Customer Reviews

The Gates of Sleep (Elemental Masters, Book 2)

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(13)
3 star:		(13)
2 star:		(10)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

"Gates of Sleep" had more of a fairy-tale feel to it than "Serpent's Shadow;" and while I did like this novel quite a bit (and really enjoyed the charming twist that Mercedes Lackey put on the Sleeping Beauty motif, esp since in Lackey's version it is Sleeping Beauty/Marina who has the final showdown with the Wicked Fairy Godmother/Arachane), I did not find this book to be quite as compelling as "Serpent's Shadow." Part of the reason was that while Marina is intelligent and canny and likable, she seemed incredibly bland in comparison to Maya (the heroine of "Serpent's Shadow). Another problem I had with "Gates of Sleep" was that the character of Arachne was just not 'fleshed' out enough -- why did she hate her family so much? Was it because she was born without any powers? Had her family treated her differently? Why did she marry so unsuitably? (and why was her husband considered unsuitable?) And how did she come by her dark powers? I wanted proper answers, and didn't find any. Afterall in "Serpent's Shadow" we know why the aunt carries out a virtual vendetta against her brother-in-law and her niece. And I was quite disappointed that Mercedes Lackey did not fill in the blanks (as it were) with "Gates of Sleep." Another thing I couldn't figure out was why, given that Marina had been filled in the fact that there was a curse placed on her, no one saw fit to tell her that it was Arachne who cursed her? The omission seemed a little foolish to me.

Except for that, this book is a rather enjoyable read. Most of the characters (except for Arachne) were well 'fleshed' out, esp that of Marina's. And while (as another reviewer pointed out) there is really not that much variation in theme or plot-ideas between "Serpent's Shadow" and "Gates of Sleep," this was still a rather fun read. The call for female suffrage is again visited (as it was in "Serpent's Shadow) and I esp liked the socio-historical bits that dealt with plight of factory workers and the effects of lead poisoning. Will I read another elemental magic novel by Mercedes Lackey? Definitely. But I do hope that there is more of a variation in plotting next time.

You must realize that a 4 star Lackey book is better than 90% of the rest of what's out there. And this book is only a 4 star book in comparison with the previous one in this loose series, "The Serpent's Shadow."

While that book is a genuine 5 star masterpiece, "The Gates of Sleep" is a little jewel. Don't let this confuse you. It is quietly full of marvelous things, like the description of the faun at the shrine of Pan in the garden, or the description of Marina's bedroom frescoes.

This loose series of books is based on fairy tales...this one is Sleeping Beauty, the last one was Snow White, and the previous one to that was Beauty and the Beast. But Lackey hasn't done a "retelling" rather she has written a terrific story using the plot of the fairy story.

The "environmentalism" in the story feels just a tad too "modern" to be Victorian England, and the character of Marina becomes a little too grown up a little too fast without fully developing her, and the ending is a bit abrupt, even though the fairy story is, too.

But these are minor quibbles, small kvetches.

The characters are drawn well, three-dimensional, and realistic, even the villains.

This book keeps Mercedes Lackey on my must-buy list.

Bananaslug. at Baen's Bar

Let's keep this simple: Ms. Lackey is one of my favorite writers - this is NOT one of my favorite books. The FireLord and Serpent's Shadow were well-crafted novels with compelling characters. Their basis in well-known fairy tales was more implied than plotted point by point. The GATES OF SLEEP has neither of these strengths. The story follows the fairy tale slavishly through most of the book, along with all of a folk tale's plot weaknesses. The character of Marina (I'm amazed she wasn't call Rose or Aurora.)is too air-headed and passive through most of the book to be appealing to me. The relationship with her 'prince' is thin, very thin, almost non-existant thin. This is fine for a fairy tale but not a fantasy novel. Admiration turns to love for the hero all too quickly and I can't recall when or why Marina loves him. The fact that he is an elemental master is so serendipitous as to be a very silly plot device. Are Elemental Masters behind every bush and shrub in England? The "evil fairy" was the greatest disappointment because the character showed the most promise. A female 19th century industrialist destroying her work force for the power they can provide her?!? What an opportunity for a new kind of evil! But Lackey fails to capitalize on a great concept and we never really understand why or entirely how "Madame" commits her crimes. Marina's parents and the "good fairies" are amiable non-entities, for all their supposed powers. Instead of confronting "Madame" with her curse and enlisting the other Masters in the effort, their only response is to hide the poor child away. Okay for a fairy tale but this is unlikely in the Elemental Master universe that Lackey has created up to this book. Wait for the paperback or buy this used from other disgruntled readers if you must have it.

