Spirit Gate
Spirit Gate book cover

Spirit Gate

Paperback – October 1, 2007

by
Price
$29.99
Format
Paperback
Pages
738
Publisher
St. Martins Press-3PL
Publication Date
ISBN-13
978-0765392381
Dimensions
5 x 1.62 x 8 inches
Weight
1.74 pounds

Description

This promises to be a truly epic fantasy. "Publishers Weekly on Spirit Gate" A treasure for readers who enjoy the journey as much as, or more than, the destination. "Sci Fi Weekly on Spirit Gate" "Spirit Gate" makes an exciting start to a new series, rich in varied characters, intriguing cultures, and subtle conflicts. "bookloons.com" Every once in a while, you run across a book which is wonderful in every respect, and one you can't put down. "Jaran" has everything a reader could want: adventure, space travel, history, romance, and intrigue. "VOYA" Elliott's writing keeps getting better. She handles a cast roughly the size of "The Iliad"'s and still makes each personality distinct, and she excels at depicting quiet character moments. "Starlog on The Burning Stone" A broad, adventurous novel that draws successfully from historical fiction, SF, and even romance writing in creating its background and interpersonal tensions. "Science Fiction Chronicle on Sword of Heaven" A rich, enthralling adventure that left me wanting more. "Locus on Sword of Heaven" Just when you think you know where this epic is going, Ms. Elliott impressively pulls the carpet right out from under your feet and opens up dazzling new vistas for your imagination to savor. "Rave Reviews on Law of Becoming" This engrossing saga should appeal to fantasy lovers and fans of historical epics alike. "Library Journal on Prince of Dogs"""This promises to be a truly epic fantasy." --"Publishers Weekly" on "Spirit Gate""" "A treasure for readers who enjoy the journey as much as, or more than, the destination." --"Sci Fi Weekly" on "Spirit Gate" ""Spirit Gate" makes an exciting start to a new series, rich in varied characters, intriguing cultures, and subtle conflicts." --bookloons.com "Every once in a while, you run across a book which is wonderful in every respect, and one you can't put down. "Jaran" has everything a reader could want: adventure, space travel, history, romance, and intrigue." --"VOYA" "Elliott's writing keeps getting better. She handles a cast roughly the size of "The Iliad"'s and still makes each personality distinct, and she excels at depicting quiet character moments." --"Starlog "on" The Burning Stone" "A broad, adventurous novel that draws successfully from historical fiction, SF, and even romance writing in creating its background and interpersonal tensions." --"Science Fiction Chronicle" on "Sword of Heaven" "A rich, enthralling adventure that left me wanting more." --"Locus" on "Sword of Heaven" "Just when you think you know where this epic is going, Ms. Elliott impressively pulls the carpet right out from under your feet and opens up dazzling new vistas for your imagination to savor." --"Rave Reviews "on "Law of Becoming" "This engrossing saga should appeal to fantasy lovers and fans of historical epics alike." --"Library Journal "on "Prince of Dogs"" This promises to be a truly epic fantasy." --"Publishers Weekly" on "Spirit Gate""" "A treasure for readers who enjoy the journey as much as, or more than, the destination." --"Sci Fi Weekly" on "Spirit Gate" " "Spirit Gate" makes an exciting start to a new series, rich in varied characters, intriguing cultures, and subtle conflicts." --bookloons.com "Every once in a while, you run across a book which is wonderful in every respect, and one you can't put down. "Jaran" has everything a reader could want: adventure, space travel, history, romance, and intrigue." --"VOYA" " Elliott' s writing keeps getting better. She handles a cast roughly the size of "The Iliad"' s and still makes each personality distinct, and she excels at depicting quiet character moments." --"Starlog "on" The Burning Stone" "A broad, adventurous novel that draws successfully from historical fiction, SF, and even romance writing in creating its background and interpersonal tensions." --"Science Fiction Chronicle" on "Sword of Heaven" "A rich, enthralling adventure that left me wanting more." --"Locus" on "Sword of Heaven" "Just when you think you know where this epic is going, Ms. Elliott impressively pulls the carpet right out from under your feet and opens up dazzling new vistas for your imagination to savor." --"Rave Reviews "on "Law of Becoming" "This engrossing saga should appeal to fantasy lovers and fans of historical epics alike." --"Library Journal "on "Prince of Dogs" Kate Elliott is the author of more than a dozen novels, including the Novels of the Jaran and the Crown of Stars fantasy series. "King's Dragon," the first novel in that series, was a Nebula Award finalist; "The Golden Key" (with Melanie Rawn and Jennifer Roberson) was a World Fantasy Award finalist. Born in Oregon, she lives in Hawaii.

