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58 of 61 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Surprisingly Good., November 28, 2006
Sometimes, if you're willing to invest the time and money in an author, hoping for something good, you're eventually satisfied. This was my experience with Kate Elliott. I thought her Jaran books were pretty decent - nothing spectacular, but good enough to get me to purchase King's Dragon, the first book in her Crown of Stars series.
...And that's where I started to lose faith. That was a Jordan-esque behemoth of a series that would've worked ten times better as a trilogy or even just a duology.
I never would've bought Spirit Gate, after having suffered through book one and part of book two of Crown of Stars. So it is fortunate that it (Spirit Gate) was given to me as a gift, or I never could have gotten to enjoy it. Even though it promises to be the start of another 7-book series (oh my god, AGAIN??), this one is so much more entertaining. The setting is a nice blend of the familiar and the strange, without being so far-out just for the sake of being far-out. The characters are nicely done, just sympathetic enough to have me rooting for them (especially poor Joss), and at the same time they are not portrayed as super-men and -women. There is also much left unsaid about the main characters, enough to keep me in suspense, but not so much that I felt cheated when I finished this first book.
The Eagles are a very nice touch; it's been a while since I've seen the trope of fantastic-animals-as-steeds handled this well. Especially imaginative is the hang-glider-like rig used to 'steer' them. Cool visuals.
So... even though I have to invest yet more time, money, and energy into ANOTHER multi-part publishing/marketing frenzy, at least this time I can do it with a clearer conscience. And thank god, Elliott writes much faster than George Martin. :D
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13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
These Eagles Can't Quite Take Wing, October 29, 2008
This review is from: Spirit Gate (Crossroads, Book 1) (Hardcover)
Ms. Elliott has established a fair reputation with her Jaran series and the Crown of Stars set. This book looks like it might be the start of another incredibly long series. In and of itself, long stories are not a problem, as they allow the author to properly set the scene, build up all the little details of the world, and explore the characters in depth, and there's a lot of that set-up work done in this novel. Much of this is quite good, as she gives us a look at not one but multiple different societies, each with their own culture, habits, gods, and idiosyncrasies, along with a fairly nice reworking of the old trope of giant flying creatures capable of hauling people around with her eagles that are at least a little less unbelievable than the fire-breathing dragons that inhabit too many fantasies.
However, there becomes just too much of this background and scene setting. Every time someone walks down the street, every detail of that street needs to remarked upon, every peddler, beggar, fruit stand, scent, and building. The world mythology is detailed multiple times, frequently with the exact same words. After a while, this continuous descriptive work becomes overwhelming and smothers the story. In a planned series of books, I don't expect the first book to have a great amount of story/plot development, but here I found only enough to really occupy about a 200 hundred page book. As it actually runs to over 400 pages, that's a lot of filler.
Her character development is good, with enough depth given to several characters to make me care about what happens to them, and I found these people to be generally likable even with their obvious character flaws. The problems her characters face grow naturally from the environment and the starting premise of the book. Her world seems to somewhat standard for a fantasy novel, with no high-tech wonders and a generally feudal type structure, but she has added the province of the Hundred, which seems to be much closer to a people's democracy with guaranteed rights for individuals, aided by benevolent, and, at least the beginning of this work, respected judges. As such, it makes an interesting contrast to the rest of her world.
An interesting story line and world populated by real people, but in severe need of pruning some of the excess descriptive work.
---Reviewed by Patrick Shepherd (hyperpat)
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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Slow-paced but compelling, May 26, 2008
This review is from: Spirit Gate (Crossroads, Book 1) (Hardcover)
"Spirit Gate" is the beginning of a seven-volume fantasy starring circuit court judges called reeves, who fly from court house to court house aboard gigantic eagles. The setting is sort of Oriental-medieval and the action begins in a land called the Hundred, although it quickly moves to other countries and Empires. Nine super-human Guardians once protected the Hundred and dispensed justice, but they've disappeared and the reeves are on their own against some very poisonous enemies.
Then the reeves and their eagles start to disappear.
This fantasy novel is a multi-viewpoint affair, sometimes confusingly so. There are enough love stories to warrant reviews in the romance blogs as well as "Sci Fi Weekly" and "Publishers' Weekly." The life-styles of the reeves, merchant families, mercenary soldiers, priestesses, and bonded servants are minutely detailed. There is lots of sex and violence--enough to require parental guidance if "Spirit Gate" were a movie, but not enough lingering close-ups for an `X.'
Except for the monstrous eagles, there is very little magic in this first volume. The reader is treated to careful world-building, as multiple characters travel hither and yon, building relationships, and fighting shadow-armies. A once peaceful land is toppled from its golden age into war and chaos. The peasants are slaughtered like sheep. Farms and villages are set to the torch, almost with impunity, until the reeves and an outcast band of mercenary soldiers begin to organize and fight back.
I found "Spirit Gate" a little slow in places, especially when the viewpoint switched to yet another new character. I also would have preferred a few more touches of fantasy. But the eagles were magnificent, and most of the leading characters held their own against mischance and outright slaughter. I moved right into the second volume, "Shadow Gate" and read through until I ran out of pages. Hopefully, Kate Elliott is hard at work on volume III. It's usually a good sign when a fantasy series starts out in paperback and segues into hard-bound as this one did.
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