Traitor's Gate is the third book in the Crossroads series by Kate Elliott, one of my favorite authors, and it wraps up the first part of the saga. The first two books are Spirit Gate and Shadow Gate.
Hm, maybe I should show you what I wrote about each book after I read it:
Spirit Gate (August 2007)
What a big fat book! I love the old Asian feel of the worldbuilding. I admire how the book ends -- a big conflict resolved but so many questions left unanswered. The only downside is the wait 'til the next book
Shadow Gate (June 2008)
I've been meaning to post about Shadow Gate, which is book two in Kate Elliott's Crossroads series. This is a big fat book, rich is calories and flavor.Consider the ingredients:
- Worldbuilding. Being Filipino, the asian and pacific islander influences in the cultures of the Qin & The Hundred are such a kick to me. The level of detail is wonderful; the feeling that this world really exists we're only seeing bits of it.
- Characters. Let me see if I can explain what I really like about the characters. They are all full of the prejudices of beliefs of their culture and upbringing, and they all consider their own worldviews to be perfectly valid. And that's how they are.
- Mastery. I don't know what else to call the storytelling. The choices she makes in the way she tells the story are just very good. Take for example, Cornflower's story. I usually dislike flashbacks, but I appreciated the choice here, since it allows some emotional distance from what would otherwise have been too painful.
Grand and bewilderingly big, like the construction of a Gothic cathedral -- that's what I think this series is like.
Traitors Gate (September 2009)
I've been busy and thus wary of starting this for fear I'd get sucked in and neglect all else. I was right! I started it yesterday and stayed up all night finishing it! Aui!
Another thing I was worried about was that I would have to refer to Books 1 & 2 to remember what was going on, but as soon as I read page one I was back in the flow. The characters do an initial info dump as they are reintroduced in a way that flows right with the story. Really well done.
In fact, I was a bit more than half-way through the book when I caught myself thinking that this whole trilogy is really a masterpiece of the epic fantasy form.
As to the ending, no WONDER the blurb on the front called it "surprising"*. One of those shocking things that nonetheless had a lot of warning. One might even call them red flags. I too, have perfect hindsight.
The most bittersweet wrap up ever.
I'm full of questions, of course (which the author graciously answered, and I will paraphrase her answers below to make them slightly less spoilery)
... spoilers ahoy ...
Is this the end of Mai & Anji's story as central characters? What about Shai, & Zubaidit? (Answer: Mai will be in the next book)
When did Kate Elliott know what was going to happen to Mai & Anji -- right at the start or did it surprise her too? Did it break her heart? I'm guessing it was planned; really an amazing way of driving home the point of the history Jothinin was retelling -- we didn't see until it was too late. (Answer: Very much planned)
What's the plan for the next books -- when & where will they be set? (Answer: "Crossroads 4 is supposed to take place 15 years later (snip big spoilers). It's not particularly epic. The follow up trilogy is meant to take place almost 60 years after the end of Traitors' Gate and is hugely epic."
*oops, actually, it says "extraordinary", but I somehow remembered it as "surprising". It's both, imo.
In conclusion, Kate Elliott writes three Big, Fat, DELICIOUS books that I heartily recommend to anyone with an appetite for a really wonderful read.
Go forth and DEVOUR them.
3 comments:
I have to whole heartedly agree with all that is said here. These books are amazing. (Though I have to admit it took me two weeks to read Traitors gate rather than 1 day, lol).
When I bought The Spirit Gate it was a random buy along with "The Magicians Guild" and "The Summoner", I read those two while I was on holiday and didn't really bother to read to The Spirit Gate it was deemed the least of my three books without being looked at properly.
I later took up the book and decided I paid for it and I should read it. Instantly it jumped up to first place on my list, and is my favourite series. As soon as I'd finished the Spirit Gate I bought and read the Shadow Gate, OMG outstanding. The Traitor's Gate is the ONLY book I have been bothered to pre-order from a shop and I was so upset when I found out I had to wait 7 months until it was released. I think I'll just die die die if I don't get to read book 4 now, but I guess I'll have to wait. This is one author who is in my eyes a close to being the equal of JRR Tolkien as can be.
I just finished the three books, back-to-back. Amazing! Compares to Sarah Douglass and Tolkien. I was so disturbed by the conclusion to the 3rd book until I realized that although the blurb calls it a conclusion to the trilogy, there is indeed a 4th in the works. I will be waiting with bated breath for it to be published. Kudos to Elliott for an excellent saga.
SPOILERS WITHIN
I loved these books, how they didn't treat the reader as stupid and meant to entertain the mind as well as emotion. But the ending destroyed me. NO ONE won. EVERYONE, maybe with the exception of the new Guardians, had a bad ending. Everyone went home empty-handed. Maybe Shai is an exception, having a decent family finally. And Keshad. But the Bigs, the main story movers who had the most screen time, SUFFERED throughout the final chapters and had precious little to show for it. Maybe it can be said that the point was to show that not all stories end happily, but I never pick up a book hoping for my side to utterly fail. The Hundred just became a Qin province, the Guardians are in exile, and Mai has to live life as if a widow. I'm glad this isn't the end because I felt I was going to be rewarded for being dragged behind a wagon for three books. I enjoyed them for the ride mostly, but what kept me reading was my wish for good to finally triumph, not be banished altogether in some relativist metaphor.
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