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23 of 24 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Unusual Urban Fantasy, complete with Bag Lady, October 17, 2000
Some of Tanya Huff's stock characters inhabit "Gate of Darkness Circle of Light": the crabby, driven heroine; the manly-yet-innocent hunk (in this case, an Angel); a surly cat that deals very efficiently with the Dark (much more so than the humans or the Angel); and a musician who struggles with his sexual identity through most of the book.That said, there are also some very unique characters in this urban fantasy about a band of intrepid heroines and heroes who attempt to save Toronto (and the rest of the world) from the forces of Darkness on Midsummer's Eve. One of them is a Bag Lady who is genuinely smelly and not at all cute. Another is a brain-damaged muffin maker. The musician is singled out by Huff to endure a particularly gristly coming-of-age journey. He is captured by ogres, and when he manages to escape from them, he has to run a gauntlet of ever more hideous fairy-tale creatures before he makes it back to Toronto to help save the Earth. "Get of Darkness Circle of Light" is a pleasure to read, well-plotted, with an interesting twist at the end. The most unlikely people band together in an attempt to defeat Evil, and Huff brings them all together in a way that satisfies and makes sense.
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14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Forestalling Armageddon, May 29, 2004
Gate of Darkness Circle of Light is a singleton urban fantasy novel. The focus of this novel is Rebecca, a brain damaged woman with the mental ability of a child, but with the Second Sight. At the age of twelve, she was the only survivor of an automobile accident, suffering a depressed skull fracture which effectively stopped her intellectual development. However, she continued to develop sexually and thus was a desirable target for sexual predators. She has been a ward of the Toronto Metro Social Services since the accident.In this novel, on a Saturday night, Rebecca discovers the barely alive body of the little man that lives in the tree in front of her apartment house. He has been stabbed with a small dagger. She takes him inside to her bed, but doesn't know what else to do. She leaves Tom, a local cat, to guard the little man and runs to fetch Roland Chapman, a street musician and bard trainee. When they return, the apartment has been disarrayed during a bloody battle between Tom and unknown assailants. The little man finally gives her his name just before he dies. His body vanishes and leaves behind a lot of blood and the dagger. Rebecca leaves a phone message for Daru Sastri, her caseworker, and then they take the dagger to Mrs. Ruth, a bag lady. She tells them that the dagger is the knife of a Black Adept. Apparently the Darkness is making its move on the world of mankind and they need to enlist the aid of an Adept of the Light to even the odds, Rebecca and Roland convince Ivan, a local ghost, to pass on the request and later the White Adept appears at Rebecca's apartment. Evantarin looks like an adolescent heavy metal rocker, dressed in black and white, and of course is beautiful in a masculine way. As Rebecca, Roland and Evan are discussing the situation, Daru arrives hastily from a family party and is brought up to date. They determine that the Black Adept has come to open a portal into the realm of Darkness on Midsummer Night; meanwhile, he is killing off the creatures of light and gray as well as indulging himself in sex and blood. Hopefully, they will be able to prevent him from opening the gate and thus forestall the devastation of the Earth in total combat between Darkness and Light. Police Constable Patton and her partner, PC Brooks, become aware that something out of the ordinary is happening when their car hits a unicorn. Thereafter, they are involved in several mysterious deaths and keep running into Roland and Evan during their investigations. However, both are vulnerable to the manipulations of the Dark Adept and are continually diverted from the real action. This story is reminiscent of the Bedlam's Bard series by Lackey et al, although preceding that series. In fact, two of Lackey's songs are used herein. However, it based more on the Zoroastrian mythos, in which a balance between good and evil is the desired state, allowing free will for humanity. The exact nature of both good and evil is not specified, but left as a mystery. The story is apparently the author's third fantasy novel. It has a very unpredictable plotline and an unusual set of well defined characters, although the Dark Adept is stereotypical (evil so lacks originality). The character of Rebecca is extraordinary and the persona of the White Adept Evan is believable without being stuffy. Tom is a male cat, period; he is a totally independent soul with the heart of a warrior. In case you didn't notice, I thoroughly enjoyed this novel. I have also enjoyed the author's Valor science fiction series. I have other novels by this author on my shelf which I should get to very soon. Highly recommended for Huff fans and for anyone else who enjoys tales of urban fantasy with a different twist. -Arthur W. Jordin
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10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Trouble in Toronto, May 15, 2001
Rebecca, who is mildly [handicapped], is on of the nicest young women you will ever meet. Despite her handicap, she has a rich life with a job and many friends. And, she can see the wee folk. So it is with great horror that she finds that the little man who lived in the tree next to her apartment has been killed with a ritual knife. Unsure of what to do, she goes to Roland, a street musician and bard-in-training for help. Together, they go to Mrs. Ruth, the bag lady, who understands these things. The little man, they discover, has been slain by an adept of Darkness, recently crossed over from the shadow world.Mrs. Ruth realizes that their only hope of defending this world from the adept is to send a message to the Light asking for help in restoring the balance. When Evantarin, Adept of the Light, arrives in tight jeans, earrings, tee shirt and a happy face button (yes, I said a happy face button), the adventure begins. There are more characters, such as Daru, Rebecca’s social worker and Tom, a very special cat. A ghost, the usual minions of evil, and two bewildered police officers. If the world cannot be brought into balance it will fall under the Dark, triggering the kind of battle between Light and Dark which leaves neither side very satisfied and our plane pretty much destroyed. “Gate of Darkness, Circle of Light,” written in 1989, is fairly early Tanya Huff. Not only is it very good in it’s own right, it also foreshadows much of her later work, especially the Summoner series. Huff takes a fairly common fantasy plot device and turns it into a novel and engaging tale. Rebecca and Roland are unlikely heroes, but soon our heart goes out to them as they team up with a very unusual crew to save the world. Huff’s characters keep up an ironic yet gentle banter that quickly wins the reader over. We are drawn in and can do little but go with the flow of the story, laughing with the characters, and sharing their pain as well. These are not perfect people, taken individually. But as a whole, they are a delightful metaphor for something very fine.
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