I often wonder when authors start new series whether they had the idea for the specific plot first and fill in the details of the surrounding world and mythology next, or the opposite, creating the world and mythology first and then figuring out a story that fits into that world. There are pros and cons to each side (Hmmm... perhaps a forthcoming Geek vs. Geek, eh?), with potential pitfalls including continuity issues when starting with a story and haphazardly filling in details of the world as necessary, or getting bogged down in description to showcase the new world at the expense of the story when the world came first. Orson Scott Card's The Lost Gate sort of falls into this latter pitfall (or toes the edge, at least).

The world of The Lost Gate in one in which magic is real. All old religions, such as Norse and Greek mythology, as well as any supernatural stories (ghost, vampires, and the like) all stem from the use of this magic, the origin of which is another world (dimension? Plane of existence? It isn't fully explained) known as Westil. In old times, people would travel back and forth between Westil and Earth, each with differing types of magical abilities (the ability to control water, or wind, or manipulate stone, etc) with differing amounts of skill. The most powerful type of mage was a gatemage, with the ability to create portals between two locations, and, if powerful enough, create "Great Gates" that link Westil and Earth.

Everything was all fine and dandy until Loki (the trickster of the Norse gods) used his gate-magery and closed up all gates in existence, including all Great Gates, thus cutting off all mages from traveling between the two worlds. This set off a war between the various mage Families (the Norse, the Greeks, etc.), particularly when they realized that without being able to occasionally return to Westil, their powers were all diminished.

Fast forward a few thousand years, and enter the two protagonists of the book, Danny North, on Earth and descendent of Odin, leader of the remnants of the Norse Family, and Wad, on Westil and who was apparently trapped in a tree (???) for many centuries. Danny, after growing up ostracized within his Family, strikes out on his own after discovering that he is a gatemage, now feared and hunted amongst the Families, as gatemages supposedly cannot be trusted. He ends up meeting other various "orphans" from the families as he tries both to learn about his gate-making abilities (tricky, due to no other gatemages around to teach him) as well as hide from the Families for fear of them, well, killing him. Wad, after being freed from the tree, finds himself embroiled in various schemes of castle intrigue in a kingdom on Westil. Wad, too, is a gatemage, and seems to inherently know about gate-magery, but cannot remember how he knows.

That's the basic plot of the book... well... plots, I suppose. The book jumps back and forth between the two main characters in somewhat of a haphazard way. Several chapters might go by continuing Danny's story, then one chapter on Wad, then back to Danny, and there isn't any connection between them at all until the very end. It feels a little disjointed.

That's the not the only thing that feels disjointed, either. The story shifts from, well, actual plot, to random philosophizing about the nature of magic (and gate-magery in particular) that just doesn't have a consistent tone or feel to it. This is why it seems obvious that the world and the magic system came first in Card's mind, and the story has only been tacked on.

Of course, the other reason that is obvious is that Card says so, in the afterword to the book (yes, yes, I realize that him flat out stating that the world came first kind of diminishes my keen insight into realizing that very fact after my deep analysis, but I still have to keep up the pretense that I have any semblance of an idea of what I'm talking about, don't I?). Apparently he's had this world in his mind for the past 30 years or so and only now is getting around to publishing a series based on it.

I kind of wish he had taken more time, actually. I'm a huge fan of Card's work, and while I may not always like the way his series end, they usually start incredibly strong, grabbing my fascination and attention from the get-go (the Ender series and the Alvin Maker series are prime examples). The Lost Gate didn't grab me in the same way, which is both surprising and disappointing.

But having said that, it's certainly not a bad book. The magic/mythology of this new world is certainly interesting and intriguing; the story kept me involved throughout: and I am eager to learn what happens in future books. I'm hoping that in the next of the series, Card can find a better balance between the story itself and filling in details of the world he has created, which would elevate this series from the "decent/good" level it is at after this first novel to the "great" level for which the potential exists.

Bottom line, if you like Card's work, this book is worth reading. It's not as good as his previous series debuts, but it's good enough, with a lot of room for improvement. He likes the world he has created, and it shows, which can really only be a good thing for future books.

   -- K. Burtt