Status
Available
Call number
Genres
Publication
Tor Books (2006), Hardcover, 448 pages
Description
Fantasy. Fiction. HTML: World Fantasy and Nebula Award finalist Kate Elliott breaks new ground in a brilliantly original new fantasy set in a unique world of fabled cities, mysterious gods, and terrible dangers. From the first page readers will be swept up in the story of Mai and Captain Anji, as they become unwitting players in a conflict that began many years earlier, and which will shake the foundations of their land. For hundreds of years the Guardians have ruled the world of the Hundred, but these powerful gods no longer exert their will on the world. Only the reeves, who patrol on enormous eagles, still represent the Guardians' power. And the reeves are losing their authority; for there is a dark shadow across the land that not even the reeves can stop. A group of fanatics has risen to devour villages, towns, and cities in their drive to annihilate all who oppose them. No one knows who leads them; they seem inhumanly cruel and powerful. Mai and Anji, riding with a company of dedicated warriors and a single reeve who may hold a key to stopping the deadly advance of the devouring horde, must try, or the world will be lost to the carnage. But a young woman sworn to the Goddess may prove more important than them all . . . if they are not too late. A haunting tale of people swept up by the chaos of war, this is superlative fantasy adventure, rich in texture, filled with color and excitement, masterfully crafted by a brilliantly gifted storyteller. At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied..… (more)
User reviews
LibraryThing member salimbol
A start to a new and excellent epic fantasy series from the ever-readable Kate Elliott. After a gripping and shocking prologue, the story is sprawling and slow-moving, and the main cast and the central thrust of the narrative take some time to cohere (this may explain why it's actually taken me
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some months to get though it) - but it's certainly building up a decent momentum, and I'm very keen to get to the next book now. As always, Elliott is top-notch at world-building; here's she's painstakingly portraying multiple cultures across several continents, and unlike many fantasy authors, she understands the fine balance between supplying enough detail to build her world and totally bogging her narrative down with unnecessary description. Other things that particularly impress me are her sharp examination of gender roles in her various cultures, the slow but growing sense of horror lurking behind everything, an (almost) completely non-white cast, and last but not least, giant eagles :-). Show Less
LibraryThing member orkydd
The first volume of 'Crossroads', 'Spirit Gate', begins in the 'Hundred' where giant eagles carry reeves (itinerant law officers) between the small towns, settling disputes and keeping the lines of communication open. But the lands are becoming more lawless, and the reeves no longer command the
Meanwhile, hundreds of miles to the south, across deserts and mountains, Mai, a merchant woman it taken as his bride by Captain Anji, a barbarian warrior. They flee danger and treachery, attempting to find sanctuary in the Hundred, but first must confront the shadowy evil which besets the land and the reeves.....
Kate Elliott build immersive and singular worlds. She is on form here, and it is a scintillating read.
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respect they once did. And when exploring the fate of the legendary 'Guardians', Reeve Joss suffers a crippling loss... Meanwhile, hundreds of miles to the south, across deserts and mountains, Mai, a merchant woman it taken as his bride by Captain Anji, a barbarian warrior. They flee danger and treachery, attempting to find sanctuary in the Hundred, but first must confront the shadowy evil which besets the land and the reeves.....
Kate Elliott build immersive and singular worlds. She is on form here, and it is a scintillating read.
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LibraryThing member wyvernfriend
This is the start of a series and as such has a lot of characters and several part of a new world and an unusual world at that. This worldbuilding is coherent and the variety of people and their reactions to events are quite interesting and felt solid to me. I dived into this book and regretted
The first part is a shock. You're introduced to Reeve Marit, the Reeves are a group of people who fly large Eagles (yeah, yeah, mysical bond with animal, again, don't let it put you off) and dispense justice in the Hundred. They used to answer to the Guardians but they've disappeared, and are starting to move from fact to legend. Marit's partner is Joss. When Marit dies, the shocker of the start of the book, he mourns her and drowns himself in alcohol and meaningless relationships.
Mai is regarded by her family as a bit of a waste, a daydreamer, she's pretty and knows how to bargain well at the family's market stall so when Captain Anji of the occupying force in her lands offers for her hand, her family jump at the chance. They also jump at the chance to get rid of their troublesome son Shai, who speaks to ghosts.
