The Lost Gate
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The Lost Gate (Mither Mages, #1)
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3.72 of 5 stars

Danny North knew from early childhood that his family was different, and that he was different from them.  While his cousins were learning... read full description


reviews

Feb 08, 2011
Julia rated it: 5 of 5 stars
Review courtesy of All Things Urban Fantasy.

Ever since the first time I read ENDER’S GAME, Orson Scott Card had a way of grabbing my attention and pulling me out of my normal genre preferences. In recent years, while I would still pick up his titles as they caught my eye, nothing had been able to recapture that initial attraction. Reading THE LOST GATE was like rediscovering a high school crush and falling in love all over again. I laughed, I read quotes out loud, and stayed up to More...
5 comments like (11 people liked it)
Jun 17, 2011
Amanda rated it: 1 of 5 stars
Tedium, thy name is The Lost Gate.

This book promises a lot with its spectacular opening chapter (I even remember telling my mom after page 25 or so that "This is going to be a good one"; thanks to Orson Scott Card, I lied to my mother), but quickly fizzles like a cheap firework. The premise is one that's becoming hackneyed: the gods of the ancient world did and do exist. However, Card's novel provides a unique take: the gods of the ancients were actually beings from a More...
20 comments like (19 people liked it)
Jan 23, 2011
Katieb (MundieMoms) rated it: 2 of 5 stars
2.5 stars

The Lost Gate is the first book I've read by Orson Scott Card. I've heard phenomenal things about his story telling and now I can understand why. Orson kept me engaged with his story with his detailed mythology and world building. I felt like I was apart of the world while reading about Danny's journey. I'll admit, I didn't feel a connection to his main character through out the whole story and at times some scenes were not at all what I was expecting, and little graphic, ta More...
4 comments like (4 people liked it)
Dec 29, 2011
Martha rated it: 3 of 5 stars
I am of mixed minds about this book. It was a very fast and overall enjoyable read in the sci-fi/fantasy genre. I've read other Orson Scott Card books (loved Ender's Game and some of the sequels) and this had many of the same characteristics - precocious boy (perhaps too precocious) coming into his own to save the world with his unique skills. While the plots move along quickly (there are two alternating plots in different worlds that naturally collide at the end),the big climax feels rushed and More...
0 comments like (1 person liked it)
Dec 19, 2011
Virginia rated it: 4 of 5 stars
As always, what really sparkles in Card's books is his sarcastic and witty dialog. The rhythm of his words as his characters insult (with great affection) each other is always a highlight to me. That said, I enjoyed the book although I felt that a lot of it was a set-up for the later books. It's understandable since there is a lot of worldbuilding going on and a magic system that takes time to explain.

That's the other thing. I felt as if I could see the workings behind Card's thinki More...
6 comments like (2 people liked it)
Jan 03, 2011
April rated it: 4 of 5 stars
Wow, I just saw that I won this book yesterday, and it was on my door step this afternoon when I got home from work.. Now that is service! :)which is awesome, cause I am super excited for this one.. gonna start it right away! :)

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I have never read any of Orson Scott Card's stuff. when I found out I won this I did a little research, and have read good things about him as an Author.

I was no disappointe More...
2 comments like (2 people liked it)
Oct 09, 2011
Jon rated it: 2 of 5 stars
Interesting world, but I didn't find the story-telling to be very compelling. Card gets way too bogged down in explaining, over-explaining, and explaining yet again the details of how things work. Also, as in most of his latest fiction, all of his characters sound the same.

There's also a scene that was entirely uncalled for, involving a sex-crazed 20-something girl jumping the 12 year old protagonist. It seemed like one of those scenes Hollywood throws in to get more viewers--you More...
1 comment like (2 people liked it)
Feb 20, 2012
Sky rated it: 4 of 5 stars
Danny North grew up as a Drekka, the offspring of Beings with the elemental powers of the Gods of myth who had no powers or so he thought. He lived among the descendants of the Norse Gods who have hidden themselves inside a compound in the Virginia countryside. These 'Gods' are actually aliens from the Planet Westil who have been marooned on Earth due to the actions of one of their ancestors 'Loki' who was the last gate mage who closed the portal between Westil and Earth.

Going thru More...
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Feb 02, 2012
Betty rated it: 3 of 5 stars
Ok I picked this up because I finished my paperback for travel when I couldn’t have my nook and wanted something else and it looked good. It’s Orson Scott Card so not horrible author.

