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)

Dull

Would you try another book from Orson Scott Card and/or Stefan Rudnicki and Emily Rankin ?

I have read everything Card has written, this book is pure formula. I hope it isn't a warning bell of things to come. The performance was great, the book was not.

Would you ever listen to anything by Orson Scott Card again?

Probably - because he has written well in the past and I hope he will again.

Which scene was your favorite?

I enjoyed the books beginning - the first two chapters drew you in. After that, it became predictable.

Did The Gate Thief inspire you to do anything?

no

A monotonous time thief, is it worth the while?

I've just finish listening to "The Gate Thief" and I don't know what to think. There are a lot of potential in the story that must come to fruition, but it feels as if Orson Scott Card decided to reshuffle a pack of cards while in the middle of a game of poker taking in everyone's hand and giving them completely cards. Instead of building on "The Lost Gate," he basically changed the story so much that with a few tweaks book 1 in the series could be skipped altogether.

Danny North and Wad (Loki) the two main characters undergo enormous development, but the other characters especially the female characters on earth are unbelievable flat and predictable with one thing on the brain, Danny's body. They want his babies! (O come on!) On Westil things seems a bit different and Wad recovers a lot of himself.

It seems as if Card has modelled his story on Revelation 12's war in heaven and on earth, where after he added some Egyptian mythology to his already crazy mix of mythologies that became evident in the first book of the series "The Lost Gate."

Westil and earth is mirror images of each other. When Wad is powerless, Danny is powerful and vice versa. Yet, there is not much that you learn about Westil itself. The story there could just as well played out on earth itself. One third through the book I became tired of the "gates" and ideas like "heart horde" etc.

If it wasn't for Stefan Rudnicki and Emily Rankin's excellent reading of the story, I might have left the book and not return to it. In my humble opinion they did an excellent job.

There is enough in the story to make me wait for the next book, but I am a bit disappointed with the way the story developed so far. It seems like a second introduction to the series and the depth of characters are generally non existent.

Let's wait and see where Card is heading too with this series. The final decision is still open to how well this series will be received.

imaginative and entertaining

Where does The Gate Thief rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

I would put it in top half of list . I found the world that Orson Scott Card created entertaining and well thought out. This is a book that you can pick up or listen to and can be caught up in story and if you have to put it down you can come right back to and be caught up again with out having to go back and see if you forgot something.

What does Stefan Rudnicki and Emily Rankin bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

They both are Great vocal actors they bring the characters to life each in there own way

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Not really the thing I liked about it was the ease that you could stop and start and never lose the feel of the story

OSC is still a master

Another group of stories that I can get lost in and forget day to day life for a little whole.

Wow

I enjoyed listening to this book. It takes an incredible imagination to create a story like this. That ending, wow!!

Wandering from the original premise.

Any additional comments?

Still a very good series, and I will continue the series to book three, but the story has passed it's climax. This book seems to lose steam, although it's still sailing along, going somewhere.

So much love for this series

I loved being pulled into this story once again. The ending definitely had me listening on the edge of my seat and leaving so many questions in my mind, I have to read the next book!

Great narrators and story!

The two different narrators both give life to the story, bringkng more clarity as well as feeling to the minds of the main figures. It's a captivating continuation of a so far great series, can't wait for the next book!

I Am Not Who You Think I Am.

If you could sum up The Gate Thief in three words, what would they be?

Love, deceit, dualism.

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Gate Thief?

OH! It was when Danny, when he thought he had completely lost the battle, turns around and.....hey wait! I can't tell you that, it would give away too much. I guess you'll have to read it to find out.

Which character – as performed by Stefan Rudnicki and Emily Rankin – was your favorite?

I can't say I had a favorite because all the characters were really well done. I mean Stefan Rudnicki cannot do bad.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

I went to bed with my ipod set to go off after 15 mins. After doing this another four times I decided to try for 1 hour. The ipod shuts off right in the middle of an epic sentence, so I of course had to turn it on to find out what happened. Honestly, I gave up trying to sleep at 2am and just finished listening to the whole book. Good thing it was a weekend.

Not as good as the first book.

The story has lots of interesting and complex characters then the author a new villain who is very one dimensional and seems to be a bad guy just because he is bad.