The Lost Gate by Orson Scott Card

Although its protagonist is a thirteen year old, The Lost Gate is definitely not suited for that age group. The teenager in question is Danny North, raised in a hidden community in rural Virginia. His kin are the relict of an ancient tribe of mages who once ruled humans as the gods of the Indo-European pantheon using their powers over rock, water, wind and animals. Their original home was Westil, a distant planet from where the ‘divine’ families migrated to Mittlegard (Earth) through a great gate created by a gatemage. However, in 632 AD, a powerful gatemage named Loki seals all the gates making Westil inaccessible, marooning the Westilians on Earth. Centuries later, the Westilian families are greatly weakened but constantly at war with each other. Their contempt for drowthers (muggles in Harry Potterish) continues despite humanity’s technological advancements which place them ahead of the mages’ much reduced powers. Gatemages are taboo and children who show any inkling towards gatemagery are swiftly killed. And yet the families covet the great gate because going through it can magnify their skills a hundred fold.  

Danny is perpetually ill treated by his relatives who believe him to be a drekka (non-magical person, is the term squib in Potterish?). His own parents are indifferent to him. That is until Danny discovers his ability to create gates – portals that can take him from any location to anywhere else. Fearing death, Danny flees the North compound and is adopted by Eric, an 18 year old delinquent who uses Danny to run a begging racket in Washington DC. When Eric discovers Danny’s secret, he coerces him to commit burglary. By a stroke of coincidence, Danny and Eric find shelter in the home of Stone, a mage of inferior abilities who belongs to a group called the Orphans. Stone recognizes Danny’s skill and sends him off some friends in Wisconsin to be trained. Intertwined with Danny’s story is the narrative on Wad, a powerful gatemage in the Westilian kingdom of Iceway who awakes after sleeping inside a tree for 14 centuries and becomes involved in palace intrigues in the kingdom’s capital. The plot predictably builds towards the moment where Danny constructs a great gate and once again links the two worlds. The consequence, of course, is the subject of the next book in the series. 

The Lost Gate was a fun read albeit a shallow one. The idea of ‘gating’ seems very similar to the theme of the film Jumper which I’m sure must have originally been a book. The plot is a little silly; everything falls neatly into place and everything has a faultless explanation. Also, it seems like Card used the story in its entirety to setup subsequent books. I sort of felt cheated towards the end. I understand the need to write sequels but I reckon it’s poor form to write singularly with part two, three and four in mind.