The Lost Gate (Mither Mages) [Hardcover]

Orson Scott Card (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 4, 2011 | Series: Mither Mages

Danny North knew from early childhood that his family was different, and that he was different from them.  While his cousins were learning how to create the things that commoners called fairies, ghosts, golems, trolls, werewolves, and other such miracles that were the heritage of the North family, Danny worried that he would never show a talent, never form an outself.

He grew up in the rambling old house, filled with dozens of cousins, and aunts and uncles, all ruled by his father.  Their home was isolated in the mountains of western Virginia, far from town, far from schools, far from other people.

There are many secrets in the House, and many rules that Danny must follow.   There is a secret library  with only a few dozen books, and none of them in English — but Danny and his cousins are expected to become fluent in the language of the books.  While Danny’s cousins are free to create magic whenever they like, they must never do it where outsiders might see.

Unfortunately, there are some secrets kept from Danny  as well.  And that will lead to disaster for the North family.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Card's newest series opener can't decide whether it's a thought experiment featuring a nifty magic system, a YA urban fantasy, or a series of fantasy interludes, so it settles for performing all three tasks satisfactorily, if not spectacularly. Danny North, descendant of exiled mages from another world, is taken aback when he comes into his true powers as a gatemage. He could reconnect his people with their long-lost home world, but gatemages are usually killed to maintain a fragile peace among the exiled clans. Fleeing his home, Danny finds refuge and slowly explores his potential, planning to open the first Great Gate in 14 centuries. Meanwhile, on the far-off world of Westil, a young gatemage named Wad finds love, conspiracies, and betrayal in a remote castle while struggling to recall his hazy past. Though occasionally uneven and meandering, this ambitious tale is well crafted, highly detailed, and pleasantly accessible. (Jan.)
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Review

“As always, everyone will be struck by the power of Card’s children, always more and less than human, perfect yet struggling, tragic yet hopeful, wondrous and strange.”--Publishers Weekly starred review on Ender's Shadow

“Threads from all the other books in the series flow through this narrative, which fills gaps, fleshes out familiar characterizations, and introduces well-limned new ones. Ender’s angst, combined with his handling of the intrigue swirling around him, ensures the depth for which the series is famous.”--Booklist on Ender in Exile

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 384 pages
• Publisher: Tor Books; First Edition edition (January 4, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0765326574
• ISBN-13: 978-0765326577
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.4 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (126 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #318,521 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Orson Scott Card is the bestselling author best known for the classic Ender's Game, Ender's Shadow and other novels in the Ender universe. Most recently, he was awarded the 2008 Margaret A. Edwards Award for lifetime achievement in Young Adult literature, from the American Library Association. Card has written sixty-one books, assorted plays, comics, and essays and newspaper columns. His work has won multiple awards, including back-to-back wins of the Hugo and the Nebula Awards-the only author to have done so in consecutive years. His titles have also landed on 'best of' lists and been adopted by cities, universities and libraries for reading programs. The Ender novels have inspired a Marvel Comics series, a forthcoming video game from Chair Entertainment, and pre-production on a film version. A highly anticipated The Authorized Ender Companion, written by Jake Black, is also forthcoming.Card offers writing workshops from time to time and occasionally teaches writing and literature at universities.Orson Scott Card currently lives with his family in Greensboro, NC.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

71 of 75 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Boy Comes Of Age And Of Power In This Tale Of Mysticism And Magic, December 10, 2010

By 

K. Harris "Film aficionado" (Albuquerque, NM) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Lost Gate (Mither Mages) (Hardcover)

(What's this?)

In truth, I am not an avid reader of fantasy material and my forays into sci-fi territory generally tend to run to the darker side, but I've been aware of Orson Scott Card's reputation in the genre for many years (I've ALMOST bought "Ender's Game" dozens of times). I do know that OSC has done quite a bit of work in the realm of mages and mysticism in recent years, so I eagerly jumped on "The Lost Gate" as it promised to be the first of an announced "Mithermages" series. With "The Lost Gate," OSC has created an enjoyable adventure and coming-of-age story appropriate to both the adult and the young adult marketplace. Filled with likable characters and mildly dangerous scenarios, "The Lost Gate" kept me fitfully entertained and pushing through the pages.

