Book Review: The Lost Gate

The Lost Gate

By:  Orson Scott Card

Publisher:  Tor

Publish Date:  January 2011

Format:  ARC review copy

Genre:  YA Fantasy

Series:  1st book in Mithermage Series

Recommendation:  Yes, If you are looking for a Magical YA fantasy from a boy's view.  Wonderful Magic loss and growth story here.

Book Synopsis:
Dan North knows from early childhood that his family is different - and that the differences are secrets that can never be told.  This contemporary Urban Fantasy introduces the North family, a clan of mages in exile in our world, and their enemies who will do anything to keep them locked here.

First Sentence:
Danny North grew up surrounded by fairies, ghosts, talking animals, living stones, walking trees, and gods who called up wind and brought down rain, made fire from air and drew iron out of the depth of the earth as easily as ordinary people might draw up water from a well.

My Review and Summary:
Danny North is a young mage of 11 years of age, yet he is considered a drekka because he has shown no signs of using or having magic.  Danny is a mage in a commune of the North mage clan where all are related and have been imprisoned here on our Earth for the last thirteen and a half centuries as the gates to Westil where locked and closed by Loki.  And it's a given by all the warring families if any have a Gatemage they are to put them to death (with the thanks to Loki's trickster ways and closing the gates), yet secretly all the families hope for one to open the Great Gate back to their home land.  Danny, unknowingly for years has been creating gates, and gets found out by the Greek girl.  Danny is now on the run for his life, and needs to learn what he can from a world that knows nothing of making gates.

I fear this was one of those books where the hype raised my expectations a little to high.  As I enjoyed reading the book, it wasn't as out there as I had thought it would be.  Orson has created a society where the people are from another world and full of magic, yet the magic is failing them and they are not as strong as they where when they where considered gods years ago.  They are in need of the Great Gate to strengthen them once again, and to return to their home land.  Yet they are exiled here on Earth.

This book is the journey of Danny North to learning about drekka's, or normal people with no magic.  Yet, Danny finds his way to other orphans of magic and to a wonderful home of people who take care of him and teach him what they can.  What we have here is a young boy turning into a young man, learning what he can of what he can do magically, what are the good and bad things to do with his powers.

Then we have another character we follow through the story.  This character has lived within a tree for years, maybe centuries.  Finally he births from the tree as a young boy, with no true memories of the past.  He shows up in a town where he is taken in by a kitchen lead cook who realizes he has great powers.  This is the character I actually enjoyed following the most.  The mystery behind Wad, and the magical abilities he has, and the double life he lives in this wondrous home of the Kind and Queen.

I think I would like to read the next book in this series when it comes out as to the curiosity it left in me.  I'm curious as to why this families where exiled here in our world, what Wad will do now with what has happened to him, and what Danny will learn next and how to handle all the screaming inside him now.  Will the families come after Danny or will he be safe in the future?  I am curious.

This book is a Young Adult read, and I think young boys will enjoy this read.  I would say the book seems to be geared for young adults from about thirteen and older.


I read this book for review as I won the book.

This book qualifies for the YA Reading Challenge, and Speculative Fiction Challenge.