The Gate Thief (Mither Mages Book 2)

This audio CD requires a specialized "MP3-CD" ready system. What this means is that it does not work on either of my portable CD players, including the one I just purchased in January. There is no way I wold have known this prior to purchase....it's in the small print on the back of the CD case. Now I can't use it. A waste of my money.

Orson Scott Card is a fantastic writer. Book is engrossing and a fantastic read. Card's characters have so much depth and brilliance his books always stay with you when you've done reading them. Thank goodness he's such a prolific writer b/c my family cannot get enough of him.

Card's second installment in the Mither Mages was an easy, fun read. I thought it was an improvement over The Lost Gate (book one) as both the characters and the mythology deepened. The protagonist, Danny North and the Gate Thief Wad both become much more compelling. The Mither Mages world invented by Card is interesting and compelling. The vast quantity of detail conveyed was impressive, especially since it was done without boring the reader. While I wouldn't put this series on par with Tolkien's Middle Earth or Lewis' Narnia, it did evoke a similar pleasure of exploring a broad new mythos. The greatly enjoyed being walked by Card through his world building.

This book is only 4 stars, rather than 5, primarily because it seemed to lack an adequate conflict and resolution. Instead, we had mythology and character development setting the state for book 3. Series are best when they do both: build the series story arc and present a somewhat self-contained conflict and resolution. The Gate Thief felt like the first half of a longer book rather than the second book in a trilogy. One other negative: Card's teenage characters (which seem to be a huge obsession across various novels/series) are less than realistic. All the teen girls want to be with Danny right away and they're all making blatant public plays at him? And one just wants his baby in her before he goes off to war--when fearing for him, her hands instinctively moved to her empty uterus? I'm no teen girl but that seems incredibly far-fetched to me.

I really should have retread The Lost Gate prior to this installment and still may. Keeping track of all the philosophy was a bit challenging but I got it. Very interesting take on the mythology connection! Card is my favorite author of fiction and I look forward to any new book of his.

The writing was rather circular (it seemed like it was written in haste) and seemed bizarrely propagandistic (anti-teenage sex, which the protagonist constantly focused on). Doubt I'll read the next novel...

This is the second book in the Mithermages series and as a reader of the first book I thoroughly enjoyed listening to this book. I also look forward to the conclusion. I say listening for a reason. I wanted to listen because, as much as I love to read, it is nice to be able to do other things while enjoying the story and this was an interesting deal. I could have bought the audio version from Audible, but the store offered the option of buying the book on my Kindle and adding the audio version for less money than simply buying the Audible version.

This is Card at his best - creating an interesting universe parallel to our own with powerful characters and surprising plot twists. I read the whole thing through over two days, and could barely put it down. I can't wait for the next one!

I was easily able to relate to the main character in this book, and I was happy to read it after reading the first book in the Mither Mages duo. Orson Scott Card never fails to amaze me in his writings.

The second book in this trilogy has too much talk and not enough plot or action. The first book in the series, The Lost Gate, started out strong, with an interesting idea - that our world is filled with weakened Norse gods. To be fair the initial "discovery" book is often the most enjoyable. Nevertheless, I was not expecting the second book to be so darn boring! I found myself slogging through what seemed like endless and repetitive dialogue. Even skimming could not cure the problems with the female characters in the book. I was almost embarrassed for the fictional teen girls and the things they were made to do and say. I wonder - does OSC realize that he has female readers too? I'm not so sure. Overall, I would not recommend this book. Once the third book comes out, I wonder if readers would be just as happy reading book 1 and skipping straight to book 3. If they choose to do that, they won't miss much.

This book obviously a middle book is great in depth of story development and character development. Nothing felt left out, the climax rose beautifully and still told the story OSC wanted. It also was a great length, told enough of a story to say "yes some questions answered that this is its own book, also can't wait for the next"

I find this world, this series different than others trying to be God mythology tying to present day. It is an amazing story to imagine yourself in. Similar to star wars, and this book would equate in depth, scope and down right greatness to empire strikes back as a perfect middle book and story .

I really liked this book for 2 reasons. First, it did a great job of continuing on from book one while still developing new and intriguing characters. Second, although it was a little slower pace than the first book, it brought a lot more depth to the characters and th story as a whole. All in all it is a great book!

The characters are real vivid and make you want to know more about them. They make you fall in love, hate them with passion and need to know what happens next. When is the next one coming out! I can't wait!

Really, Orson Scott Card is just one of my favorite writers. I haven't read all of his books, but the ones I do read, I tend to enjoy. This little series is my favorite so far, I just found it captivating and had a hard time putting it down. It took a really long time for the Gate Thief to come out, and in the between times, I had actually forgotten that I wanted to read this book. I just really hope there is going to be a third one, because if there is not a third one, I would have to take away some stars based on how it ended.

It is obvious that the author has spent countless hours poring over the lore behind this book. The story excites and thrills you, from monster to godly powers. But there are a lot of plot wholes and inconsistencies that I find hard to overlook. One moment your running from deadly relatives and the next your are spending a chapter inside a horny high school transfer, and still the next you are in the 8th century fighting kings and playing with boats. Overall it feels like three different stories that only vaguely connect at seemingly random points. And then there are the plot wholes, where one great gate is removed, at least partly, and the just two chapters latter the same part is slowly deconstructed by someone else. Or where you stop and remember something like oh the gates and heel and then three chapters latter somehow this same character does not know this very important fact now. The whole book to felt like I was waiting for the main character to catch up to what I already knew. Not to mention the inconsistency of the gates themselves, sometimes sucking in people who just brushed up against them while other times making everyone walk through them completely and still yell letting someone get stuck in them.

Outstanding addition to an already impressive body of works, Orson Scott Cards new twists on old mythology and a totally new magical theory make this book hard to put down. I look forward to his next installment of the Mithermages.