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3.64 AVERAGE
3.64 AVERAGE
Title: The Lost Gate
Series Number: The first of the series Mither Mages.
Author: Orson Scott Card
(Audio) Narrator: Stefan Rudnicki, Emily Card
One sentence summary: A boy growing up with current day Norse gods is ostracized because he doesn't seem to have any powers until he finds out he has an outlawed power and has to run away or his family will kill him.
Theme(s): Family acceptance. Sexuality and pedophilia. (Honestly way to much content on both of these accounts. It would have been fine to have a little about both, but they were definite themes and I wasn't reading this book for either for these themes AND they didn't tie into the ending.)
(Audio) Narrator review: Nothing particularly likable or dislikable about them. I won't be searching for or staying away from books they have read.
What I liked:
Absolutely loved the magic system. It's been Card's specialty for a while, and he still delivers. It was interesting, well thought out (if a bit over explained), and really fun to learn about with the characters.
The weaving of two story lines. While the main character Danny works through his family acceptance issues there is a second story line dealing with Wad. Now he is an interesting character, he knows what he wants and he goes and gets it through all means allotted to him.
What I disliked:
Many things were over explained, particularly the magic system and most of the thoughts that Danny has. Many of the conversations between him and family could be shorter and more interesting. More of this book than I would have expected was talking heads.
Danny as a character has some plausibility issues. I don't want to spoil anything, so I won't be using specifics, but in the simplest terms he wants a couple things at the end that could and should have been foreshadowed a lot earlier in the book. If he had the last 1/4 of the book would have made more sense and overall been better.
That contributed to the final thing I disliked; an unsatisfying ending. I know that there are going to be more books in the series and that they will probably have the world building and minor character arcs that I was hoping would at least touched upon by the ending of this book, but I really don't want to read more about Danny to get that.
Rating:
5/10 – Finished, but could have used another draft/round of edits. I want to learn more about the world and any characters that aren't Danny, but am not willing to read more in this series. I will probably read a summary of the next two books instead.
Series Number: The first of the series Mither Mages.
Author: Orson Scott Card
(Audio) Narrator: Stefan Rudnicki, Emily Card
One sentence summary: A boy growing up with current day Norse gods is ostracized because he doesn't seem to have any powers until he finds out he has an outlawed power and has to run away or his family will kill him.
Theme(s): Family acceptance. Sexuality and pedophilia. (Honestly way to much content on both of these accounts. It would have been fine to have a little about both, but they were definite themes and I wasn't reading this book for either for these themes AND they didn't tie into the ending.)
(Audio) Narrator review: Nothing particularly likable or dislikable about them. I won't be searching for or staying away from books they have read.
What I liked:
Absolutely loved the magic system. It's been Card's specialty for a while, and he still delivers. It was interesting, well thought out (if a bit over explained), and really fun to learn about with the characters.
The weaving of two story lines. While the main character Danny works through his family acceptance issues there is a second story line dealing with Wad. Now he is an interesting character, he knows what he wants and he goes and gets it through all means allotted to him.
What I disliked:
Many things were over explained, particularly the magic system and most of the thoughts that Danny has. Many of the conversations between him and family could be shorter and more interesting. More of this book than I would have expected was talking heads.
Danny as a character has some plausibility issues. I don't want to spoil anything, so I won't be using specifics, but in the simplest terms he wants a couple things at the end that could and should have been foreshadowed a lot earlier in the book. If he had the last 1/4 of the book would have made more sense and overall been better.
That contributed to the final thing I disliked; an unsatisfying ending. I know that there are going to be more books in the series and that they will probably have the world building and minor character arcs that I was hoping would at least touched upon by the ending of this book, but I really don't want to read more about Danny to get that.
Rating:
5/10 – Finished, but could have used another draft/round of edits. I want to learn more about the world and any characters that aren't Danny, but am not willing to read more in this series. I will probably read a summary of the next two books instead.