The paths of these and a few more start to converge, and along the way they find that there is someone building an army and trying to undermine the fabric of society of the Hundred. What are their motives? Why have the Guardians disappeared? Is it a natural progression or is there something else going on?
I really did enjoy reading this and want the second book now! There were times when the story lagged and where I lost track of the people involved where, which is why it doesn't score a perfect 5 but it came really close.
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each breath I had to take interrupted by life, work, family and bus-stops. It's a seriously heavy tome and really is well detailed. The first part is a shock. You're introduced to Reeve Marit, the Reeves are a group of people who fly large Eagles (yeah, yeah, mysical bond with animal, again, don't let it put you off) and dispense justice in the Hundred. They used to answer to the Guardians but they've disappeared, and are starting to move from fact to legend. Marit's partner is Joss. When Marit dies, the shocker of the start of the book, he mourns her and drowns himself in alcohol and meaningless relationships.
Mai is regarded by her family as a bit of a waste, a daydreamer, she's pretty and knows how to bargain well at the family's market stall so when Captain Anji of the occupying force in her lands offers for her hand, her family jump at the chance. They also jump at the chance to get rid of their troublesome son Shai, who speaks to ghosts.
The paths of these and a few more start to converge, and along the way they find that there is someone building an army and trying to undermine the fabric of society of the Hundred. What are their motives? Why have the Guardians disappeared? Is it a natural progression or is there something else going on?
I really did enjoy reading this and want the second book now! There were times when the story lagged and where I lost track of the people involved where, which is why it doesn't score a perfect 5 but it came really close.
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LibraryThing member cerievans1
Arghhhhhhhhh. THE most frustrating book I have read this year (and it has taken the whole of July on holiday and a week of August to read this) and I still have 40 pages to go. Review will wait because things start to be getting more interesting but still this is far too long, ostensibly plotless,
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just one long road trip. Some good characters though and considering I am new to Fantasy books, not that painful. Just boring. Some of the writing is poor, some is good. For me some positives: I did not throw the book in the pool on holiday, Mai/Captain Anji/Joss are good characters. Irritants: gratuitous language/sex/ treatement of women, and I am not being prudish! This is not meant to be personal I just don't really like it. Show Less
LibraryThing member wealhtheowwylfing
I wanted to like this book more than I actually did. Elliott has created numerous societies, each with their own distinct gender roles, politics, religion, food, etc. The societies and people are clearly all non-Western--they wear silk, eat yogurt, have brown hair and skin. There are POV characters
BUT. Elliott spends so much time building her world (and seriously, she describes every town, every wharf, every meal) that even by the end of the book there were huge plot holes and I still didn't love any of the characters. The basic plot is that some sort of shadowy menace is slowly inciting chaos in the Hundred while slowly destroying the eagle reeves (people psychically bonded to giant eagles who fly around mediating disputes). Merchant Mai and her new husband Anji, the captain of the Qin army that conquered her homeland, travel into the Hundred in search of a new home. Emo reeve Joss tries to figure out why his homeland is descending into lawlessness. Their paths only cross near the end of the novel.
This wasn't a bad novel, but I'm not interested enough to read the next in the series.
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from each of the big three (the Qin, the Hundred, and the Sirnakian Empire), and no one country or society is painted as morally better than the others. BUT. Elliott spends so much time building her world (and seriously, she describes every town, every wharf, every meal) that even by the end of the book there were huge plot holes and I still didn't love any of the characters. The basic plot is that some sort of shadowy menace is slowly inciting chaos in the Hundred while slowly destroying the eagle reeves (people psychically bonded to giant eagles who fly around mediating disputes). Merchant Mai and her new husband Anji, the captain of the Qin army that conquered her homeland, travel into the Hundred in search of a new home. Emo reeve Joss tries to figure out why his homeland is descending into lawlessness. Their paths only cross near the end of the novel.
This wasn't a bad novel, but I'm not interested enough to read the next in the series.
