The Gate Thief

Mithermages, Book 2

By: Orson Scott Card

Narrated by: Stefan Rudnicki, Emily Rankin

Length: 12 hrs

Publisher's summary

In this sequel to The Lost Gate, best-selling author Orson Scott Card continues his fantastic tale of the mages of Westil, who live in exile on Earth.

Here on Earth, Danny North is still in high school, yet he holds in his heart and mind all the stolen outselves of 13 centuries of gatemages. The Families still want to kill him if they can’t control him - and they can’t control him; he is far too powerful.

On Westil, Wad is now nearly powerless - he lost everything to Danny in their struggle. Even if he can survive the revenge of his enemies, he must still somehow make peace with the Gatemage Daniel North, for when Danny took that power from Loki, he also took responsibility for the Great Gates. And when he comes face-to-face with the mages who call themselves Bel and Ishtoreth, he will understand just why Loki closed the gates all those centuries ago.

©2013 Orson Scott Card (P)2013 Blackstone Audio, Inc

Critic reviews

"Card weaves another in a chain of satisfying, teenager-pleasing fantasies…. Card has a grand old time romping around in the fields of comparative religion while letting a feud worthy of the Hatfields and the McCoys unfold, with much tongue-in-cheek humor but a touch of gore, too." (Kirkus Reviews)

"Familiarity with The Lost Gate is useful, but not essential, as Card gives readers enough background to have at least a partial understanding of the world he’s created….Defined characters and a highly imaginative story. For the author’s fans, a must-read." (Booklist)

A clever world gets more detail

I really enjoyed the first book in the series. I didn't LOVE the narrators, but they weren't terrible, and I was able to nestle into their cadences well enough. Truth be told, when this book started, I found myself wondering why on earth I had liked the first book so much. I guess it was a slow start, or something I needed to pick up immediately after reading the first book. That being said, at some point I was so sucked into the world that I didn't realize the book was coming to an end. By the time it had, I wanted more.

How long will you make me wait...

How long will you make me wait for the last installment Orson Scott Card? I t really has been a long time!

I have listed to it 2 times

I just love how the author brought the two worlds together. I probly will listen to the books again.

Overall good

First one better. Card still has issues with his female characters' motivation and romantic relationships.

Over the top sexual tension in kids

I'm all for some normal sexual tension, even when venturing dangerously close to YA territory...I got this to listen in the car with my Tweens on the way to school/sports....but we were all grossed out by all the sex-starved teen girls, and women that only have sex as a means of warfare. Seriously. It's 2016. We are over the Hero/Whore categories for women. Stephen Kings wore that out long ago. When Card does relent on the weird sex starved female fascination, it gets kinda cool at times. The weird hermit Christian would have been near to develop more, and I agree with the other reviewers...some adults have some cool powers. The epilogue does not explain it, in my opinion. In fact, he contradicts his writing...getting into a singular facet of teen angst turmoil does nothing to develop the characters...and there are a ton of real family history/life conflict story lines completely ignored, just as a major example. Anyway, we'll finish out the series. I can't promise a return to Card's work afterwards.

Great story all the way through!

Danny North is an exemplary hero! I love the character development and use of Egyptian lore to create the antagonist. It made Danny's efforts seem as though they are really happening.

More of the same...

If you liked the first one you will like this one. I found it to be slow, VERY slow, but looking back so was the first one. I suggest you brush up on HOW he stole Wad's gates because it was mentioned about a million times in this book and I actually had to stop and go listen again to the first one because it was confusing.

There is a nice after word by the writter who explained why the book was so late in coming out. The story itself was a nice continuation of the first book, more self discovery, a few more adult things happening, overall it was good to revisit this mithermage world.

I have too much love for this series

my title tells how I feel about this book. If you enjoyed the 1st book in the series then you will like this one.

However, I want to talk about the author. Specifically Orson's words at the end of the book. I love how in both the first and the second, this book, Orson talks about his experience writing each respective book. What he has to say is interesting and rich with insight.

I look forward to read more of what Orson Scott Card has written.

Great Story; Can't Wait to Hear Conclusion

Orson Scott Card is an amazing author. I hadn't heard of the Mithermages Series prior to doing a random on-line search for books he had written, as I thoroughly enjoyed the other four series of his I had read (Ender's Game, Ender's Shadow, Earth Aware, and Pathfinder). Once again, I'm impressed by his ability to draw me in, keep me on the edge of my seat, so-to-say, and cause me to care for the characters and want more. Thank you, again, for a great reading experience.

Preaching aside, a great read.

I have a big soft spot for OSC and will read (listen) to anything he chooses to offer. Danny is a fun character, but far too inclined to review the morality of his decisions in his head as he makes them, making the point so dang clear it's like being hit by a hammer. If you can stand that then it's fun watching OSC playing with magic and a different take on "the gods".