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3.53 AVERAGE
3.53 AVERAGE
meh. The magic got very complicated and hard to understand/visualize what was happening. Wouldn't have been such an issue except he spent a lot of time trying to describe it.
Interesting plot turns. If you read the author's note, you'll discover he took a different turn in his vision of the book. Its somewhat different then the first installment, due to this change of course. I have some niggling annoyances about it, but nothing at this point that makes it unreadable. I actually finished this a few weeks ago, and forgot to update my Goodreads account!!
Having enjoyed The Lost Gate, I was expecting to enjoy The Gate Thief. However, every shortcoming that The Lost Gate had was blown up large here. Too many characters in too many milieux, with so little time to follow each was frustrating. Overall, you get this impression of scattering of energy. In particular, I think OSC should have abandoned all the bits about the high school and Danny's teen friends.
Also annoying: too much barely under the surface instruction about "how to be a good young man" in Loki and Danny's self-talk.
I can't decide if I'm even going to try to read The Gatefather. So disappointed.
Also annoying: too much barely under the surface instruction about "how to be a good young man" in Loki and Danny's self-talk.
I can't decide if I'm even going to try to read The Gatefather. So disappointed.
I've enjoyed pretty much everything Orson Scott Card has written. This one as well. I did see figure out what was going to happen with Set pretty much from the get go, and even figured out who it was going to be (how's that for not spoiling?) fairly early on. This was definitely the middle book of the series. The premise was already set up, now it was setting up the conflict for the final book of the trilogy.
So, I felt like this was a fairly good sequel to the first book, though honestly, I enjoyed the first one better. Maybe because I have more sympathy for an outcast preteen than for a hugely powerful -- though still kind of outcast -- late teenager. The normal kids in the book are just a little too horny (really? I do not remember being that obsessed with sex as a teenager, nor anywhere near as bold as these kids, and we CERTAINLY did not talk about it that openly. And like, EVERYONE is like that? Seriously? there’s no shy kid who isn’t going to try to sleep with a god? I don’t believe that).
As to the plot, it was much quicker than the first book, covering a much shorter span of time (only a few weeks, when the other book covered a number of years). But it didn’t have that lovely, “so much can happen in so short a time” feeling that Ernest Hemingway pioneered in For Whom the Bell Tolls. It just felt like things were speeding up, and it felt like it was over too quickly, because he’d reached his page count. I mean…it ended on a nice cliffhanger and all, but it felt like there was a lot of unnecessary filler that didn’t add to the story or the characters, and the few weeks that occur in the book could have happened over half the number of pages, and been a lot better. Either that, or the time span of the book could have been longer, and that also would have made me feel a little more satisfied. It just felt rushed and full of fluff. Like…the technical aspects of his power had too much focus on them, and it didn’t leave room for more interesting character and plot development.
However, the story itself was interesting (when he actually, you know… wrote it…), and I like the interplay of the large cast of characters.
So I’m not too pleased with it as a book, but I am pleased with it as a part of the series. It was a good step in the action, and it was a good way to pass a few days. I am looking forward to the next one!
As to the plot, it was much quicker than the first book, covering a much shorter span of time (only a few weeks, when the other book covered a number of years). But it didn’t have that lovely, “so much can happen in so short a time” feeling that Ernest Hemingway pioneered in For Whom the Bell Tolls. It just felt like things were speeding up, and it felt like it was over too quickly, because he’d reached his page count. I mean…it ended on a nice cliffhanger and all, but it felt like there was a lot of unnecessary filler that didn’t add to the story or the characters, and the few weeks that occur in the book could have happened over half the number of pages, and been a lot better. Either that, or the time span of the book could have been longer, and that also would have made me feel a little more satisfied. It just felt rushed and full of fluff. Like…the technical aspects of his power had too much focus on them, and it didn’t leave room for more interesting character and plot development.
However, the story itself was interesting (when he actually, you know… wrote it…), and I like the interplay of the large cast of characters.
So I’m not too pleased with it as a book, but I am pleased with it as a part of the series. It was a good step in the action, and it was a good way to pass a few days. I am looking forward to the next one!