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LibraryThing member infjsarah
I enjoyed the author's Crown of Stars series quite a lot. This book has been on my shelf for a long time and I finally picked it up. But sadly I did not finish it. I nearly gave up at page 100, kept going to page 400 and then just thought life is too short to carry on with a book that I was not
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enjoying. I just didn't care about anybody in it. Too much unnecessary detail. Several points of view can work but when the reader cares nothing for any of them you are in trouble. Sorry Ms Elliott but this is not for me. Show Less
LibraryThing member hopeevey
I very nearly stopped reading this after the first chapter - killing off the first viewpoint character right then really kind of blew it for me. But, I soldiered on. A couple bland chapters later and I was ready to give it up again. It seemed remarkably predictable, and the characterization just
It didn't. The end of this volume was very nearly what I expected it to be at the end of the first chapter. The viewpoint changes were choppy and often inexplicable. As I feared, this isn't so much a volume one as a part one. The ending didn't satisfy me enough to be the end of a book, but the story doesn't interest me enough for me to keep reading it.
I had thought that, it being fairly simple, it would be a good thing to read while recovering from surgery. Fortunately for me, but unfortunately for this book, I didn't need any pain medicine - it might have been more interesting if I were a bit drugged up.
I will say that the author's done very good, extensive world building. Someone who's more interested in the universe, and is comfortable with a broad, meandering, ensemble story would enjoy this more than I did.
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wasn't compelling enough to hold my interest. But I read a review that suggested that the ending more than made up for the book being a bit slow. I found it more than a bit slow - more like telling about 4 different stories kind of lamely in the same volume, with random viewpoint changes and occasional unexplained time shifts. So I kept on reading, on the off chance it really would get better. It didn't. The end of this volume was very nearly what I expected it to be at the end of the first chapter. The viewpoint changes were choppy and often inexplicable. As I feared, this isn't so much a volume one as a part one. The ending didn't satisfy me enough to be the end of a book, but the story doesn't interest me enough for me to keep reading it.
I had thought that, it being fairly simple, it would be a good thing to read while recovering from surgery. Fortunately for me, but unfortunately for this book, I didn't need any pain medicine - it might have been more interesting if I were a bit drugged up.
I will say that the author's done very good, extensive world building. Someone who's more interested in the universe, and is comfortable with a broad, meandering, ensemble story would enjoy this more than I did.
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LibraryThing member tcgardner
I am a huge fan of Kate Elliott. Spirit Gate just reconfirms why I am a huge fan. A complex and multifaceted world with many players. I love her world and character building.
The only negative criticism I might have is that her plotting might be a bit predictable if you are an avid reader of her
I cannot recommend this book enough. Get it. Quickly.
The only negative criticism I might have is that her plotting might be a bit predictable if you are an avid reader of her
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works. I guess you can say that she does it well and keeps doing it. Ok, I'll go with that.I cannot recommend this book enough. Get it. Quickly.
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LibraryThing member on_elc
There were quite a lot of interesting plotlines in the story, but I found it an unsatisfying read overall. I understand that it's book one in a series, but far too little of the world it's set in is explained for my liking. Since it was pretty inevitable that Joss, Anji & Co would save the day, I
On the upside, there's just enough revealed in the last few chapters that I'll probably read the next installment - I just hope more's fleshed out.
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found myself skimming quite a lot of the middle sections looking for clues to the more central mysteries. On the upside, there's just enough revealed in the last few chapters that I'll probably read the next installment - I just hope more's fleshed out.
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LibraryThing member cwallen
I loved this book. Great fantasy world without being another middle earth clone. It leaves you wanting the next in the series.
LibraryThing member reading_fox
I picked this up after an LT discussion around another book with the same name. This is the (slightly) more well known one. Enjoyable. Low fantasy, hence little out-right magic, but ghosts appear to a few characters and there's the chance that the ancient gods might be be-stirring themselves to
We follow a few characters living different lives in different cultures and countries as the tides of war and politics eventually cast them together in a small town. The town is situated in the Hundred, a collection of provinces of shared rule. Abandoned by the gods and Guardians some years ago, they're left with only the reeves mounted on giant eagles to keep law and order. Few and far between failing in numbers their respect is further diminished when outlaws start a concerted campaign from the North. Meanwhile the captain of a troop of mercenaries on the run from politics pick up's a wife from one of the countries his nation had subjugated. Familiar with the marketplace customs of most of the world, despite being unaccustomed to the rigours of journeying she provides useful information in keeping the troop gainfully
occupied on their flight north.
