Wednesday, December 8, 2010

The Lost Gate by Orson Scott Card

Danny North was thought to be a Drekka, a person who had no powers.  When he discovered the little tricks he could do actually meant he was making "gates", he was terrified.  People might shun the Drekka, but they killed Gatemages!

TOR sent me an ARC of this book for review (thank you).  The hardcover edition will be published in January.  Mr. Card has written dozens of books, but this is the first Mither Mages book in the trilogy he has planned.

This fantasy story has some interesting touches in it.  Instead of it being an all fantasy world, our present time and world is intertwined in it.  When Danny runs to save his life, the first place he "shoplifts" is Wal-Mart.  It seemed a bit incongruous at first, but it soon becomes common place and easily acceptable.

Danny meets a better thief than he is and gets taken under his wing.  But it isn't long until he finds another mage - luckily on his side.  The story follows Danny's development as a person as well as a gatemage, and his family is seeking him the whole time. 

After all, he's the first gatemage in thousand years and he can open the locks that keep the North clan away from the homeland of Westil...

And Danny is not the only power wandering the earth, even if he's not aware of it.

This story has a lot of detail outlining the story line for the future.  I'd suggest children 14 and up would enjoy the story and stick with it, younger children may bog down.

I liked this "taste" of Mr. Card's work and look forward to the other books in the series.  If you've enjoyed his other books, I'm sure this new series will please you.  If you are new to him, this is a good place to start.  Check with your local bookstore and see what they have available for you.  This one will be there in January.

Or you can leave a comment here on my blog and email at info @ bookfaerie.com (take the spaces out) and give me your name and address and tell me why you'd like to win.  I'll pick a winner in about a week.

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