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This book was disappointing to me. The female characters in particular were kind of sub-human, they were so poorly written.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual assault, Sexual harassment
Overall Rating: 2 stars
Concept Rating: 3 stars
Execution Rating: 1 star
Danny North belongs to a family descended of the Norse “gods”—mages who drew their superhuman power from another world accessible to them by magical gates. However, hundreds of years ago, when the Gate Mage, Loki, closed all the gates to this other world, the Norse gods—along with similar families of mages from Greece, Rome, etc.—lost much of their strength, and vowed to kill any new Gate Mage who might once again overturn the balance of power. When Danny discovers his own talent as a Gate Mage, he realizes that he must flee his own family and somehow learn the lost art of his magic in order to stay hidden and alive. Meanwhile, in the other world, another young Gate Mage finds himself in a royal palace with secrets of his own.
I’ve read many of Orson Scott Card’s novels, adoring some and tolerating others, but I barely even finished this one. The Lost Gate is unnecessarily long, with several chapters included that add nothing to the story, and Card’s writing is boring and shallow. The entire novel could easily be reduced to a short story or two, and the plot would make just as much sense, and the ideas would have remained captivating without feeling drawn out past redundancy. Very few of the characters displayed any significant amount of depth or growth—for example, only two of the characters seemed to possess complex motivations and histories, while the others all seemed predictable, simple, and not even particularly likable. In addition, Card discusses spacetime at length in The Lost Gate as if it has purpose, ambition, will, and feelings, but these ideas are wildly incorrect. Spacetime is a dimension, and a way of looking at space and time together, but approaching it as something one might choose to serve or disobey is like asking the quadratic formula what you should have for breakfast—life and physics just don’t work that way.
The concept of deities existing in reality as magicians intrigued me at first, but by the end of the end of the novel, what interested me the most was the story of the Gate Mage and a Queen in the other world. These characters are the two truly complex characters that I mentioned above, and their hidden ambitions, complicated loyalties, and underhanded actions both surprised and impressed me. However, the few good chapters focusing on their story could not outweigh the rest of the flaws I found with the novel, and so I therefore do not recommend The Lost Gate. If you want to read a fantasy novel by Orson Scott Card, pick up Enchanted instead. If you’re looking for a story combining old gods, modern times, and magic, look into The Kane Chronicles by Rick Riordan, author of the Percy Jackson series. But it wouldn’t be a great loss if The Lost Gate became A Lost Book.
Concept Rating: 3 stars
Execution Rating: 1 star
Danny North belongs to a family descended of the Norse “gods”—mages who drew their superhuman power from another world accessible to them by magical gates. However, hundreds of years ago, when the Gate Mage, Loki, closed all the gates to this other world, the Norse gods—along with similar families of mages from Greece, Rome, etc.—lost much of their strength, and vowed to kill any new Gate Mage who might once again overturn the balance of power. When Danny discovers his own talent as a Gate Mage, he realizes that he must flee his own family and somehow learn the lost art of his magic in order to stay hidden and alive. Meanwhile, in the other world, another young Gate Mage finds himself in a royal palace with secrets of his own.
I’ve read many of Orson Scott Card’s novels, adoring some and tolerating others, but I barely even finished this one. The Lost Gate is unnecessarily long, with several chapters included that add nothing to the story, and Card’s writing is boring and shallow. The entire novel could easily be reduced to a short story or two, and the plot would make just as much sense, and the ideas would have remained captivating without feeling drawn out past redundancy. Very few of the characters displayed any significant amount of depth or growth—for example, only two of the characters seemed to possess complex motivations and histories, while the others all seemed predictable, simple, and not even particularly likable. In addition, Card discusses spacetime at length in The Lost Gate as if it has purpose, ambition, will, and feelings, but these ideas are wildly incorrect. Spacetime is a dimension, and a way of looking at space and time together, but approaching it as something one might choose to serve or disobey is like asking the quadratic formula what you should have for breakfast—life and physics just don’t work that way.
The concept of deities existing in reality as magicians intrigued me at first, but by the end of the end of the novel, what interested me the most was the story of the Gate Mage and a Queen in the other world. These characters are the two truly complex characters that I mentioned above, and their hidden ambitions, complicated loyalties, and underhanded actions both surprised and impressed me. However, the few good chapters focusing on their story could not outweigh the rest of the flaws I found with the novel, and so I therefore do not recommend The Lost Gate. If you want to read a fantasy novel by Orson Scott Card, pick up Enchanted instead. If you’re looking for a story combining old gods, modern times, and magic, look into The Kane Chronicles by Rick Riordan, author of the Percy Jackson series. But it wouldn’t be a great loss if The Lost Gate became A Lost Book.
