Wit'ch Gate

Rating:
Summary: A Rare 5-Star Book
Review: Reading the "Wit'ch" series, previously my only real frustration had been the proliferation of apostrophes (and perhaps ...should take note here that searching for "Witch Gate" doesn't give you any hits, only "Wit'ch Gate" does). Having just finished "Wit'ch Gate" in the space of two evenings, I must say that I've put the stuttering-effect of apostrophes aside, and will joyfully dive into this series again.

The cast of characters seemed swollen to capacity with the last book in the series, and you're in for a rough ride. Clemens has a real ability to make you care about characters, and then when those characters end up facing potential death, certain death, or outright suicide, you're gripping the book with frustration: you don't want them to die.

Elena takes a little bit of a back seat in this book, and that works out fine. The other characters, especially Elena's brother Joach, Kast, and Nee'lahn, shine forth in this book with a real aplomb. The story splits three-ways, and the following of one group up to a cliffhanger and then switching to another group is a style that will leave you twitching. All in all, this book is a truly enjoyable experience of fantasy.

Specific to the plotline, the group has to split three ways in order to tackle three of the four wiergate creatures of which they learned in the previous book. The story is sensible, the plot twists are unpredictable without being unplausible, and the magic at no time overpowers the characters or the story to the point of Deus Et Machina. It doesn't matter how powerful the characters may be, it is not their power, but their soul or heart that matters. Solutions to previous plot conflicts are well thought out and always surprising (especially those in the case of the former-hero Kast, twisted to dark magics, and that of the Mogweed/Fardale shapeshifters trapped in one form).

Specifically, I find myself actually worried for some of the characters, and to manage that level of empathy for a character is a real skill indeed. I cannot find anything I found negative enough to mention, and as a result, a rare five stars from me. Grab this one - grab the whole series first - and sit down to a truly great story.

'Nathan

Rating:
Summary: Wit'ch Gate
Review: The book is about a teenaged white girl - Elena who realizes at her 14 birthday that she is a witch. The farmer's daughter cannot understand what is happening to her but before she can sit down to think, she is pushed into the real world. Away from the shelter of her family farm, she realizes that people are sometimes the most disgusting creatures. Along the way, she meets interesting characters like a man who is missing his right arm, a forest nymph, ogre, two werewolves that are stuck one as a man and another as a wolf, an elf and a mountain giant. This bunch of misfits get together for one reason or another and realize that they have a common aim and that is to make the world a better place by defeating the dark lord. This book is a very interesting read and in this particular book, Elena finally figures out what the dark lord is like and what he is planning to do. Tol'Chuck gets the shock of his life and Kral and the bunch who trooped of with the Dro captian - Tyrus, finally manage to fulfil their destinies. This book also features Joach's unending struggle with the dark magik and something horrible happenes to him. On the other hand a new character is introduced in this episode.
James Clemens is Truly a wonderful author and his stories drag you into the book, and with every page you read, you get dragged further into the world of Alasea. I never want the story to end.

Rating:
Summary: the next to last
Review: The fourth installment of the Banned and the Banished series, Wit'ch Gate continues the chronicles of Elena and her support staff on the quest to save the world from doom.
The feeling of familiarity with the plot increases with this book and it's very predictable hills and vales. Small skirmishes leading up to a large battle which concludes in the last chapter leaving us, Elena and her motley band of mis-matched heros with hope.

During the course of this novel, Clemens' plot twists and revelations take on a more desperate note... almost as if throwing in the kitchen sink seemed like a good idea at the time to save an unraveling plot.

Don't get me wrong, the novel was still engaging and I look forward to reading the last of the series, but the predictability of the storyline really shines in this installment.

The action sequences (which make up the bulk of the book) seem rote and rehearsed in contrast to the earlier novels which had a fresh and unscripted feel to them.

I very well may be more jaded than other readers since I've read this series in rapid succession. I suspect the speed with which I've torn through the novels makes them more prone to revealing their similarities.

I am glad that the story will come to an end with the next book, and hope that it's crafted with a little more care than this installment. Although if it stood alone, this would be an excellent fantasy novel, within the framework of the rest of the series it simply can't hold up.

Still an exciting, interesting read, though less so than the others.


Rating:
Summary: When is the next one
Review: This book was fabulous. The dark fantasy that Clemens has created in this world is right on par with Mark Perry (Morigu). Unlike Mark Perry let us fans hope that he (Clemens) does not leave us hanging on the cliff waiting for the next book.