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Loading... The Lost Gateby Orson Scott Card
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Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book. No current Talk conversations about this book. Really enjoyed this one. Off to book #2 ( ) I really liked this one! It's really OSC, particularly the way the main character, Danny, investigates the limits of his magic. The magic itself is really intriguing, with a good underlying concept. Danny is a gate mage and all the different things that can be done with a gate are surprising. I liked that his book is partly urban, taking place in our world, and partly has a more epic feel on a medieval-like world. Danny himself is a nice boy, but unfortunately a bit immature at times. It totally fits with the story, but it still annoyed me a bit at times. I liked that his personality is partly determined by his nature (being a gate mage). On the other hand, this makes him a trickster and combined with his immaturity, the level of smart-assiness was a bit too much for me. Not enough to put me off the story at all though, because it is a good story, and I'm really looking forward to the next book. This review was written for LibraryThing Early Reviewers. I have never been so excited to have a book show up on my doorstep as I was with this book. I opened the package, read the first few words, and was so hooked that it was next to impossible to put it down. I had to absolutely force myself to not read it in a single night, to make it last, because I knew I wasn't going to get another book like this for a very, very long time.Leading the book is a benevolent trickster, one who grew up as a misfit with no power, and finds out accidently that he is actually one of the most powerful (and most feared) kinds of mages - a gatemage. When he was almost discovered, he ran away from home with absolutely no idea of how the world actually works, and somehow, one way or another, ends up alright, despite having to worry about the threat of the Gate Thief. Card gently and skillfully explores the pain and uncertainty of adolescence, and that of being rejected by those you love, and forming your own way out of the ashes out of that rejection. He spends some time on the need for inclusion, to fit in, and it's a big part of the lead character's psyche to really find out how other people live, despite being raised to disdain regular peoples' lives. I think Card's understanding of the psychology of his characters really made the book more real to me. Even as the The Lost Gate left me with unanswered questions and curiosity about the future, it did it gently. I'm not going to be ravenous for the next book like I am for the next book in GRRM's series, but quite content to wait -- and if there isn't one, I'll live. I think that's actually a marker of Card's strength as a writer -- he could have left the book on some absolutely painful cliffhangers quite easily. Reading this book absolutely reminded me of reading Anansi Boys, by Neil Gaiman, and this book is absolutely one of Card's best. Very much worth a read, and thank you for the opportunity to read it early. no reviews | add a review
Awards
Fantasy.
Fiction.
Science Fiction.
HTML: Danny North knew from early childhood that his family was differentâ??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 Englishâ??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 No library descriptions found.
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LibraryThing Early Reviewers AlumOrson Scott Card's book The Lost Gate was available from LibraryThing Early Reviewers. Current DiscussionsNonePopular covers
Google Books — Loading... GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)813.54Literature English (North America) American fiction 20th Century 1945-1999LC ClassificationRatingAverage:
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