The Shadow Gate

by Margaret Ball, Tom Kidd (Illustrator)

The only good elf is a dead elf

Or so the militant order of Durandine monks thought, and they planned on making sure that all the elves in their world were very, very good. The elves of the Three Realms have sent out one last spell to bring help—nd received it: a staff member from the New Age Psychic Center in Austin, Texas. Unless the stranger from Texas can restore the magic of the Three Realms, the elves—and the Texan—are truly doomed.

Genres: Fantasy, Fiction, Science Fiction Fantasy

352 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1991

About the author

Margaret Ball lives in Austin, Texas, with her husband and near two grown children. She has a B.A. in mathematics and a Ph.D. in linguistics from the University of Texas. After graduation, she taught briefly at UCLA, then spent several years honing her science fiction and fantasy writing skills by designing computer software and making inflated promises about its capabilities. She has written a number of science fiction/fantasy novels as well as two historical novels, and is currently working on a science fiction series to be released on Kindle and in paperback in the fall of 2017. She would love to be influenced by Connie Willis and the other authors listed but fears that is mainly wishful thinking.

Reviews

[M— · Rating 1 out of 5]

Crap novel due to:

(1) Major plot premise hings on, 'LOL whoever could have thought a mage's apprentice would be a girl! OMG!'

(2) Evil essence of magical artifact is absorbed by means of villain jamming said artifact up his anus. Repeatedly. For prolonged periods. In detail.

(3) Main romantic relationship concludes by minor male character declaring female lead character is obligated to marry him because the portal to her alternative world has been permanently closed and her status in his country is illegal without a green card.

Despite the pleasurable minor scene of a mortal woman spurning the love of an elf due to irreconcilable lifespan differences, avoid avoid avoid.

[Elizabeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

[3½ stars] A decent fantasy, involving elves, magic, travel between worlds, and intolerant monks, which all come together but not exactly the way the back of the book made it sound like they would. Ball creates sympathetic elven characters who have the traits we love to read about in fantasy novels, while at the same time showing that modern humans would likely find much of their behavior and attitudes offensive. I thought the story ended a bit abruptly, with the sort of unanswered questions that often get picked up in a sequel, but this seems to be a stand-alone novel. Overall, an enjoyable read.

[Shaun · Rating 2 out of 5]

It feels mean to say this but this book is really quite mediocre. It's your classic "regular human gets whisked away to a fantasy land" story. In one chapter it just out and out mentions its inspirations and it feels sad because they are all much better than this. This is no Narnia.

I wrote a much longer review but goodreads ate it. I'll just summarize: The main female leads are pretty basic and meh, the main male leads are assholes who the female leads fall in love with for no reason. The resolution just basically maintains the status quo for the fantasy land (humans and elves both will remain douchebags who hate each other) and it doesn't matter because the main characters get to go back to our world. I've read worse but I've read much better.

[Debi Sullivan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyable

[Bruno Silva · Rating 2 out of 5]

Foi uma desilusão. O tema de elfos num mundo com uma porta de entrada via um livro para o mundo dos humanos até é interessante mas a escrita ė algo aborrecida e a história não ganha interesse nenhum

[T J · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was a good one time read.