This is what Rick Riodan’s Percy Jackson and the Lighting Thief wanted to be when it grew up. Coming of age story for one of the current God’s of the Norse Pantheon. Instead of Percy Jackson’s I get to go to camp and find friends to help me Danny North gets thrown into the Real World ™ where he needs to le More...
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Jan 01, 2012
Shannon rated it: 3 of 5 stars
The Lost Gate is a fascinating concept that ended up in a book that could have used a bit more editing. If I were able to give stars based on the idea, I'd give this book 4 stars. But the writing itself? A mere 2 stars. So I settled on 3. I did enjoy this book. Here's why:

Danny North is a believable character, if not an inherently likable one. Perhaps inevitably, I compared him to another Orson Scott Card youngster - Ender Wiggins. Danny is from a family of gods who live in iso More...
0 comments like
Dec 24, 2011
Dmdutcher rated it: 3 of 5 stars
It's good because of its world. The ancient gods of this world were actually mages that crossed here from a gate linking another world, and over time they have interbred into squabbling families. Danny is a smarty, non-magical child from one of those families living in semi-squalor on a private compound. He soon discovers he is a powerful gate mage, someone who can link the two worlds, and he flees.

It's bad because of its plotting. Card in the afterword says he tried to work two stori More...
0 comments like (1 person liked it)
Dec 12, 2011
Brent rated it: 1 of 5 stars
I admit that I initially found the book entertaining and engrossing. But, unfortunately, Card has the tendency to push the sexual content envelope in some of his novels--and did so here when I was about halfway into the book. I have reached a point in my life where no matter how good of a read the book might be, it is not worth completing if it contains "crap". In this case, it was all the more ridiculous because the incident did not appear germane to the plot whatsoever.

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Nov 29, 2011
Julia rated it: 4 of 5 stars
I really enjoyed this book, but then again it is Orson Scott Card. I'd expect nothing less. Danny North's lack of a magical ability in his family made up almost entirely of mages creates problems for him. But when he learns that he's actually a gatemage, with the ability to create passages through spacetime, that's an even bigger problems. All the magical families around the world have agreed to kill all gatemages to make sure that no family gains too much power. Danny's gift is a death sen More...
0 comments like
Sep 15, 2011
M. rated it: 5 of 5 stars
Can't wait for the next book in this new series by Orson Scott Card. Probably a book for middle schoolers or older, but a 4th or 5th grader who likes fantasy may like this one. The premise--the old gods of Olympus, Valhalla, etc., lost their gateway into Westil, the magical source of their powers, some 1400 years ago. Since then, with greatly reduced abilities, they've lived in compounds on Earth. Each pantheon, or family group, squabbles with the others in endless macho displays of power.
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Jul 11, 2011
Denise rated it: 5 of 5 stars
Danny North is a young man, growing up as an outsider in a powerful and mysterious magical family. His family isolates themselves in the mountains of western Virginia, practicing magic and teaching it to their children, but Danny is scorned for his lack of magical talents. As he get older he becomes more aware of the secrets and tensions wrapped up in his birth and the old legends of Loki. Loki long ago closed all the gates between Earth and the gods, trapping Danny's family on Earth. Soon, Dann More...
0 comments like
Jul 09, 2011
Jocelyn rated it: 2 of 5 stars
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here
0 comments like
Jun 26, 2011
Jen rated it: 5 of 5 stars
Card brings his broad knowledge of archetypes and human behavior into this surprising coming of age story that takes a new look at the history of civilization. Set in modern times withing ancient families, boy on the edge of growing up discovers a surprising secret about who he is and what he could become. Somewhere between Percy Jackson and American Gods, Card explores some of the difficult issues that face teens today as they work to navigate a healthy path into adulthood.

This bo More...
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Jun 25, 2011
Splen rated it: 3 of 5 stars
This summary from the library is pretty worthless but here it is:
Danny grew up in a family compound in Virginia, believing that he alone of his family had no magical power. But he was wrong. Kidnapped from his high school by a rival family, he learns that he has the power to reopen the gates between Earth and the world of Westil.


I say that O.S.C. has successfully retold/re-explained the modern & ancient world,
packed with fascinating reinventions of mythological historic More...
0 comments like
May 31, 2011
Stephanie rated it: 5 of 5 stars
A great stand alone piece of science fiction fantasy, and likely the start of a promising new series. This novel should appeal to Card's legion of fans as well as anyone who enjoys speculative fiction with characters who rely on quick thinking rather than violence or tales of mind-bending time-travel conundrums. ( I have been a huge fan, ever since The Ender series, and have whole-heartedly loved his novel Enchantment. I still carry around a copy of this paperback. lol)
Orson Scott Card More...
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May 02, 2011
Liz rated it: 3 of 5 stars
I listened to this over the course of a month. Being fairly new to the world of audiobooks I found the process rather interesting, listening to rather than reading a book. As for the book itself, I enjoyed the story, the creation of a new worldview. The parallel story lines were a clever touch but the wrap-up, the "revelation" at the end seemed forced, contrived, too pat and quickly executed, as if the author was saying, "enough already, let's save something for the next book" More...
1 comment like (2 people liked it)
Apr 27, 2011
Jennie rated it: 5 of 5 stars
With The Lost Gate, the debut novel of The Mither Mages Series, Orson Scott Card (Ender’s Game) proves that he might be one of the most prolific and imaginative sci-fi/fantasy writers still publishing today. Combining a heady mix of vivid world-building, multicultural mythology, urban fantasy, and science fiction, Card starts out the wholly unique saga of Danny North—exiled heir to a family of once great “gods” cut off from their power source. Fans of Tolkien will appreciate the unique premise o More...
0 comments like
Apr 09, 2011
Tad rated it: 5 of 5 stars
I was first introduced to Orson Scott when Ender's Game was assigned reading in my English class freshman year of high school. All these years later, he remains my favorite writer and this book proves why and also provides proof that he is still at the peak of his abilities after almost 40 years of writing. While I found some of the magical elements a little hard to follow, what really got me into the story were the characters. Just like he did with Ender's Game, Card's main character is a craft More...
0 comments like
Mar 06, 2011
Valerie added it
Genre: Science Fiction

