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3.64 AVERAGE
3.64 AVERAGE
I was extremely bored while reading this... which was disappointing. I had high hopes for this book. There were some moments that were intersting and exciting but over all it was just lost myself.
When I finished this, I realized I felt almost identically about this book as I did about the last OSC book I had read, [b:Seventh Son|40290|Seventh Son (Tales of Alvin Maker, #1)|Orson Scott Card|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1327295457s/40290.jpg|2771466], which was also a first in a series. Here are the bits of that review that apply:
The first part, where Danny was in his family's compound, was the most interesting part of the book, and did a great job of pulling me into the story and the world. I was convinced the book was going to be Percy Jackson meets [b:American Gods|4407|American Gods (American Gods, #1)|Neil Gaiman|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1258417001s/4407.jpg|1970226]. It was only after he left the compound that the story spun its wheels until the end. Most of what happened in DC and Florida was completely extraneous to the central plot.
I didn't connect to many characters. Most seemed one-dimensional and wooden -- especially the Greek girl whose name I can't recall.
The book got bogged down with much more detail on gates and gate-making then it needed to, to the point where certain chapters were clunky and difficult to read. These chapters reminded me of [b:The Grand Design|8520362|The Grand Design|Stephen Hawking|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1320558363s/8520362.jpg|13383926], which I enjoyed reading, but only because that was real, actual science.
As for the Man-in-the-Tree segments of the book, they didn't add much to the story of Danny North and his becoming a gatemage, and the start of chapters featuring Wad marked points where I was always tempted to put the book down.
Lastly, I wish I didn't read the Afterword, because Card admits to rushing to write the novel amid distractions -- "I wrote a chapter nearly every day" -- to make a publishing deadline. It makes me think that if he didn't have to rush it to press, it would have been tighter and a better book, which is what I hope the next book in the series manages, even though it is doubtful I'd ever read it.
Orson Scott Card is a very good storyteller, so even at his worst, his books are still worth reading. That being said, this entire novel felt like a ... prologue. It set up a lot of characters, a lot of history, and a good deal of how this alternative universe works, but not much happens in the story. There is very little action and a ton of discourse. The title character ... is still an adolescent at the end of the novel. He has not yet begun any sort of journey or quest...Here are a few specific thoughts I had about this book:
The first part, where Danny was in his family's compound, was the most interesting part of the book, and did a great job of pulling me into the story and the world. I was convinced the book was going to be Percy Jackson meets [b:American Gods|4407|American Gods (American Gods, #1)|Neil Gaiman|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1258417001s/4407.jpg|1970226]. It was only after he left the compound that the story spun its wheels until the end. Most of what happened in DC and Florida was completely extraneous to the central plot.
I didn't connect to many characters. Most seemed one-dimensional and wooden -- especially the Greek girl whose name I can't recall.
The book got bogged down with much more detail on gates and gate-making then it needed to, to the point where certain chapters were clunky and difficult to read. These chapters reminded me of [b:The Grand Design|8520362|The Grand Design|Stephen Hawking|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1320558363s/8520362.jpg|13383926], which I enjoyed reading, but only because that was real, actual science.
As for the Man-in-the-Tree segments of the book, they didn't add much to the story of Danny North and his becoming a gatemage, and the start of chapters featuring Wad marked points where I was always tempted to put the book down.
Lastly, I wish I didn't read the Afterword, because Card admits to rushing to write the novel amid distractions -- "I wrote a chapter nearly every day" -- to make a publishing deadline. It makes me think that if he didn't have to rush it to press, it would have been tighter and a better book, which is what I hope the next book in the series manages, even though it is doubtful I'd ever read it.
well it's less cringy than Eragon but i concur with other reviewers in that there's odd unnecessary sexual references that just boggle the mind.
really interesting magic system and i enjoyed them figuring out how gates worked and the long descriptions of gate making shenanigans (but i enjoyed the Martian!) and i liked wad's story for the most part
Danny was a distasteful and annoying character who was presumably written to be cool and likeable (to who!!). i found the book too crass and the humour was a little middle grade for a book which discusses men's "seed" so frequently
really interesting magic system and i enjoyed them figuring out how gates worked and the long descriptions of gate making shenanigans (but i enjoyed the Martian!) and i liked wad's story for the most part
Danny was a distasteful and annoying character who was presumably written to be cool and likeable (to who!!). i found the book too crass and the humour was a little middle grade for a book which discusses men's "seed" so frequently
Awesome book, kept me entertained throughout. It was interesting how the two stories intertwined at the end. Ending makes you want to start the next book immediately.
