The Gates of Sleep

Rating:
Summary: Not terrible, but not good either
Review: "The Gates of Sleep" was a highly disappointing novel.

I've read almost everything else Ms. Lackey, with and without her husband Larry Dixon, has put out. The novels are almost always fresh, involving, funny, incisive, and interesting.

This tried to be those, but fell flat.

Perhaps it's due to the subject matter. "Sleeping Beauty" is tough to retell; setting it in late 19th Century England might be involving and interesting in and of itself, but the romance must be believable. And yet, this one wasn't; Marina should have fallen in love with the Vicar, not the Doctor, if she had to fall in love with anyone at all.

Some other reviewers have pointed out the plot holes and consistency errors from other Elemental Masters novels. I don't see the need to go into them again.

I will say that the only reason this book even gets two stars is because of how well Ms. Lackey drew Margherita, her husband Sebastian, and her brother Thomas. Those three carried the first half of the book, and I really liked it while they were involved.

Then, after they left, I was left with Marina -- someone who supposedly loves fashion but hates corsets, and dwells on every single dress she owns or sees. And I'm supposed to like her? She seemed rather shallow at best; not stupid, precisely, but shallow. Well-meaning but ignorant, perhaps.

Then, the scene that sets up her "romance" with Dr. Andrew was very contrived, too. A girl, suffering from lead poisoning, gets away from Dr. Andrew's sanitarium/hospital, and Marina soothes the girl until Andrew takes her off her hands. And although Marina does many unselfish things in the book, this does not really add to her likeability in any way, because there isn't enough oomph to her personality, somehow.

I liked Andrew, even though I thought Marina was the wrong woman for him. (His nerves as seen by Marina at the end of the book were plausible; her not being concerned about marriage was plausible only because she's already been shown to be rather shallowly drawn.)

Only guess I have is that Ms. Lackey's turnaround time for this book was too short for her to give Marina a more well-rounded personality. That, or I just disliked Marina, and she couldn't hold my interest after her guardians were taken out of the picture.

Oh, Arachne and Reggie did make terrible villains, too. Boring; very, very boring. A cardinal sin in villainy.

Too bad this book couldn't have been written through Sebastian and Margherita's eyes; also, it's a shame that Thomas' romance with Dr. Andrew's nurse wasn't given more time as well. I'd rather have seen that than most of the last half of the book.

Btw, if you're looking for a good book, and you like urban fantasy, go read "Spirits White as Lightning." That one is by Ms. Lackey and another of my favorite authors, Rosemary Edghill, and is everything this book isn't.

Rating:
Summary: a rehash of certain plot ideas but still enjoyable
Review: "Gates of Sleep" had more of a fairy-tale feel to it than "Serpent's Shadow;" and while I did like this novel quite a bit (and really enjoyed the charming twist that Mercedes Lackey put on the Sleeping Beauty motif, esp since in Lackey's version it is Sleeping Beauty/Marina who has the final showdown with the Wicked Fairy Godmother/Arachane), I did not find this book to be quite as compelling as "Serpent's Shadow." Part of the reason was that while Marina is intelligent and canny and likable, she seemed incredibly bland in comparison to Maya (the heroine of "Serpent's Shadow). Another problem I had with "Gates of Sleep" was that the character of Arachne was just not 'fleshed' out enough -- why did she hate her family so much? Was it because she was born without any powers? Had her family treated her differently? Why did she marry so unsuitably? (and why was her husband considered unsuitable?) And how did she come by her dark powers? I wanted proper answers, and didn't find any. Afterall in "Serpent's Shadow" we know why the aunt carries out a virtual vendetta against her brother-in-law and her niece. And I was quite disappointed that Mercedes Lackey did not fill in the blanks (as it were) with "Gates of Sleep." Another thing I couldn't figure out was why, given that Marina had been filled in the fact that there was a curse placed on her, no one saw fit to tell her that it was Arachne who cursed her? The omission seemed a little foolish to me.

Except for that, this book is a rather enjoyable read. Most of the characters (except for Arachne) were well 'fleshed' out, esp that of Marina's. And while (as another reviewer pointed out) there is really not that much variation in theme or plot-ideas between "Serpent's Shadow" and "Gates of Sleep," this was still a rather fun read. The call for female suffrage is again visited (as it was in "Serpent's Shadow) and I esp liked the socio-historical bits that dealt with plight of factory workers and the effects of lead poisoning. Will I read another elemental magic novel by Mercedes Lackey? Definitely. But I do hope that there is more of a variation in plotting next time.

Rating:
Summary: Not terrible, but not good either
Review: "The Gates of Sleep" was a highly disappointing novel.

I've read almost everything else Ms. Lackey, with and without her husband Larry Dixon, has put out. The novels are almost always fresh, involving, funny, incisive, and interesting.

This tried to be those, but fell flat.

Perhaps it's due to the subject matter. "Sleeping Beauty" is tough to retell; setting it in late 19th Century England might be involving and interesting in and of itself, but the romance must be believable. And yet, this one wasn't; Marina should have fallen in love with the Vicar, not the Doctor, if she had to fall in love with anyone at all.