I love ORSON Scott Card! what a wonderful world weaver!
adventurous
funny
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment
This is my second book by Card (the first being Ender's Game). It is written in a similar style as Ender's Game, but it is a wholly different type of story. I like the idea of being able to create gates to move between worlds and the inherent moral dilemmas that arise from that magery. I was a little confused at first with the parallel stories - especially since the boy in the tree showed up late in the book - but the two stories do eventually tie together. I assume that this will carry on through the series as well.
I honestly didn’t want to read The Lost Gate, given the mediocre reviews, but I was desperate to find an available audiobook and eager to finally read my first Orson Scott Card novel, despite his anti-LGBTQ leanings. The afterword by the author about the writing of the book was the best part. It was interesting to me that the idea kernel for this book took 33 years to pop into a full-fledged work. But I think this one should’ve stayed in the expired ideas pile.
By the way, this book is not appropriate for young children, despite what the plot synopsis, character ages, and writing style may suggest.
The Highs
Gate Magery: The magic system was awesome. Period. Portals are an inherently fun concept. The premise of the story is also fairly attention-grabbing: The gate between Earth and the land of Gods (Westil) has been hidden for centuries, making it impossible for the mages left in the human world to return home. There is an intense rivalry between the different mage families, and to prevent war, the groups have promised to rid themselves of unfair advantages. Thus, any person who shows signs of gatemagery must be killed to ensure that no family can return to Westil and strengthen their powers.
Wad’s Story: I was confused by the alternating perspective at first because I thought that it was a flash-forward sequence for Danny. On the third POV shift, I finally realized the story was that of a completely different character, Wad. His story truly begins when the king and queen come into the picture, as that’s when things get really interesting. As other reviewers have noted, Wad’s story was by far more engaging and felt more believable than Danny’s, with its royal drama, betrayals, and secrets.
Unpredictability: I’m not sure if this should be labeled a pro or a con. Maybe I’m just trying to come up with positive qualities so that this review doesn't seem too scathing. The plot takes many unexpected turns, but more in a “well that’s fucking random” kind of way rather than a “wow, the plot is morphing into something bigger” direction.
The Lows
Inconsistent Protagonist: I don’t mind unlikable characters, but if someone’s personality is all over the place, I can’t get a sense of who they are. At first, Danny seems like the bookish underdog, but he quickly becomes an expert liar who feels no remorse for the consequences. He is at times portrayed as highly intelligent and noble, but we only see those traits when it’s convenient to the plot.
Key Characters Arrive Too Late: We never really get to know Danny’s new guardians or the Greek girl. Eric is the one we see the most, and yet his character is inconsequential to the larger plot (although he arguably contributes to Danny’s character arc).
Setting: This may have been the book’s biggest problem. The story mainly takes place in ordinary locales, and it didn’t work for me at all. With so many cool avenues to take with the gate magic concept, the story moves in ridiculous directions instead. Danny uses his powers to shoplift from Walmart, pass toilet paper through a stall, and…go to high school?
The fantastical storybook tone in the first chapter differs wildly from the rest of the book, which was disappointing, but I should’ve known to expect it based on what other reviewers have said. I wish that Danny had been less knowledgeable about the human world; I would’ve preferred a fish-out-of-water story, where human culture is completely alien to Danny. With that approach, there would be all sorts of opportunities for humorous misunderstandings and interesting conflicts.
Lack of Cool Factor: The action scenes felt forced and require great suspension of disbelief, most notably. The revelatory moment and climax occur in a high school gym class. Quite frankly, those parts of the story reek of amateur writing, and I’m surprised to see that from a Hugo Award winner.
Passive Plot: External factors drive much of the plot, mainly by someone finding Danny and confronting him about his powers. Not much happens as a result of Danny’s own volition. That type of structure made the plot feel random and disconnected. It seemed like Card was writing by the seat of his pants and went with the first ideas that came to him. As comedians know, the first idea is rarely the best one.
