my life. Especially the teenage girls. The way Danny thinks about his relationships with these women is trying to show that he is a teenager, but is also trying to convey some sort of 'wisdom beyond his years' that doesn't go together (multiple times he observes himself as being 'such a teenage boy' WHO THINKS THAT WAY ABOUT HIM/HERSELF??) You either are immature or you are not, you can't rationalize stuff like that.
However the Wad storyline showed much more depth and maturity, so I think Card just got stuck with a main character he doesn't really get himself. Maybe this is harsh, but I think Card is too old to really understand the mind of a teenage boy and especially the mind of a teenage girl.
This sequel to "The Lost Gate" was good but nothing exceptional. I didn't like Danny's interactions with his drowther friends, finding them to be insincere. Most of their dialogue consisted of teenage girls throwing themselves at him "wanting their babies inside of him." Sex? Sure, that makes sense; they're hyperhormonal teenagers, but all wanting to get pregnant? No.
Hopefully the third will be a more mature point of view.
Hopefully the third will be a more mature point of view.
adventurous
challenging
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Book 2 in a new ongoing fantasy series by Card. Basically a retelling of myths into modern day, though in the end its kind of the same ground as Stargate. But a pretty good read - but I'm a sucker for Card's storytelling even as I'm not as happy with the man. I got my copy from the library rather than giving him money directly, I suggest that you all do the same.
Yet another series I stumbled into in its sophomore incarnation. The Gate Thief is thoroughly readable as a stand-alone book, however.
Card walks his fine line of a deep, engrossing main character surrounded by a decent supporting cast that I always wish were fleshed out a bit more.
Card's weakness with multidimensional female characters is also present, but the story and protagonist are, as usual, so strong as to make this a repeatedly minor quibble rather than a major flaw.
Card walks his fine line of a deep, engrossing main character surrounded by a decent supporting cast that I always wish were fleshed out a bit more.
Card's weakness with multidimensional female characters is also present, but the story and protagonist are, as usual, so strong as to make this a repeatedly minor quibble rather than a major flaw.
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
I really enjoy the premise of this series and the mythology and lore behind the magic. Unfortunately all the female characters are apparently focused entirely on either mothering or having sex with one of the two main characters, and I find that distracting, at best.
On the one hand, I really enjoy his world-building. On the other, I have so many problems with his storytelling. I find so much of his language awkward (drink every time someone says "eat a gate"), the relationships between people so pessimistic and brutal (not to mention, as one reviewer put it, we can see your issues with sex FROM SPACE), and the gender dynamics so problematic. But I love thinking about the worlds he's created. Maybe the answer is that I need to read the first quarter of the book, and then let my imagination take it from there.