Some other reviewers have pointed out the plot holes and consistency errors from other Elemental Masters novels. I don't see the need to go into them again.

I will say that the only reason this book even gets two stars is because of how well Ms. Lackey drew Margherita, her husband Sebastian, and her brother Thomas. Those three carried the first half of the book, and I really liked it while they were involved.

Then, after they left, I was left with Marina -- someone who supposedly loves fashion but hates corsets, and dwells on every single dress she owns or sees. And I'm supposed to like her? She seemed rather shallow at best; not stupid, precisely, but shallow. Well-meaning but ignorant, perhaps.

Then, the scene that sets up her "romance" with Dr. Andrew was very contrived, too. A girl, suffering from lead poisoning, gets away from Dr. Andrew's sanitarium/hospital, and Marina soothes the girl until Andrew takes her off her hands. And although Marina does many unselfish things in the book, this does not really add to her likeability in any way, because there isn't enough oomph to her personality, somehow.

I liked Andrew, even though I thought Marina was the wrong woman for him. (His nerves as seen by Marina at the end of the book were plausible; her not being concerned about marriage was plausible only because she's already been shown to be rather shallowly drawn.)

Only guess I have is that Ms. Lackey's turnaround time for this book was too short for her to give Marina a more well-rounded personality. That, or I just disliked Marina, and she couldn't hold my interest after her guardians were taken out of the picture.

Oh, Arachne and Reggie did make terrible villains, too. Boring; very, very boring. A cardinal sin in villainy.

Too bad this book couldn't have been written through Sebastian and Margherita's eyes; also, it's a shame that Thomas' romance with Dr. Andrew's nurse wasn't given more time as well. I'd rather have seen that than most of the last half of the book.

Btw, if you're looking for a good book, and you like urban fantasy, go read "Spirits White as Lightning." That one is by Ms. Lackey and another of my favorite authors, Rosemary Edghill, and is everything this book isn't.

Rating:
Summary: Certainly not the best version of Sleeping Beauty
Review: (Well, I did read this one after I'd already read Robin McKinley's version, and there isn't really any comparison.)

The background story was good, and all the sylphs and undines were fascinating. The portrayal of Victorian life was very well done.

However, most of the characters, (excluding Sebastian and Elizabeth) were terribly shallow. Marina herself was rather insipid, and the bad guys were pitiful. The first third of the novel was good, but then after she was kidnapped by Arachne hardly anything of any importance happened until the ending. There was no love story between Andrew and Marina until right at the end, where they up and decided, "Oh, I love you, let's get married!"

This was the first Mercedes Lackey book I ever read, so I gave her another chance and bought The Fairy Godmother.

Rating:
Summary: An interesting read!
Review: Enjoyable book and worth buying, but not one of her best works.

Rating:
Summary: Fluffy But Good
Review: Every once in a while I love to read a fluffy book. This is an excellent book if you are in the mood for one of those. It will make you think some but not a lot. It is well written. The book does have a minor mention of characters from the previous book but it is not essential that you read that one first.

Rating:
Summary: Sleeping Beauty coming of age novel
Review: Good parable based on the Sleeping Beauty myth mixed with a kind of eco-terrorism. While the villains are rather cardboard and the love interest is rather shoe horned into the plot at the end of the novel, it's a relatively good read. The heroine is a little too together for her age, but hey, Y/A novels should give their audience something to aim for. A worthwhile read with a small smattering of history will make for a light historical romance for a teenager. For this adult, it was a nice bit of mind-candy snack.

Rating:
Summary: Don't be nitpicky about details...this is an excellent story
Review: I am a long-time fan of Mercedes Lackey, especially of the Valdemar books. I did not read Fire Rose or Serpent's Shadow although that's the next thing I'm going to do because this was an excellent story. I especially enjoyed Ms. Lackey's span across genres--some of it reminded me a little of Amanda Quick. Her attention to visual details in regards to food and clothing made me see it clearly in my mind.

It is a fun book. Reading should be fun and enjoyable. If you want details read non-fiction. And I do understand purists who need to have everything correct in every title of a series--but this was an excellent book to while away a couple of hours. I would love to see more of these and more Valdemar too!

Rating:
Summary: Disappointed
Review: I didn't pick this book up expecting great literature, but I was expecting... better.

The Fire Rose, and the Serpent's Shadow were both enjoyable books with lively characters-- just the thing for spending a cold day with a warm blanket.

But this book was boring. It had lifeless characters, a passive heroine, a weirdly cardboard romance, and some not-very-scary villains. I wanted to like it, but couldn't.

Rating:
Summary: Another new take on an old fairy tale
Review: I enjoy reading new takes on fairy tales. Lackey has done a wonderful job on Swan Lake (The Black Swan), and Beauty and the Beast (Fire Rose). The Gates of Sleep however is not as well done, but a good read nonetheless.

The main problem I have with this book is the pace of the love story. Dr. Andrew falls for Marina far too quickly. I would also have liked to see more about her Guardians. Lackey creates such wonderful personalities for them and then just cuts them off.

The environmentalist thread thrown in the soup was an interesting take but not particularly neccessary.

All in all, it's not a bad read.