The Lost Gate: Mithermages, Book 1

While Orson Scott Card has already written any number of coming of age stories, he proves once again that he can breath new life into the subject. The story is entertaining from start to finish and promises to jump start a dedicated series to OSC's Mithermage's world, instead of just the small snippets given in short stories and the novella Stonefather. I should admit here that I am a bit biased toward Card's work since he has been among my favorite authors since I read Ender's Game in High School. But the largest complaint that I have with Lost Gate is that I'll have to wait for the sequel.

This is the first Orson Scott Card title that I've listened or read. For a new listener to Orson Scott Card, this book seems a good start. I really enjoyed the way that he brought two story lines together. The character development of Danny North (cough... Stone) was good. It is the story of Wad, the man from the tree, that made the book excellent. When the story of these two main characters come together, the table is set for endless possibilities. This is the point where you are left. What will happen from here? I can't wait to see how Card lays out the rest of the table for a feast in Westil, the new fantasy world, linked to our world, Mittlegard.

One remark about the mythology Card uses, I don't really think he understands the interconnectedness between the Semitic mythology, the Indo-European mythologies. Yet, the story is about the "children of children" of gods and how men caught up with the ancient gods. It is a story of ethics and the motivation behind it.

About the narrators - Stefan Rudnicki reminded me a bit of Neil Gaiman (listen to his narration of his book, "The Graveyard Book") who reads in much the same way. Their voices are very much the same, deep... and dark. However, Rudnicki does an excellent job, although I had some difficulty hear the women as women, especially remembering which one of Danny's "new parents" was who, as they have names that can be used by males and females. I still enjoyed his inflection, feeling and the life he brought to the story.

Emily Janice Card was a pleasant surprise for me. I couldn't hear anything wrong with her breathing, though her thick American accent may have to do with it. She is clear, and when she acts out a boy's voice, she is SPOT ON.

Don't expect the first book of a serious to be the best. In this case it is however, one of the best first books I've listened to. I understand that the story "Stonefather" is also set in the mithermages realm. It is available here at Audible, my next listen!

The only complaint I have is that the story went too quickly and was over too soon for me. I have listened to the entire Ender series on Audiobook, so the narration was no surprise and completely enjoyable to me. Stefan and Emily are 2 voices that I enjoy, so it's easy to appreciate if you know their voices already. Remembering the work involved in the creation of the characters, worlds and ideas of the Ender series, the dead LAST thing this reminded me of was Harry Potter. Harry is a young boy....Danny is a young boy..end of similarity. Card expands on how his history came to be at the end of this first book. I am looking forward to the next installment! Atta boy, Scott!

Any Scott Card book, especially one featuring a coming of age story, is going to be compared with the Enders Game Saga. This book stands up to that comparison pretty well. The story is one of fantasy on a far distant planet coupled with some very practical Potter-esque magic in current day America. It works surprisingly well. I found the fantasy tale annoying in the way that I find all fantasy stories filled with unpronounceable lands and characters set in a magical and perpetual middle ages annoying. The sword and sorcery crew will lap it up between all night Rune Scape sessions and there is just enough sexual tension to satisfy the Twilight crowd.

The most compelling part of the story concerns the teenage hero Danny and his adventures in magical discovery having escaped his horrible family. The pacing is excellent and the magic is believable enough not to get in the way.
Scott Cards most famous hero is Ender of Enders Game and if you haven’t read the Ender saga then you should, but not having done so will not spoil your enjoyment of this book. One thing that Ender and Harry Potter both have in common is that they are tortured by their powers. Like rock stars they manage to make being especially gifted and successful seem just horrible. When I read the synopsis of the story I though “uh oh… myths, fairies and agonizing about how awful it is to have special powers”. Fortunately in this book our hero has a good natured and pragmatic approach to having fantastic powers and even has fun with them from time to time.

I’m in two minds about the narrator; it’s the same Stephan unpronounceable who dragged us so painfully through much of the Ender Saga. His sonorous tortured delivery seems to cry out for the kind of depressing self analysis so favored by Ender and Potter. This book’s more upbeat style doesn’t seem to fit Danny quite so well. In any event this is a great yarn performed well enough which left me intrigued for the next part of what looks like may be.

I read a few reviews from people on this site and amazon. They tried to compare The Lost Gate to the Enders Game series. They said Ender's Game was better. However, I cannot agree. Don't get me wrong we named my son and daughter ender and valentine (middle names). So we love Enders game very much.
The Lost Gate was just different than Enders Game. First its a fantasy book. Which is the most obvious difference. Danny the main character was every bit as likable as Ender Wiggin. I am not going to do this book justice in the form of a "great review". My opinion as it stands is this is a truly awesome story. Anxiously awaiting the next book.

:)

I've never read anything from Orson Scott Card before, but decided to give this book a chance. It was different, combining a thriller with sci-fi and fantasy. There are two separate stories intertwined between our world and a lost world of gods. Both stories were very interesting, and I assume they will wrapped into one story as the series progresses.

The main character of the book is a very likable boy who learns that he has magic powers, and spends much of this book learning how to use them. Other characters in the book are likable as well. Overall this was a very good start to this series.

Great Story, as you would expect from Orson Scott Card.I'm looking forward to the next installment. Hopefully Stefan Rudnicki continues as narrator for the series.

This new book series, the Mithermages, by Orson Scott Card is an excellent book for people who are interested in the fantasy genre or for people who are just casual listeners. I am looking forward to the rest of the books in the series to see how everything turns out.

I love OSC's magical stories. I loved Enchantment and this is just as good. Can't wait for more to come in this series. If you like fantasy, this is a great listen.

This was an excellent book. While, as others have observed, the story is clearly not the same as either of American Gods or Harry Potter, it has a feel or atmosphere with the best elements of both. The themes in this book also have some commonality with both. In any event, in deference to Card, his story seems to have much earlier conceptual roots than either of the other two. I found this book to be every bit as enjoyable (so far) as Ender, although the genre is different in that this book is not Sci Fi.

I appreciated the warning given by some of the other reviewers that this book does not complete the story. It is a beginning, and a great one at that. Still, it was good to listen to the book with that expectation in mind.

Stefan Rudnicki and Emily Janice Card were exceptional narrators. Stefan Rudnicki did the Enders series books as well. Any story he reads almost automatically goes up a star in my mind. Emily Card also did some of the narration in Ender in Exile. I very much enjoyed listening to her performance, and after hearing her narrate this book, I will be looking for more material where she is a narrator.