The Bottom Line: Unfortunately, Card does not deliver on his interesting premise of a lost gate and awesome magery; it’ll be a long time before I read another one of his novels.
By the way, this book is not appropriate for young children, despite what the plot synopsis, character ages, and writing style may suggest.
The Highs
Gate Magery: The magic system was awesome. Period. Portals are an inherently fun concept. The premise of the story is also fairly attention-grabbing: The gate between Earth and the land of Gods (Westil) has been hidden for centuries, making it impossible for the mages left in the human world to return home. There is an intense rivalry between the different mage families, and to prevent war, the groups have promised to rid themselves of unfair advantages. Thus, any person who shows signs of gatemagery must be killed to ensure that no family can return to Westil and strengthen their powers.
Wad’s Story: I was confused by the alternating perspective at first because I thought that it was a flash-forward sequence for Danny. On the third POV shift, I finally realized the story was that of a completely different character, Wad. His story truly begins when the king and queen come into the picture, as that’s when things get really interesting. As other reviewers have noted, Wad’s story was by far more engaging and felt more believable than Danny’s, with its royal drama, betrayals, and secrets.
Unpredictability: I’m not sure if this should be labeled a pro or a con. Maybe I’m just trying to come up with positive qualities so that this review doesn't seem too scathing. The plot takes many unexpected turns, but more in a “well that’s fucking random” kind of way rather than a “wow, the plot is morphing into something bigger” direction.
The Lows
Inconsistent Protagonist: I don’t mind unlikable characters, but if someone’s personality is all over the place, I can’t get a sense of who they are. At first, Danny seems like the bookish underdog, but he quickly becomes an expert liar who feels no remorse for the consequences. He is at times portrayed as highly intelligent and noble, but we only see those traits when it’s convenient to the plot.
Key Characters Arrive Too Late: We never really get to know Danny’s new guardians or the Greek girl. Eric is the one we see the most, and yet his character is inconsequential to the larger plot (although he arguably contributes to Danny’s character arc).
Setting: This may have been the book’s biggest problem. The story mainly takes place in ordinary locales, and it didn’t work for me at all. With so many cool avenues to take with the gate magic concept, the story moves in ridiculous directions instead. Danny uses his powers to shoplift from Walmart, pass toilet paper through a stall, and…go to high school?
The fantastical storybook tone in the first chapter differs wildly from the rest of the book, which was disappointing, but I should’ve known to expect it based on what other reviewers have said. I wish that Danny had been less knowledgeable about the human world; I would’ve preferred a fish-out-of-water story, where human culture is completely alien to Danny. With that approach, there would be all sorts of opportunities for humorous misunderstandings and interesting conflicts.
Lack of Cool Factor: The action scenes felt forced and require great suspension of disbelief, most notably
Spoiler
when Danny finds a family tied up in their basement as well as when he and Eric confront the black market dealersPassive Plot: External factors drive much of the plot, mainly by someone finding Danny and confronting him about his powers. Not much happens as a result of Danny’s own volition. That type of structure made the plot feel random and disconnected. It seemed like Card was writing by the seat of his pants and went with the first ideas that came to him. As comedians know, the first idea is rarely the best one.
The Bottom Line: Unfortunately, Card does not deliver on his interesting premise of a lost gate and awesome magery; it’ll be a long time before I read another one of his novels.
Danny North reminds me of my son's favorite character: Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III, from Cressida Cowell's How to Train Your Dragon books. Hiccup can't do anything remotely Viking-ish, Danny can't do anything North-ish. Hiccup's dad is the leader of their Viking clan, Danny's parents are the leaders of the North clan. Hiccup overcomes it all by training a dragon and showing his clan how they can live peacefully side-by-side with dragons, Danny runs away. Hmm, I guess they're not quite exactly the same after all...
Orson Scott Card has created a version of our world where the ancient Gods are stuck on Earth with diminishing powers, forever locked away from their home world of Westil, because a gatemage locked all the gates between the two worlds. Keeping to themselves, they live in compounds where each Family stays away from the other clans and from humans (or drowthers, as we're referred to). The Norths have the dubious distinction of having produced the last Gatemage, and are therefore now banned from having another. Too bad for Danny, as that's what it looks like he's going to turn out to be. So, before he can be dragged away to Hammernip Hill, Danny runs away.
