Customer Reviews

The Sex Gates

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

If you could go through a gate to cure a sickness or to restore your youth, would you? What if, along with the remedy, you came out the other end as the opposite sex?

"The Sex Gates" follow the life of four college students who learn to cope with the changes after one of their own, Don, innocently walks through one of the first gates that appeared on earth. He came out the other side as Donna. They strive to understand the gates while making political statements about religion and politics among themselves and having sex orgies on a regular basis. It seems the gates opened up even more of a fascination with sex and what it would be like to have sex as the opposite sex.

People all over the planet started going through the gates, hoping for a better life on the other end. The gates brought protests and religious opposition, chaos and war.

The story takes place in the future, but humanity is ever the same. Whenever something life-changing happens, there are those who oppose it, those who embrace it, those who take advantage of the chaos, and those who stand on the sidelines and watch.

A stirring read that makes you think long after you've read the last page.

Sometime in the future, the Sex Gates appear out of nowhere. Don falls through it accidentally, and comes out the other side as Donna. He (er, she) and his friends, and the world, try to come to terms with the repercussions of the sex gates.

A book about gender swapping. Nothing new in science fiction, but this one is done rather well. The biggest surprise for me was how the future was handled. Much science fiction (especially media based sf) has only a handful of advancements. In this near future world everything is advanced. Internet and TV have combined, people carry personal computers (some of which can be implanted), medicine and minor surgery can be accomplished at home with special kits...there's even beard cloths. Wipe face with it and your beard is gone (God, I wish I had one of those). It's nice to see a future world thought out to such detail, instead of just having faster cars.

They managed to cover a lot in terms of switching genders. After Don falls through the gate, they are back at their home drinking. Don almost drops the bottle of booze because it got heavier. Everything seems bigger when he holds them in his hand. He has trouble walking because his hips are so different (he feels like their unhinged). And he is upset because he needs to go to the bathroom but he doesn't know how.

As the title suggests, there is a LOT of sex in this book, almost to the point of being gratuitous. Given the nature of the book, though, it's understandable.

My only real complaint is that the writing is not very crisp. It's slow and plodding in places. It's obvious that this was the authors' first attempt at writing. Once you get past that, though, it turns into a pretty good study on how society might react to being able to switch genders (can only do it once though...well, for the most part anyway). It ends with a lot of questions unanswered, many of which are supposed to be covered by the other books in the series. IMHO, this is worth checking out.

There is a very good reason that The Sex Gates won Knowbetter Fiction's Best Science Fiction Award, and that it is one of the bestselling ebooks ever. The reason is: It deserves it. Darrel Bain and Jeanine Berry have brought something new to the genre here. The mysterious and instanteous appearance of strange, glowing green gates all across the planet changes the lives of four college friends and all the social, political, economic, scientific and religious paradigms of the world. People going through the gates find that they are made healthy and young, they are also instantly changed ino the opposite gender. Some people who go through just disappear, as do most who attempt a second trip. Where do the gates come from? The world undergoes massive upheavals as a result of the "sex gates", as do our heros/heroines. This wonderfully layered, insightful book explores issues of gender and society on a grand scale, really gets you thinking, and tells a great story in the process. This is a brilliant, important and fun book. The Sex Gates is a new Science Fiction classic.

I have read many e-books lately, or at least e-books printed into actual books. Loose ID has been one of my favorite publishers, and so I'm sorry I strayed and read this story. The thing about most e-books is that they are written in the plainest language with a lot of sexual interaction that could not be passed off in regular books, at least not before this, it is becoming more and more likely now. What made other e-books worthy of 4 stars and this one only worthy of 1 is plain and simple... the writing was awful. Written in the same verse as, say, a child's story, it does not excel in anything further than the adult themes. I don't mind the sudden 'dumbing down' of books, but I resent that they feel that we can not hope for something a little more intellectual in our science fiction, erotic or not. These authors had a great idea, it was just too bad that writing it was done overnight as quickly as possible (or so it seems).

Oh, and the amount of errors are redundant and trippable, hard to get into a story where you are wondering where the spell checker was.

This book and its sequel "Masters of the Sex Gates" are the first books I've ever felt strongly enough about to review on-line, and I read a lot of books, so that should tell you something. These books gave me a whole new perspective on the world. How different the world would be if we could literally walk in someone else's footsteps. It's not just what it would be like to be a member of the opposite sex, but what would we be like as a member of the opposite sex? It's still you, with all of your beliefs, upbringing, etc., but with the hormones, desires, and feelings of the opposite sex. It gives a very interesting perspective on the nature vs. nurture debate. How much of what makes us male or female is inborn, and how much is taught?

The first chapter hooked me. I had to see what happened next and quickly bought the book on amazon.com but also bought the etext version (I had to have both, it's that good!) A long time fan of transformation stories from such authors as Jack L. Chalker and others, I read this book thinking I could predict where it was going to lead. I was so wrong. Twists and turns at every corner kept me turning the pages, trying to find out what was going to happen next. If you think it's just a book about sex changes, you're only partly right. This one offers enough sci-fi mystery, action and intrigue to keep you up all night reading it like it did for me. An excellent book. I can hardly wait for the sequel to find out what happens next!

The premise behind this book was great. There are so many things the author could have done with a gate that "changes" people when they go through. Instead we got a book that was obviously the authors attempt to "legitimize" a cheesy sex novel. Don't waste your money

The authors picked an unusual premise and did an excellent job of giving the male and female viewpoints. I really enjoyed the book. The frank treatment of sex was unusual for SF but enhanced the book's story. The book tells of a young man that sees his friends sex change and then he is changed and changed back. It is told from his viewpoint. It would have been interesting to have the same story from the young female in the story. I hope they publish a sequel.

Besides the mystery of the Gates, this book has interesting character development and is set in the U.S. future. The reader learns a lot about this world of the future and the authors have packed some comedy and irony into this landscape. We learn to like the characters and there are enough twists and turns that we can't guess what's coming next. It kept me interested right to the end and I can't wait for the sequel.

SEX GATES
©Brutal Dreamer, Reviewer

I have heard of an old European myth that many believed and lived by, this legend was accepted as factual. If you were a man and walked under the arch of the rainbow you would be turned into a woman, and if you were a woman that entered beneath the rainbow and stepped to the other side; you would be turned into a man. I guess this could be true according to Darrell Bain author of Sex Gates co-written with Jeanine Berry.

In this story, that is basically that is what happens. There are gates that appear throughout our planet where ones enter though and vanish and come out the other side the opposite sex. These gates are also used for other means as well. But at what cost? Can the changes be reversed?

What a beautiful concept. I must hand it to these talented authors of such a unique scientific out of this world concept. As extraordinary events unfold, you are left wondering how such a life altering change affects the rest of your life. What happens when you try to reenter the gates? In this clever story the dilemma is answered. For a life changing experience; read Sex Gates and enjoy the incredible life transforming occurrence.

~Brutal Dreamer