"The Lost Gate" really tells two stories set in alternate worlds. The bulk of the book is devoted to Danny North who hails from a once powerful clan of mages living on a rural compound in contemporary America. Thought useless by most of the family, Danny soon starts to understand that he does have a power--the power of gatemaking. This is an outlawed resource, however, as the power to make gates (which grant you the ability to move almost anywhere in the simplest terms) can be exploited in the wrong hands. "The Lost Gate" presents a complicated history in which forces have eradicated ALL gatemakers and closed all existing gates. Danny is soon on the run as his ability starts to become apparent which leads him to others who seek to alternately help and/or harm him. In the parellel plane of Westil, we meet another young man with gating ability. His mysterious past keeps him aloof--but as an underling in the realm's royal workforce, he soon becomes entrenched in court politics and intrigue.

The titular Lost Gate refers to the gate that used to exist between these two worlds. This gate allowed mages to subjugate humans and build their power bases. The mages on earth have been weakening without the mystical strengthening/healing power of this gate--so to create it again would redefine their former glory. As "The Lost Gate" propels forward, it seems apparent that all roads will lead to Danny attempting to once again link the worlds. But at what cost? The novel does end well positioned for the continuation of this saga and I enjoyed "The Lost Gate" enough to seek its sequel out when the time comes.

Sometimes, however, the prose does become weighed down in what I like to think of as "Gatespeak." While the physics of gatemaking is an interesting topic, some chapters explore the theory to the point of shutting down the narrative. Overall, OSC does a good job of incorporation this technical aspect into the action--but a few passages end up quite heavy. Also, there is a lot of implied danger in Danny's journey--but it is played more as an adventurous romp than as actual danger. The tone is much darker in Westil as the narrative has real suspense and bloodshed. So the two halves never quite gelled even as I enjoyed them individually. But the primary decision of whether or not to stick it out in "The Lost Gate" is Danny, and here OSC has created an extremely likable protagonist and one that I'd follow anywhere. A fitting introduction, let's see where we go next! KGHarris, 12/10.

28 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A great stand alone piece of science fiction fantasy, and likely the start of a promising new series for Orson Scott Card, December 22, 2010

By 

Jojoleb "jojoleb" (Pittsburgh, PA United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Lost Gate (Mither Mages) (Hardcover)

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Orson Scott Card is one of those rare authors who is not only prolific but continues to write incredibly creative and fascinating science fiction and fantasy. His latest book, The Lost Gate, continues in this tradition. Card has done it again: he has created a whole new world and populated it with incredibly interesting characters. When you combine this with the fact that Card is a masterful story teller, it is no surprise that this book is a real page turner. This is definitely a stand-alone book, but is clearly the beginning of another successful fantasy series for Card.

Card is at his best when he writes about children, and The Lost Gate is no exception. The Lost Gate is the story of a boy named Danny North. Danny grows up on a commune in rural Virginia where he and all of his family members are the descendants of Norse gods. But unlike his relatives, Danny doesn't seem to have any special, magical knack. In spite of being far more intelligent than his friends, Danny's ends up being the target of his peers derision and a disappointment to his parents. But just when you think that the book will turn into a sort of reverse Harry Potter, Card turns things around. Danny does have special powers--he is a gatemage, able to make tunnels across space and time. Because Danny has the potential to outstrip even the most powerful magicians in his community, Danny is now seen as a threat. Once Danny discovers that he is a gatemage,he is in a race against time; he must escape his community and learn how to use his powers to protect himself, before he is hunted down and killed by his own kind.

Card is an expert at building up suspense while moving the story forward at a rapid pace. The biggest danger in picking up this book in the first place is that you will not want to put it down. I started reading this at a time where I really didn't have much time to read and Card still got me hook, line, and sinker.

The premise of the book and the mechanics of The Lost Gate's universe remain unique. However, there are some staples of Card's writing that Card sometimes takes just a little too far. He has a tendency to make his child characters a little too prescient and even a little too vulgar, at times. Card also likes to have his characters engage in occasionally tedious conversations where they try to 'out clever' each other. Finally, Card often can't help being the puppet master, pulling his reader's strings a bit too deliberately.

But if I ever wanted to be led down the garden path, I'd choose this one. And if ever there was a competent guide, it would be Card. And when you reach the end, it is clear that there is so much more to tell. In The Lost Gate, Card has created the basis for a saga that will rival his Ender or Alvin Maker series. For those of us who crave cutting edge fantasy, this book is the real deal. Highly recommended.

23 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars I'm a Card fan, but this one just doesn't do it for me., March 14, 2011

By 

PubliusDB (Salt Lake City, UT) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Lost Gate (Mither Mages) (Hardcover)

Danny is an almost orphaned child raised in a family of magical adepts, while he himself lacks the skills and talents that set his family apart from humanity. Instead, he focuses on his academic studies, absorbing history, languages, and learning at a voracious rate. One day, almost by accident, that all changes when he realizes he unexpectedly inherits magical powers long thought to be lost from the world. This discovery is a death sentence in his family, and he does the only logical thing--he runs, narrowly escaping certain death.

