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jaredwsaltz 's review for:
The Lost Gate
by Orson Scott Card
Orson Scott Card wrote what has been the only disappointment I've ever read from the normally solid OSC. The idea is intriguing: all the 'gods' of worlds past are actually magicians from other worlds. As the magician travels back and forth through the "gates" between worlds, their power increases tenfold, a hundredfold, a thousandfold. However, one of the 'gods,' Loki the Trickster was a Gate Magician who shut all of the gates between the worlds and left the gods stranded where they were forever. So, the gods began to weaken and become nothing more than average (at best) workers of poor magic. The Greek gods became traders, the Norse moved to America, etc. all hiding from humans and becoming weak--pledged to kill any gate magician while secretly hoping to create one of their own, bringing them to a new world and granting them the power to dominate the other "Families." The main character is, of course, a Gate Mage attempting to learn his powers while running from those trying to kill him and forced to the human world where he tries to learn about life and power. The magic system is interesting--you gain power by serving the interests of your magic--but it's a YA novel. That's a problem. OSC shouldn't write YA fiction, he has to dumb it down too much. It cripples his writing and renders the power of his story impotent. Disappointing read (though it would have been better, probably, if I hadn't just read other things which were so much better), I give it a 3/10.