This is the third book in Ms. Lackey's series of retelling fairy tales with sensible, modern women who happen to be Elemental Magicians. In this "Sleeping Beauty" adaptation, Marina Roeswood has a curse put on her in infancy and is sent away to live with three Elemental Masters, the closest friends of her parents. She grows up, as all of Ms. Lackey's female heroes do, a liberated, educated woman of the early 1900's, this time in the English countryside. Unfortunately, tragedy strikes and Marina is taken away to live with that same aunt who put the curse on her in the first place.

The Fire Rose had too much plot and not enough story--The Serpent's Shadow had too much story and not enough plot. The Gates of Sleep finally strikes a balance between the two and the result is horrible. The writing is repetitive, the sentences never end. There's none of the fun love story that we got in Serpent's Shadow or even in Fire Rose--instead, Marina realizes about five pages from the end that "she must have fallen in love with him without realizing it." The plot itself is predictable and populated with shallow characters. Marina herself, supposedly the embodiment of a well-educated and liberal woman, goes contrary to many things that Ms. Lackey has spent several books establishing.

And speaking of contradictions, the errors here are blinding. It's as though Ms. Lackey, as she has gotten more and more involved in her "real-world" doings with Magic (formerly spelled Magick, a contrivance now abandoned), has made up new rules that fly in the face of the old ones. It's as though Ms. Lackey made no effort to keep track of things she wrote in earlier novels before writing this one. For example, in Fire Rose Jason Cameron makes a big deal about the fact that Masters of the same Element have difficultly living together. Rose wonders, at the end, if, now that she is an Air Master she will have problems with the local Earth Master because their Elements are opposites. In Gates of Sleep, all four Elements live in harmony. The only difficulty one has with "antagonistic" Elements seems to be in sending messages.

Another example--in Serpent's Shaodw, Peter's first lesson to Maya is instruction in layering sheilds, each using their respective element. In Gates of Sleep, we are told that Masters of one Element cannot instruct mages of another Element in the construction and layering of shields.

Ms. Lackey, I am a long time fan of your work, but I really wish that you would pay attention to these things! It steals a lot of my enjoyment from what should be pure, unvarnished fantasy. If one insists on placing all the characters in the same world, all the characters should adhere to the rules of that world and not make them up as they go along. Have a little more fun with the characters--I loved the references to previous books, such as the presence of the Circle of Masters in London and Lady Almsley's helping Andrew Pike with his sanitorium. The only thing more fun would have been for Dr. Maya and Peter Scott to show up while Marina was in London!

I give it 2 stars simply because I am a long-time fan. Loyalty has to count for something.

Mercedes Lackey uses the tale of Sleeping Beauty as a jumping-off point for The Gates of Sleep, the story of Marina, an elemental mage of water and her coming-of-age in Edwardian Cornwall and Devon. As in The Fire Rose (set in turn-of-the-century San Francisco) and The Serpent's Shadow (Victorian London), mages and Masters of Earth, Fire, Water, and Air battle against ceremonial magicians of the Left-Hand path, with fairy-tale-esque results. It's no surprise to anyone that Evil is conquered by Good in a Lackey novel--the author's artistry is in the drawing of identifiable characters in very realistic settings. Historical details provide such down-to-earth context for the appearance of undines, sylphs, fauns and the like that the whole story becomes believable.

One of Lackey's best--an absorbing read.

I have read many of Mercedes Lackey's books, and all of the previous fairy tale rewrites that she has done. This is not a very good book, compared to her others. There is an obligatory romance at the end, but it is forced, it FEELS obligatory, all developed within a few pages. The villains are badly written, in the ideas behind their crimes and even, a bit, in their own personalities. The heroine described in the early part of the book (age, upbringing, etc.) does not fit at all with the facets of the personality of that character as actually described in the writing, growing more and more so as the book goes on. Moreover, almost all of the characters are superficial in this way, or not developed at all. Things like the reason why a specific character does something or something happens do not satisfy the logic of anyone beyond an eight-year-old.
Some of the things in this book are good, I will give you that. The setting is well researched, to my mind. The story does hang together, if somewhat loosely, it is only if you start to question the story or think about it a bit that it falls apart. If you're looking for a quick read for the plane, this book is fine, although you could definitely make better choices. All in all, if you feel that you want to read this book, I would suggest that you get it from a library, because it doesn't really have that much to offer that you would want to own and re-read it.

I liked the character of Marina, and her "aunts and uncles." I liked the historical backdrop. I liked the basic plot. Here's what I didn't like.

-Arachne and Reggie were 2-D, laughable, silly villains.

-There are some inconsistancies with the previous two books set in this "universe." For example, the issue of "Cold Iron," and why the Elementals wouldn't go to a place with Cold Iron present. Think back to The Fire Rose (by far the best book of the series). In TFR, there are IRON ELEMENTALS, practically!

-Still too much Suffragette soapboxing. I mean, sheesh, Misty, we women are liberated, now, thank you very much, get back to the plot.

-Too much backstory. Too much time is spent watching Marina prance about the countryside. I know that many people don't agree with me, but TFR again had it just right: no more than three or four chapters of backstory, interspersed into the novel, rather than taking up half the book describing the main character's bedroom, her dresses, her horse, her furniture...

All in all, it was an enjoyable read, but the errors and plot holes grated at my nerves too much for me to go back and reread it.

If you like "Fire Rose" or "The Serpents's Shadow", you'll probably like this book as it was set in the same universe as those books. In fact, there is the tiniest overlap between "Gates of Sleep" and "The Serpent's Shadow" - primarily in that some characters from "The Serpent's Shadow" are mentioned in this book.

Overall, I found this book to be an interesting twist on the Sleeping Beauty theme, but a trifle too similar to "Serpent's Shadow" plotwise, especially towards the end. (and with the repetition of the Evil Aunt theme) Also, like "Serpent's Shadow", the romance aspect seemed a bit forced. In this book, Marina barely knows the hero, yet still manages to fall in love with him.

As with some of her recent works, I found the historical information interspersed in the book made for a more solid backdrop, even if the research behind it wasn't perfect.
Also, like some of her recent work I found the characters a bit too one dimensional - the good guys are too perfect and the bad guys aren't very interesting. Plus the actions of some of the characters don't make much sense. When Marina is taken from her guardians by her aunt's lawyers - her guardians don't try to stop it or even warn her about her aunt, which they could easily have done. (and probably should have done much earlier)

Finally, like most of her work, I found the book a bit too preachy about her usual topics and lacking in decent male characters. For once it might be nice if she included a major, interesting and non emasculated male character. (who wasn't the villian)

I read this book in one sitting, so obviously I enjoyed it, bur it was very weak in comparison with Lackey's previous Elemental Mage book (Serpent's Shadow), as well as with her previous fairy tale books(Firebird, The Black Swan). Since it was an update on a classic tale, I needed more innoation to satisfy me. The characters weren't as developed as I like, and the ending was very disappointing. I think Lackey is falling into a time bind lately. Her endings have been feeling rushed and contrived for the last several books. Still, it was a fun book, had some good magic in it. It just didn't nearly live up to what Lackey is capable of.

I love Mercedes Lackey and can't wait to read everything she writes, but this story lacked substance. I thought the characters were well developed, but the whole premise of the story never added up to me. I felt there were many issues never resolved in the book: why Arachnia was banished from her family - marrying someone they didn't like never made sense and the reason they despised him was never revealed; why her son Reggie put up with her, his role was marginal at best; why she didn't just kill Marina instead of putting her under a spell; why Marina tunred into a materialist after being raised by artists was kind of odd and why, after only a brief relationship did she realize she was in love with the doctor. And it really bothered me that they didn't follow up and destroy the satanic room beneath the pottery. There were too many loose ends to make this book fulfilling for me.