On his journey, he explores his new and strange magical powers, as well as the non-magical world he has been hidden from his whole life. He is a mage, descendent of the gods and goddesses man worshiped in ancient times, but he travels among normal people, finding his way among the beggars and thieves in the underworld of Washington, D.C.

Even as he does, he is hiding from his family, the descendents of gods. You see, the ancient pantheons in the Greek, Nordic, Roman, or Hindu world are really visitors to Earth, mages whose powers were amplified by their journey through magical gates between their world and Earth. Those gates were lost many centuries ago, stranding them here and weakening their powers. Now, Danny is about to find himself at the center of an ancient struggle to get back to their world, renew their powers, and regain control of the Earth as gods and goddesses. His very existence will reignite a power struggle between the modern descendents of the pantheons for the control of the gates, and he will be at the center of it.

While not an entirely original story, it is clever and creative. A young boy finds out he is not actually as normal as he thought, but is really a being of unique magical powers (like Harry Potter), the son of gods (like Percy Jackson), and those powers make him among the most powerful people in the world. Orson Scott Card brings his own flavor to the story, but it is a story that has been done better before.

Even so, The Lost Gate is full of interesting ideas. Some of the best sections are during jumps from Danny's perspective on Earth to that of another mage on the gods own world. While most of Danny's story is focused on his learning about his magic, by interweaving the alternate perspective, we catch glimpses of the greater conflict, one that began thousands of years before Danny's birth. However, the story feels rushed, and in the rush, Card's best ideas falter. Rather than flesh out the characters and plot, the story leaps from point to point, never really building on the ideas.

In short, Card's newest novel is too many good ideas and not enough time. The result is an average story by an above average author. Card's intermingling of the two perspectives and their genre blending works well, setting the stage for a war between worlds. Even as the novel closes, we have only seen glimpses of the real fight, and we know that before the tale is through (this is only the first in the series), Danny will be at the center of that conflict.

Even with those glimpses, I often felt disappointed by the story-telling itself. The plot felt jumpy and lacked tension. Even on the run for his life, Danny feels more like he is meandering than fleeing. Card lets his character out of any kind of scrape that might actually threaten him, with little or no cost. At the end of the day, we all want the hero to win, but we want the win to feel like a victory, not a foregone conclusion.

Another concern I had with The Lost Gate was Card's heavy use of info dumps. With the creation of any system of magic, an author has to explain things and fill in the reader on how things work. But Card's info dumps were constant, going so far as to feel more like a Wikipedia entry than a piece of the story. Rather than supporting the story, the story sometimes seemed to play second fiddle to the info dumps or sudden character introductions. To be sure, the world and ideas are very interesting and very creative, but the alacrity with which Card makes stuff up to fit the situation, rather than providing all the rules upfront, makes the internal logic of the story feel contrived and inconsistent. As a result, the story hurts, even while the ideas flourish.

If that was my only complaint, the story might still have been an enjoyable experience. But problems arose when Card lets his characters talk to each other. I know, right? The audacity. But rather than move the story forward, though, the characters' dialogue seems to get in the way. They argue and complain, bicker and whine...constantly. In one "memorable" scene, the characters seem to flip-flop between decisions they had already agreed upon just so that the dialogue can continue (and by "continue" I mean "argue") for another page. It makes them look inconsistent and unlikeable, not to mention irritating, and it rarely does anything to affect what we can already see is going to happen next in the plot. As a result, I could not decide whether I thought a character was unlikable, or had just been poorly scripted. In the end, I rarely felt any connection with the characters, including the protagonist, Danny.

While The Lost Gate is full of ideas and potential, for me it fell flat. I found myself frustrated that I was too far into the book to put it down, but not far enough to be done.

Last comment: at the end of the novel, Card inserts an Afterword where he explains the roots of his inspiration for The Lost Gate. After thirty years, he figured out how to work the ideas together. My concern is that while it may have had its genesis 30 years ago, the book feels like it was rushed to be finished in the last month before it went to print. While Card is not G.R.R. Martin (and nobody wants to wait as long as we already do for Martin's sequels), I do wish he would take a page out of George's book. Slow down to redraft, rewrite, and edit. With great ideas, it's worth the time, and I think it would make all the difference.