SLJ review:
CARD, Orson Scott. The Lost Gate. 384p. Tor. 2011. Tr $24.99. ISBN 978-0-8653-2657-7.
Adult/High School–Danny North is not drekka or magicless, as his family believes; he is quite possibly the strongest gatemage ever born, but he can’t tell any of them. Creating inter-dimensional portals is an ability that caused war. Danny’s family was once so magically powerful that they were worshipped as gods. Now, after the mysterious Gate Thief closed all the gates from Westil and stranded the warring family clans as exiles on Earth over a thousand years ago, there is an uneasy truce. Any gatemage born is killed, so as not to shift the balance of power. Card sets a coming-of-age tale within an intricately built speculative fiction framework that includes trickster legends as well as Greek and Norse mythology, effortlessly weaving together Danny’s escape from a family determined to kill him with his discovery of life in contemporary American human society. In a parallel story set on Westil, an amnesiac named Wad discovers he is a powerful gatemage as well and begins to use his power to further a royal plot. Danny’s and Wad’s machinations have repercussions that reverberate through both worlds. As in Ender’s Game (Tor, 1985), Card excels here at three-dimensional world-building and strong characters with believable motivations. Danny, especially, is a mischievous, flawed, highly sympathetic character that teens will relate to. Excellent secondary characters put flesh on the bones of a story that explores the hearts of two people looking and longing for a place to belong.–Charli Osborne, Oxford Public Library, MI
CARD, Orson Scott. The Lost Gate. 384p. Tor. 2011. Tr $24.99. ISBN 978-0-8653-2657-7.
Adult/High School–Danny North is not drekka or magicless, as his family believes; he is quite possibly the strongest gatemage ever born, but he can’t tell any of them. Creating inter-dimensional portals is an ability that caused war. Danny’s family was once so magically powerful that they were worshipped as gods. Now, after the mysterious Gate Thief closed all the gates from Westil and stranded the warring family clans as exiles on Earth over a thousand years ago, there is an uneasy truce. Any gatemage born is killed, so as not to shift the balance of power. Card sets a coming-of-age tale within an intricately built speculative fiction framework that includes trickster legends as well as Greek and Norse mythology, effortlessly weaving together Danny’s escape from a family determined to kill him with his discovery of life in contemporary American human society. In a parallel story set on Westil, an amnesiac named Wad discovers he is a powerful gatemage as well and begins to use his power to further a royal plot. Danny’s and Wad’s machinations have repercussions that reverberate through both worlds. As in Ender’s Game (Tor, 1985), Card excels here at three-dimensional world-building and strong characters with believable motivations. Danny, especially, is a mischievous, flawed, highly sympathetic character that teens will relate to. Excellent secondary characters put flesh on the bones of a story that explores the hearts of two people looking and longing for a place to belong.–Charli Osborne, Oxford Public Library, MI
I enjoyed this book. It wasn't Card's best book, but it was good. I love Danny and how he doesn't tolerate his cousins messing with him about not being able to do magic. I don't like his cousins and how mean they are to him. I love how Danny is able to create gates and go through them. I like that he was able to leave. I hate that he decides to become a thief but it makes sense. I definitely liked Orson Scott Card's other books better. I'd give this book 4 stars.
adventurous
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
My first non-Ender book by Orson Scott Card. And it was rubbish. It was my least favorite kind of book, the kind that makes you think throughout the entire story that it's about to take the turn you were hoping for and never does, which means you never give up and put it down an waste all that reading time on nonsense. So much promise. So little if anything though really.
adventurous
challenging
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes