Gate of Darkness, Circle of Light

Rating:
Summary: Forestalling Armageddon
Review: Gate of Darkness Circle of Light is a singleton urban fantasy novel. The focus of this novel is Rebecca, a brain damaged woman with the mental ability of a child, but with the Second Sight. At the age of twelve, she was the only survivor of an automobile accident, suffering a depressed skull fracture which effectively stopped her intellectual development. However, she continued to develop sexually and thus was a desirable target for sexual predators. She has been a ward of the Toronto Metro Social Services since the accident.

In this novel, on a Saturday night, Rebecca discovers the barely alive body of the little man that lives in the tree in front of her apartment house. He has been stabbed with a small dagger. She takes him inside to her bed, but doesn't know what else to do. She leaves Tom, a local cat, to guard the little man and runs to fetch Roland Chapman, a street musician and bard trainee. When they return, the apartment has been disarrayed during a bloody battle between Tom and unknown assailants. The little man finally gives her his name just before he dies. His body vanishes and leaves behind a lot of blood and the dagger.

Rebecca leaves a phone message for Daru Sastri, her caseworker, and then they take the dagger to Mrs. Ruth, a bag lady. She tells them that the dagger is the knife of a Black Adept. Apparently the Darkness is making its move on the world of mankind and they need to enlist the aid of an Adept of the Light to even the odds, Rebecca and Roland convince Ivan, a local ghost, to pass on the request and later the White Adept appears at Rebecca's apartment. Evantarin looks like an adolescent heavy metal rocker, dressed in black and white, and of course is beautiful in a masculine way.

As Rebecca, Roland and Evan are discussing the situation, Daru arrives hastily from a family party and is brought up to date. They determine that the Black Adept has come to open a portal into the realm of Darkness on Midsummer Night; meanwhile, he is killing off the creatures of light and gray as well as indulging himself in sex and blood. Hopefully, they will be able to prevent him from opening the gate and thus forestall the devastation of the Earth in total combat between Darkness and Light.

Police Constable Patton and her partner, PC Brooks, become aware that something out of the ordinary is happening when their car hits a unicorn. Thereafter, they are involved in several mysterious deaths and keep running into Roland and Evan during their investigations. However, both are vulnerable to the manipulations of the Dark Adept and are continually diverted from the real action.

This story is reminiscent of the Bedlam's Bard series by Lackey et al, although preceding that series. In fact, two of Lackey's songs are used herein. However, it based more on the Zoroastrian mythos, in which a balance between good and evil is the desired state, allowing free will for humanity. The exact nature of both good and evil is not specified, but left as a mystery.

The story is apparently the author's third fantasy novel. It has a very unpredictable plotline and an unusual set of well defined characters, although the Dark Adept is stereotypical (evil so lacks originality). The character of Rebecca is extraordinary and the persona of the White Adept Evan is believable without being stuffy. Tom is a male cat, period; he is a totally independent soul with the heart of a warrior.

In case you didn't notice, I thoroughly enjoyed this novel. I have also enjoyed the author's Valor science fiction series. I have other novels by this author on my shelf which I should get to very soon.

Highly recommended for Huff fans and for anyone else who enjoys tales of urban fantasy with a different twist.

-Arthur W. Jordin

Rating:
Summary: Forestalling Armageddon
Review: Gate of Darkness Circle of Light is a singleton urban fantasy novel. The focus of this novel is Rebecca, a brain damaged woman with the mental ability of a child, but with the Second Sight. At the age of twelve, she was the only survivor of an automobile accident, suffering a depressed skull fracture which effectively stopped her intellectual development. However, she continued to develop sexually and thus was a desirable target for sexual predators. She has been a ward of the Toronto Metro Social Services since the accident.

In this novel, on a Saturday night, Rebecca discovers the barely alive body of the little man that lives in the tree in front of her apartment house. He has been stabbed with a small dagger. She takes him inside to her bed, but doesn't know what else to do. She leaves Tom, a local cat, to guard the little man and runs to fetch Roland Chapman, a street musician and bard trainee. When they return, the apartment has been disarrayed during a bloody battle between Tom and unknown assailants. The little man finally gives her his name just before he dies. His body vanishes and leaves behind a lot of blood and the dagger.

Rebecca leaves a phone message for Daru Sastri, her caseworker, and then they take the dagger to Mrs. Ruth, a bag lady. She tells them that the dagger is the knife of a Black Adept. Apparently the Darkness is making its move on the world of mankind and they need to enlist the aid of an Adept of the Light to even the odds, Rebecca and Roland convince Ivan, a local ghost, to pass on the request and later the White Adept appears at Rebecca's apartment. Evantarin looks like an adolescent heavy metal rocker, dressed in black and white, and of course is beautiful in a masculine way.

As Rebecca, Roland and Evan are discussing the situation, Daru arrives hastily from a family party and is brought up to date. They determine that the Black Adept has come to open a portal into the realm of Darkness on Midsummer Night; meanwhile, he is killing off the creatures of light and gray as well as indulging himself in sex and blood. Hopefully, they will be able to prevent him from opening the gate and thus forestall the devastation of the Earth in total combat between Darkness and Light.

Police Constable Patton and her partner, PC Brooks, become aware that something out of the ordinary is happening when their car hits a unicorn. Thereafter, they are involved in several mysterious deaths and keep running into Roland and Evan during their investigations. However, both are vulnerable to the manipulations of the Dark Adept and are continually diverted from the real action.

This story is reminiscent of the Bedlam's Bard series by Lackey et al, although preceding that series. In fact, two of Lackey's songs are used herein. However, it based more on the Zoroastrian mythos, in which a balance between good and evil is the desired state, allowing free will for humanity. The exact nature of both good and evil is not specified, but left as a mystery.

The story is apparently the author's third fantasy novel. It has a very unpredictable plotline and an unusual set of well defined characters, although the Dark Adept is stereotypical (evil so lacks originality). The character of Rebecca is extraordinary and the persona of the White Adept Evan is believable without being stuffy. Tom is a male cat, period; he is a totally independent soul with the heart of a warrior.

In case you didn't notice, I thoroughly enjoyed this novel. I have also enjoyed the author's Valor science fiction series. I have other novels by this author on my shelf which I should get to very soon.

Highly recommended for Huff fans and for anyone else who enjoys tales of urban fantasy with a different twist.

-Arthur W. Jordin

Rating:
Summary: Highly Recommended!
Review: GATE OF DARKNESS, CIRCLE OF LIGHT is one of my favorite fantasy novels of all time! This is the first book I read by Tanya Huff, and it sold me on this fabulous author for life. The characters leap right off the page and you'll never forget them. In reference to the comments in the March 29, 1999, review, I believe it should be noted that GATE OF DARKNESS, CIRCLE OF LIGHT was published in 1989, and the first of Ms. Lackey's BEDLAMS BARD books, KNIGHT OF GHOSTS AND SHADOWS, was not published until 1990. Any similarities present should certainly not affect readers' comfort in reading GATE.

Rating:
Summary: Great but hauntingly familiar
Review: Huff's work is wonderful, especially Summon the Keeper--I hope that there will be a sequel because it is not finished. This new book was great--I love urban fantasy, but for some reason, it really reminded me too much of Mercedes Lackey's Bedlam's Bard. I had this supreme sense of deja-vu. I am not accusing the author of any kind of plagerism (excuse my spelling) but it was kind of like Jordan's the Wheel of Time series compared to Goodkind's Sword of Truth series. Too many aspects rang familiar for me to read it comfortably. But other than that, the book is well worth reading

Rating:
Summary: At first I wasn't sure what I had gotten myself into...
Review: I had picked up the book on an impulse buy because there was a unicorn on the cover and the back cover had some very slight appeal. I let it sit for probably over a year until I was hungry for a good book. I started reading it, not sure I was getting into it, but was quickly delighted with the way she took everyday events, twisted them with mythical fantasy and faery tail creatures and legends, and made a wonderful and addicting story that I couldn't put down. Now I'm off to find out what else she has written and how fast I can get it....

Rating:
Summary: At first I wasn't sure what I had gotten myself into...
Review: I had picked up the book on an impulse buy because there was a unicorn on the cover and the back cover had some very slight appeal. I let it sit for probably over a year until I was hungry for a good book. I started reading it, not sure I was getting into it, but was quickly delighted with the way she took everyday events, twisted them with mythical fantasy and faery tail creatures and legends, and made a wonderful and addicting story that I couldn't put down. Now I'm off to find out what else she has written and how fast I can get it....

Rating:
Summary: Good, but not as good as some.
Review: I instantly picked this up after finishing "Summon the Keeper" by the same author. I was mildly disappointed. Perhaps it was the lower humor content, but I'm also usually into serious stories. This was a very good book with an intelligent plot, but it felt too unsubtle. The characters were likeable, and the angel was a fascinating creature. I was most definitely interested in what would happen to them, but the resolution seemed to come out of nowhere. It's really hard for me to pinpoint the specific reason that I wasn't enthralled by "Gate of Darkness, Circle of Light," but it was a chord with a note missing somewhere.

Rating:
Summary: A re-review and an apology
Review: I re-read the book and ran across my review about a year ago and am now very glad I was corrected and I thank the person who did so. I meant my review to be positive-and and through my own fault started babbling. Huff and Lackey are two of the best authors I've read because of their great stories, humor and wit. I think anyone who reads Gate will thoroughly enjoy it and it definately does need to be put back in print. So please disregard my earlier babbling and if you find a copy of Gate-grab it. It's the kind that you keep with your collection of 'favorites'.

Rating:
Summary: Trouble in Toronto
Review: Rebecca, who is mildly [handicapped], is on of the nicest young women you will ever meet. Despite her handicap, she has a rich life with a job and many friends. And, she can see the wee folk. So it is with great horror that she finds that the little man who lived in the tree next to her apartment has been killed with a ritual knife. Unsure of what to do, she goes to Roland, a street musician and bard-in-training for help. Together, they go to Mrs. Ruth, the bag lady, who understands these things. The little man, they discover, has been slain by an adept of Darkness, recently crossed over from the shadow world.

Mrs. Ruth realizes that their only hope of defending this world from the adept is to send a message to the Light asking for help in restoring the balance. When Evantarin, Adept of the Light, arrives in tight jeans, earrings, tee shirt and a happy face button (yes, I said a happy face button), the adventure begins. There are more characters, such as Daru, Rebecca’s social worker and Tom, a very special cat. A ghost, the usual minions of evil, and two bewildered police officers. If the world cannot be brought into balance it will fall under the Dark, triggering the kind of battle between Light and Dark which leaves neither side very satisfied and our plane pretty much destroyed.

“Gate of Darkness, Circle of Light,” written in 1989, is fairly early Tanya Huff. Not only is it very good in it’s own right, it also foreshadows much of her later work, especially the Summoner series. Huff takes a fairly common fantasy plot device and turns it into a novel and engaging tale. Rebecca and Roland are unlikely heroes, but soon our heart goes out to them as they team up with a very unusual crew to save the world. Huff’s characters keep up an ironic yet gentle banter that quickly wins the reader over. We are drawn in and can do little but go with the flow of the story, laughing with the characters, and sharing their pain as well. These are not perfect people, taken individually. But as a whole, they are a delightful metaphor for something very fine.

Rating:
Summary: Trouble in Toronto
Review: Rebecca, who is mildly [handicapped], is on of the nicest young women you will ever meet. Despite her handicap, she has a rich life with a job and many friends. And, she can see the wee folk. So it is with great horror that she finds that the little man who lived in the tree next to her apartment has been killed with a ritual knife. Unsure of what to do, she goes to Roland, a street musician and bard-in-training for help. Together, they go to Mrs. Ruth, the bag lady, who understands these things. The little man, they discover, has been slain by an adept of Darkness, recently crossed over from the shadow world.

Mrs. Ruth realizes that their only hope of defending this world from the adept is to send a message to the Light asking for help in restoring the balance. When Evantarin, Adept of the Light, arrives in tight jeans, earrings, tee shirt and a happy face button (yes, I said a happy face button), the adventure begins. There are more characters, such as Daru, Rebecca’s social worker and Tom, a very special cat. A ghost, the usual minions of evil, and two bewildered police officers. If the world cannot be brought into balance it will fall under the Dark, triggering the kind of battle between Light and Dark which leaves neither side very satisfied and our plane pretty much destroyed.

“Gate of Darkness, Circle of Light,” written in 1989, is fairly early Tanya Huff. Not only is it very good in it’s own right, it also foreshadows much of her later work, especially the Summoner series. Huff takes a fairly common fantasy plot device and turns it into a novel and engaging tale. Rebecca and Roland are unlikely heroes, but soon our heart goes out to them as they team up with a very unusual crew to save the world. Huff’s characters keep up an ironic yet gentle banter that quickly wins the reader over. We are drawn in and can do little but go with the flow of the story, laughing with the characters, and sharing their pain as well. These are not perfect people, taken individually. But as a whole, they are a delightful metaphor for something very fine.