- Hardcover
- Publisher: Book Club Associates (2007)
- ASIN: B0010B29TS
- Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 1,334,830 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
Spirit Gate: Book One of Crossroads (Crossroads S.)
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
20 of 22 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Kate Elliott has started a new series after finishing the "Crown of Stars" (7 volumes!). She tells the story of a world that is slowly coming apart. The reeves flying on great eagles try to uphold the law, but they are failing. For most of the book it is not at all clear if there is a driving force behind this descent into destruction and war. And it is only towards the end of Vol. 1 that one starts to get inkling what this mysterious cause might be.
Despite the fact that she introduces a number of main characters, she manages to maintain the momentum and the tension. You keep wanting to know what will happen next and keep getting surprised too.
I sincerely hope that Ms Elliott will not revert to her rambling style of the final volumes of "Crown of stars" and keep introducing new main characters each with their own story, completely loosing her focus on the central plot.
She's got off to an excellant start. But then so was the "The King's Dragon", the first vol. of "Crown of stars".
Despite the fact that she introduces a number of main characters, she manages to maintain the momentum and the tension. You keep wanting to know what will happen next and keep getting surprised too.
I sincerely hope that Ms Elliott will not revert to her rambling style of the final volumes of "Crown of stars" and keep introducing new main characters each with their own story, completely loosing her focus on the central plot.
She's got off to an excellant start. But then so was the "The King's Dragon", the first vol. of "Crown of stars".
7 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Ms. Elliott has established a fair reputation with her Jaran series and the Crown of Stars set. This book looks like it might be the start of another incredibly long series. In and of itself, long stories are not a problem, as they allow the author to properly set the scene, build up all the little details of the world, and explore the characters in depth, and there's a lot of that set-up work done in this novel. Much of this is quite good, as she gives us a look at not one but multiple different societies, each with their own culture, habits, gods, and idiosyncrasies, along with a fairly nice reworking of the old trope of giant flying creatures capable of hauling people around with her eagles that are at least a little less unbelievable than the fire-breathing dragons that inhabit too many fantasies.
However, there becomes just too much of this background and scene setting. Every time someone walks down the street, every detail of that street needs to remarked upon, every peddler, beggar, fruit stand, scent, and building. The world mythology is detailed multiple times, frequently with the exact same words. After a while, this continuous descriptive work becomes overwhelming and smothers the story. In a planned series of books, I don't expect the first book to have a great amount of story/plot development, but here I found only enough to really occupy about a 200 hundred page book. As it actually runs to over 400 pages, that's a lot of filler.
Her character development is good, with enough depth given to several characters to make me care about what happens to them, and I found these people to be generally likable even with their obvious character flaws. The problems her characters face grow naturally from the environment and the starting premise of the book. Her world seems to somewhat standard for a fantasy novel, with no high-tech wonders and a generally feudal type structure, but she has added the province of the Hundred, which seems to be much closer to a people's democracy with guaranteed rights for individuals, aided by benevolent, and, at least the beginning of this work, respected judges. As such, it makes an interesting contrast to the rest of her world.
An interesting story line and world populated by real people, but in severe need of pruning some of the excess descriptive work.
---Reviewed by Patrick Shepherd (hyperpat)
However, there becomes just too much of this background and scene setting. Every time someone walks down the street, every detail of that street needs to remarked upon, every peddler, beggar, fruit stand, scent, and building. The world mythology is detailed multiple times, frequently with the exact same words. After a while, this continuous descriptive work becomes overwhelming and smothers the story. In a planned series of books, I don't expect the first book to have a great amount of story/plot development, but here I found only enough to really occupy about a 200 hundred page book. As it actually runs to over 400 pages, that's a lot of filler.
Her character development is good, with enough depth given to several characters to make me care about what happens to them, and I found these people to be generally likable even with their obvious character flaws. The problems her characters face grow naturally from the environment and the starting premise of the book. Her world seems to somewhat standard for a fantasy novel, with no high-tech wonders and a generally feudal type structure, but she has added the province of the Hundred, which seems to be much closer to a people's democracy with guaranteed rights for individuals, aided by benevolent, and, at least the beginning of this work, respected judges. As such, it makes an interesting contrast to the rest of her world.