Features & Highlights

  • World Fantasy and Nebula Award finalist Kate Elliott breaks new ground in a brilliantly original new fantasy set in a unique world of fabled cities, mysterious gods, and terrible dangers. From the first page readers will be swept up in the story of Mai and Captain Anji, as they become unwitting players in a conflict that began many years earlier, and which will shake the foundations of their land.
  • For hundreds of years the Guardians have ruled the world of the Hundred, but these powerful gods no longer exert their will on the world. Only the reeves, who patrol on enormous eagles, still represent the Guardians' power. And the reeves are losing their authority; for there is a dark shadow across the land that not even the reeves can stop.
  • A group of fanatics has risen to devour villages, towns, and cities in their drive to annihilate all who oppose them. No one knows who leads them; they seem inhumanly cruel and powerful. Mai and Anji, riding with a company of dedicated warriors and a single reeve who may hold a key to stopping the deadly advance of the devouring horde, must try, or the world will be lost to the carnage. But a young woman sworn to the Goddess may prove more important than them all . . . if they are not too late.
  • A haunting tale of people swept up by the chaos of war, this is superlative fantasy adventure, rich in texture, filled with color and excitement, masterfully crafted by a brilliantly gifted storyteller.

Customer Reviews

Rating Breakdown

★★★★★
30%
(66)
★★★★
25%
(55)
★★★
15%
(33)
★★
7%
(15)
★
23%
(50)

Most Helpful Reviews

✓ Verified Purchase

Great writing, terrible editing-- needs to be an anthology

KE's character development is fantastic, and shines best in short spurts. Unfortunately, the book suffers from too many characters introduced too often, and far too late into the story. This feature, combined with indulgent descriptions, takes a strong core cast and story-- and then castrates the narrative with exasperating meanders.

I will definitely be reading more from KE, but will stick to her shorter stories.
✓ Verified Purchase

An Aggravating and Amateurish Epic

I didn't find the premise interesting until the second paragraph. So, I figured that was good enough for me. I became glad that I didn't raise my expectations soon after reading.

At first, that was due to Marit. I wasn't convinced I should rooting for her when she hit Joss for being skeptical about the Guardians. Never mind that they haven't been seen in a long time, so for all he knew, nothing bad would happen. (It didn't help that she didn't apologize. Then again, that might be asking for too much.) Speaking of Joss, I was torn being liking him and not at first. As much as I appreciated him for trying his best to be a good reeve, I found it annoying how much disrespect he got. I started wondering ,"Is the author trying to show how reeves fell out of favor or is she trying too hard to make me feel sorry for him?" (Please keep in mind that I can feel bad for characters that I don't like.)

In addition, I found most of the characters (and their customs and beliefs) exasperating. To make matters worse, I wanted to like a couple of characters, which were Mai and Captain Anji. On that note, I wanted to like Mai because, she seemed nice at first. That and it's hard to not to feel bad for her once you learn about how her family treated her. (Still, she toughened up over the course of the novel.) And I wanted to like Captain Anji because, he knew when to be nice and when to be tough.

Speaking of them, I found their attempts to sound 'wise' irritating albeit they had a point a few times. The worst incident was when a holy man told Keshad that he behaved a certain way just because, he was Air-touched and born during the year of the Goat. It didn't help that he considered thinking too much a problem. (I can't say that I'm surprised due to personal experience, though.) Of course, it'd be unfair to overlook how Mai and Bai also did that.

On another note, I thought the writing style was amateurish due to there being a good amount of redundancies. Also, there was a lot of swearing, which made some parts sound untillgent. (Again, please keep in mind that I'm not too much of a prude on this subject; I'm just not always fond of it. That and I'm aware why people tend to think that.) Also, as much as I thought silly vocabulary words were used, I almost praised the author for at least using them right. That was until I saw the word chuffed because, that doesn't refer to laughter at all. One more thing: this got repetition at the points I mentioned and when Joss was dreaming.

Furthermore, I questioned this a few times. What woman wants her breasts touched without giving permission? Why would a heart wound not hurt that much and on top of that, not bleed that much? (Also, I watched an episode of a tv series where a lady suffered one. And oh my, were both things not the case!) Why would the Earth Mother be rigid when the earth itself is always moving, even when we can't feel it? Has the author never heard about poltergeists? (The last time I checked, those things are violent, whether or not you 'give power to them'.) Did they also imply that wolves were generous to their loved ones? (Keep in mind that they have no qualms about letting their pups starving during famine.)

On the plus side, there was a minor thing that I liked. It was how the ginny lizards were written like actual animals, and not people in fur suits. However, I felt the same about the eagles until it was revealed that magic were bred into them to make them tolerant of more situations. That said, I found it worth paying attention when someone said that they can't be corrupted. That one sentence turned out to play an imperative role in someone else's fate.

On last thing: There's a brief sneak peek at the end. I ignored it, though for obvious reasons.

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