The Lost Gate follows the story of Danny, just one young boy in a family of exiled mages, forced to live in the real world where kids create stories of fairies, werewolves, and the type of stuff his family knows is real. Danny lives his life in a realm of secrets, some of which he can never share with others, but he’s beginning to learn that there are just as many (if not more) secrets being hidden from him. His family calls him a Drekka, or someone without powe More...
1 comment like
Feb 22, 2011
Lauren rated it: 5 of 5 stars
I’ve been a fan of Orson Scott Card’s since I first picked up Ender’s Game back in seventh grade, so when I got a chance to read The Lost Gate I jumped on it. It’s a great mix of the mythic and the modern day, very similar to some of Neil Gaiman’s books.

Danny’s the odd man out in his family, a mage with no magic among gods with no worshipers. A drekka with no place in the North complex. That is, until the day when he discovers that he’s a gatemage and his world becomes a deadly ga More...
0 comments like
Feb 09, 2011
Warren rated it: 4 of 5 stars
That finished date is an estimate.
I am an Orson Scott Card, despite his conservative politics and all the ranting he did a little while ago about gay marriage. He tells a good story and is clever and inventive. The Lost Gate is a good story--the old gods have left, the gates to their world, Westil, have closed, thanks to Loki, it seems, and the ones left behind, called mages, live apart from us lesser beings, cultivating and preserving their powers. There are some, like Danny, of the Nort More...
0 comments like (1 person liked it)
Feb 09, 2011
Amber rated it: 5 of 5 stars
I've been a fan of Mr. Card's for a long, long time now. Ender's Game was the first science fiction book I ever read, and it was a potent "gateway" book that has led me to an abiding love of the genre. After having read the novella Stonefather, I was very excited to return to the world of the Mithermages. It was a very exciting day when this book was finally in my hands.

The Mithermages are born with a power linked to certain elements - stone, water, air, etc - allowing the More...
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Feb 05, 2011
Steven rated it: 4 of 5 stars
As with most of the science fiction/fantasy books I'm reading, The Lost Gate helps me as I exercise at the Y. They are read for their stories, their humor, and even some minor character development. Occasionally they are good enough that I have to read them outside of the Y. Such was the case with this book.

I've always liked Orson Scott Card, though he can grow tiring. I've read his two most recent books over the last month. This one is significantly better than the other, left me More...
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Feb 02, 2011
Nina rated it: 1 of 5 stars
I'm definitely in the minority here, but I don't enjoy reading Orson Scott Card. He can think up a good story, sure. The problem is with the way he conveys the story. He is the classic example of telling rather than SHOWING. He doesn't let the reader figure anything out. There is too much dialogue and not enough descriptive writing. Reading this book was like being handcuffed to the main character's brain and having to listen to every inane thing he ever thought or said. There were also some par More...
2 comments like (4 people liked it)
Jan 31, 2011
Sarah rated it: 4 of 5 stars
The beginning of a brand new series from Orson Scott Card. I like the genre this book is in: the supernatural-hiding-in-our-modern-world type. It is about a teenage boy who is born into a family of exiled gods on earth. The gods are descended from the gods of the ancient myths (Greek, Roman, Hindu, etc.), but the modern gods have watered-down power because they lost access to their home planet, Westil, 1400 years earlier. Going home makes them stronger, so after all these years of staying on More...
0 comments like
Jan 30, 2011
Glee rated it: 4 of 5 stars
Orson Scott Card is a very good writer. The man can tell a story. And one of the things he does best is coming-of-age stories, especially with adolescent misfits as the protagonists. “The Lost Gate” has such a misfit, Danny North. Danny is the only kid in his village who can’t do magic. He is smart and athletic and funny, but he can’t do the simplest magic. Sadly for Danny, magic is not only the most valued skill, but also the ticket to success and status in his community. So Danny feels More...
7 comments like (1 person liked it)