Left to fend for himself in the regular world, Danny has to survive on his wits (and his sass). Luckily for him, he finds someone to help him, though that relationship becomes increasingly lopsided as Danny's abilities are discovered. I'm honestly surprised Danny makes it as far as he does, and in one piece. He's not the most surreptitious runaway, but then again I guess that's not a word that describes thirteen-year-olds best.
The other part of The Lost Gate takes place in the world of Westil, where a man-in-a-tree works his way out of said tree, then finds himself embroiled in royal intrigue and politics. Finding out that his actions has very real consequences, he starts setting things right. But some things cannot be undone...
Character: Danny is an amusing boy who's sometimes a bit wiser than his years, and other times acts his age. He doesn't always makes the right decisions, and definitely has his bratty moments. But you know he's got a good heart, and you feel his wistfulness when he's sitting on the hill watching the high-schoolers... The foster parents he finds are just an eensy-weensy bit too perfect, and some of the sub-characters are downright boring--and it seems like they're all are six-degrees-of-separation related, which is a tad too co-incidental to me.
Pace & Plot: The Lost Gate moves along at a clip, and there are hardly any slow spots. Switching back and forth between Danny and Wad (i.e. man-who-used-to-be-in-the-tree) didn't seem to have any point, because they were such disparate stories, except for the magery. Speaking of which, I got really confused with all the different types of magic that the clans have, and how you're described by your abilities.
I expected better, but all in all this is a pretty darn good yarn for YA fantasy fans. I will be reading the next one to see what Danny does next.
Orson Scott Card has created a version of our world where the ancient Gods are stuck on Earth with diminishing powers, forever locked away from their home world of Westil, because a gatemage locked all the gates between the two worlds. Keeping to themselves, they live in compounds where each Family stays away from the other clans and from humans (or drowthers, as we're referred to). The Norths have the dubious distinction of having produced the last Gatemage, and are therefore now banned from having another. Too bad for Danny, as that's what it looks like he's going to turn out to be. So, before he can be dragged away to Hammernip Hill, Danny runs away.
Left to fend for himself in the regular world, Danny has to survive on his wits (and his sass). Luckily for him, he finds someone to help him, though that relationship becomes increasingly lopsided as Danny's abilities are discovered. I'm honestly surprised Danny makes it as far as he does, and in one piece. He's not the most surreptitious runaway, but then again I guess that's not a word that describes thirteen-year-olds best.
The other part of The Lost Gate takes place in the world of Westil, where a man-in-a-tree works his way out of said tree, then finds himself embroiled in royal intrigue and politics. Finding out that his actions has very real consequences, he starts setting things right. But some things cannot be undone...
Character: Danny is an amusing boy who's sometimes a bit wiser than his years, and other times acts his age. He doesn't always makes the right decisions, and definitely has his bratty moments. But you know he's got a good heart, and you feel his wistfulness when he's sitting on the hill watching the high-schoolers... The foster parents he finds are just an eensy-weensy bit too perfect, and some of the sub-characters are downright boring--and it seems like they're all are six-degrees-of-separation related, which is a tad too co-incidental to me.
Pace & Plot: The Lost Gate moves along at a clip, and there are hardly any slow spots. Switching back and forth between Danny and Wad (i.e. man-who-used-to-be-in-the-tree) didn't seem to have any point, because they were such disparate stories, except for the magery. Speaking of which, I got really confused with all the different types of magic that the clans have, and how you're described by your abilities.
I expected better, but all in all this is a pretty darn good yarn for YA fantasy fans. I will be reading the next one to see what Danny does next.
This one kept me uncertain of where it was going for most of the plot. And, that was a good thing. I read the bulk of it in two or three long sittings, and it was a fun ride.
I liked this book well enough, but it didn't grab me. In the middle of the climax, I was able to put the book down and take a nap without worrying what would happen. The magic system was very well developed and fascinating. For me, the ending was a little predictable. I spotted several of the major plot twists several chapters ahead. It was an interesting read, though, and I'll probably pick up the next in the series sometime down the road.