Nothing really jumps out as special, but it's well written engaging and enjoyable in a fairly sensible world. The varying religious customs take a bit of getting used to, but it all comes together in the end. There is an slightly too obvious bias towards various earth cultures, but enough differences remain for it not to feel racist or pointedly attacking one culture.
I will try the sequels sometime.
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take a hand in the fate of a country. We follow a few characters living different lives in different cultures and countries as the tides of war and politics eventually cast them together in a small town. The town is situated in the Hundred, a collection of provinces of shared rule. Abandoned by the gods and Guardians some years ago, they're left with only the reeves mounted on giant eagles to keep law and order. Few and far between failing in numbers their respect is further diminished when outlaws start a concerted campaign from the North. Meanwhile the captain of a troop of mercenaries on the run from politics pick up's a wife from one of the countries his nation had subjugated. Familiar with the marketplace customs of most of the world, despite being unaccustomed to the rigours of journeying she provides useful information in keeping the troop gainfully
occupied on their flight north.
Nothing really jumps out as special, but it's well written engaging and enjoyable in a fairly sensible world. The varying religious customs take a bit of getting used to, but it all comes together in the end. There is an slightly too obvious bias towards various earth cultures, but enough differences remain for it not to feel racist or pointedly attacking one culture.
I will try the sequels sometime.
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LibraryThing member gwendolenau
Very slow-paced. Emphasis on world-building over characters. Disliked trope: introducing a character in the prologue with enough depth to imply this is the protagonist, only for her never to appear again except in spirit.
LibraryThing member Fledgist
The opening novel of a trilogy describing a world in the midst of transformation as political forces transform what had been a stable order. Reeves who had brought justice to the people of the Hundred find themselves threatened and do not know how to face the challenge, which is both cultural and
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existential. Elliot does a deft job of showing us how a variety of cultures coexist. Show Less
LibraryThing member flemmily
Man, I love and hate Kate Elliott. I really like her characters, her lands, and her plots but I just wish she was a little less epic. That being said, if she wasn't epic, she wouldn't be Kate Elliott. This book got good for me about a third of the way through, with the introduction of Mai.
LibraryThing member rocalisa
Spirit Gate - Kate Elliott
Crossroads, Book 1; Fantasy; DNF
I like Kate Elliott (love Jaran most of all) and was pleased to try this new series. I liked what I read - this certainly isn't a bad book and don't let my DNF put you off - it's just that I was finding it hard going (because of my faulty
Crossroads, Book 1; Fantasy; DNF
I like Kate Elliott (love Jaran most of all) and was pleased to try this new series. I liked what I read - this certainly isn't a bad book and don't let my DNF put you off - it's just that I was finding it hard going (because of my faulty
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CFS brain struggling with all the detail rather than any problems with the book) and I looked at it, realised that if I finished it I would want to read the next one and I was therefore setting myself up to read seven big fat books and I just couldn't cope with the idea. So I stopped. I'm sorry, as under other circumstances I'm pretty sure I would have liked it. I had the same problem with her Crown of Stars series, where I liked the premise and the writing but couldn't face seven big fat books. Show Less
LibraryThing member deborah.soltesz
I (mostly) enjoyed the Crown of Stars series, and decided to start one of her other series. I definitely enjoyed this book, and plan to pick up the rest of the Crossroads series. The universe is interesting (even if it does follow the unavoidable fantasy formula), and the characters are well
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defined. Elliot allows a bit more rawness and griminess into the tale than is typical in my experience with fantasy (which tends to be shiny, velvety, and bedecked with many colorful gems), adding a bit more reality to the characters and events. Show Less
LibraryThing member wunder
Ponderous "worldbuilding" unrelated to the story just killed this for me. Let's describe all the shops on the street while we walk towards something that matters. Let's make the reader do math in their head to figure out the various "ages" when people have ceremonies to move on to the next phase of
I found the whole thing an insult to the reader's attention. Get an editor. And for God's sake, tell a story that I can care about.
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life, then have that not matter to the story. Tell me that the group is annoyed with the cleric rather than showing me, then have the cleric leave the group so none of it matters.I found the whole thing an insult to the reader's attention. Get an editor. And for God's sake, tell a story that I can care about.
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Original publication date
2007
Physical description
448 p.; 9.3 inches
ISBN
0765310554 / 9780765310552