An interesting story line and world populated by real people, but in severe need of pruning some of the excess descriptive work.
---Reviewed by Patrick Shepherd (hyperpat)
Format:Paperback
Kate Elliott's Crown of Stars series would have been up there with the very best on my fantasy list if it hadn't been so long winded - and that is me being kind. For this reason I've put off reading Spirit Gate for quite a while and have only just finished it - and I'm glad to report that that all the old problems seem to have been ironed out and it is an excellent story.
The first half of the book mainly concentrates on character and world building and that does slow it down a tad, but the action soon picks up and it had me turning the pages at a furious rate. In fantasy terms there is nothing really new here, although the author keeps it fresh by introducing new people throughout and making you interested in their day to day lives. There is a very brutal conflict at the centre of this book, but it is also very character driven and that puts it above many other series in this overcrowded genre.
I'm already half-way through the second part and the third is on it's way from the US, as I'm too impatient to wait for August when it is due to be published over here. Best fantasy I've read in quite a while.
The first half of the book mainly concentrates on character and world building and that does slow it down a tad, but the action soon picks up and it had me turning the pages at a furious rate. In fantasy terms there is nothing really new here, although the author keeps it fresh by introducing new people throughout and making you interested in their day to day lives. There is a very brutal conflict at the centre of this book, but it is also very character driven and that puts it above many other series in this overcrowded genre.
I'm already half-way through the second part and the third is on it's way from the US, as I'm too impatient to wait for August when it is due to be published over here. Best fantasy I've read in quite a while.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Great Service
This book was bought to complete the set - i have vol's 2 & 3 in hardback. I ordered this book one evening and it was delivered the following day. Great service as always.
Published 10 months ago by Mr. A. R. Trunkfield
Annoying and plodding
I found the writing for this book annoyingly disjointed.
The author dispatches what the reader thinks were major characters and introduced so many new ones that I was... Read more
The author dispatches what the reader thinks were major characters and introduced so many new ones that I was... Read more
Published 22 months ago by C. Y. Davidson
Gripping story but slow to get started
Spirit Gate is very slow to get started but eventually becomes quite a page-turner.
The book is the first in a series, meaning the author devotes considerable chunks of... Read more
The book is the first in a series, meaning the author devotes considerable chunks of... Read more
Published on 9 Sep 2009 by K. Hickman
Worth buying second-hand if you can stomach the dreadful cover-art
I got this as an electronic freebie from Tor - and if it was on paper I'd have never even considered picking it up. Read more
Published on 28 Jun 2008 by D. R. Cantrell
A reasonable debut, but with some problems.
Kate Elliott is the author of the highly successful Crown of Stars series. Crossroads is her new series, a seven-volume series which is divided into two trilogies with a linking... Read more
Published on 3 May 2008 by A. Whitehead
A fine piece of fantasy
I havent been a great fan of Kate Elliott's previous work, but I loved this book. The several storylines, the nature of which can be gleaned from the publisher's blurb, intersect... Read more
Published on 13 April 2008 by The Electric Ghost
What? I have to wait?
I really want book 2 right now, I feel a great need to continue the story.
It's not *quite* a 5* book but close, very close. Read more
It's not *quite* a 5* book but close, very close. Read more
Published on 24 Oct 2007 by Wyvernfriend
Wish it lived up to early premise
When looking at the other reviews of this book I feel somewhat put out. They obviously loved this book. Read more
Published on 9 July 2007 by G. Mayers
fantastuc
This book was superb. - it was gripping and produced an amazing story line that was suprising and kept you guessing thoughout. Read more
Published on 22 Jun 2007 by J. Rouse
Gripping!
I have read the other books but and thought they would be hard to top, but this book is superb.
It is refreshing in that her storylines are not the run of the mill... Read more
It is refreshing in that her storylines are not the run of the mill... Read more
Published on 24 April 2007 by Ms. C. A. Holding
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