Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A fine continuation of the saga, May 26, 2002
Anyone who has read the first three books doesn't need a review to tell them to continue. Almost as good as Fires of Azeroth, Exile's Gate does not disappoint, as Wells (book #2) did. The attention is on the relationship of Morgaine and Vanye. Cherryh deserves a lot of credit for moving the relationship along, as, after all, two people who have fought their way through worlds and centuries, must inevitably become more than master and servant. The progress is, however, utterly believable and gentle -- not melodramatic nor rushed. While the prose admits some of the repetitiveness that sometimes haunts Cherryh's writing (and which was gloriously missing from Azeroth) -- as if she is repeating obvious things about the characters to "warm up" as she writes [as I do when I teach]-- the fantasy here is very imaginative, with a number of compelling characters, interesting scenery, and a heavy-duty endgame (unlike the previous installments, where the travelling WAS the adventure). It's been a couple of weeks since I finished it, and I'm still quite intensely heartbroken (I'm even rather embarrassed about it) there are no more to read. Cherryh has demonstrated that she can develop their relationship with just the right pacing -- I wish she would continue.
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13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Good, but doesn't add much to the series, September 18, 2001
The Morgaine Trilogy (tetralogy now, I suppose), was one of the most innovative, refreshing and immersive works when first published. Aside from the universe itself, with its mysterious (even mythic) Qual, Gates, and isolated worlds, the development of the relationship between Vanye and Morgaine kept me reading each new book in the series.
However, just as some movies or books released with a "director's cut" or "original, unedited" text are actually worse than the edited original published version, so "Exile's Gate" is more of the same, but without significantly new material to make it stand out on its own.
As a longtime fan (since 1979, "Hestia") of Cherry, I tend to buy many of her books just because her name is on the cover, but I must admit I feel that there is one fundamental flaw to her writing, in that she seems to find it difficult to portray strong male characters. Her female leads are all one could hope for, and more (Morgaine, Chanur) I would argue that it is common for writers to portray characters of their own gender better than those of the other sex, but I must say that as a multiple Hugo winner, I expect her to do better at this.
I felt that in Exile's Gate, Cherry develops the relationship between Morgaine and Vanye, and strengthens Vanye's character, at the cost of weakening the character of Morgaine. I believe one reason why so many readers are attracted to her character is that she's a Maid of Steel, who realizes that no matter how great the price she and others must pay, the Gates must be closed, and therefore lets nothing stand in her way of that objective; she's the strong female lead that seems all but absent from so many books written by men. It therefore is disappointing that Morgaine should start to display the weakness that would prevent her from pursuing her mission at all costs--unless she expects Vanye to take over from her (though, I thought that would only occur if she were to die prematurely, not because she surrendered in the face of a never-ending ride). I'm sorry, but the Morgaine _I_ know would fight to the end, no matter the length of the journey. Perhaps this is unrealistic, but I don't believe so--and I don't think it says much for Vanye's character, if he can only increase his character at the cost of the stature of his partner.In conclusion, I very much enjoy the series, and enjoyed this book as well (being more of the same is not necessarily a bad thing), but I hope Cherry does more to make her characters not only flesh and blood (she certainly has that down pat) but strong in their own way--both women AND men.
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12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A painful quest, with tough choices and tough characters, October 14, 1997
I've read and re-read the four-book Morgaine series because I'm so fascinated by--and admiring of--Morgaine and Vanye. Morgaine, her very name a curse on worlds she has yet to visit, must close the gates between the worlds by riding through them. She will sacrifice anything, commit any cruelty, kill any number of people if she must, to accomplish this aim. The goal is so compelling that no other consideration, even the welfare of peoples and worlds, let alone her life or that of her liegeman Vanye, counts. Vanye, a lost and disreputable servant in the first book, refuses to give up his "servitude" to Morgaine and her quest, even knowing that he can be sacrificed at any time Morgaine feels the need. He is Kurshin and as such has a stubborn code of honor that requires that he stay by Morgaine's side no matter how her actions may appall him. Morgaine and Vanye together serve a quest too horrible to contemplate: They must close the gates that permit much evil to pass from world to world. Even as their obvious regard for one another grows in this book, to something resembling desperate need, if not love, they stumble on through obstacles and obstinate peoples. Worse, they never know when they will pass through the final gate--and the final gate has no other side, only endless and soulless oblivion. And at the end of this book, after Morgaine has met her greatest challenge yet and revealed how truly murderous she can be at need, we readers are left wondering: have Morgaine and Vanye completed the quest and vanished into eternal tormented oblivion? Or will they ride out of another gate, on a distant planet, in Cherryh's next book? Only C.J. Cherryh knows for sure.
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