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Saga of Frost #2
Skull Gate
Frost--swordswoman, witch who has lost her powers, fugitive fleeing in disgrace from a disaster not of her own making. Her only chance - the kingdom's only chance - is to track the sorcerer and demon to the very gates of hell and there do battle with the lord of spiders, the demons' master, for the soul of a kidnapped princess and the future of her world.
Mass Market Paperback
First published October 1, 1985
1 person is currently reading
53 people want to read
About the author
Robin Wayne Bailey
94 books40 followersRobin Wayne Bailey is an American fantasy and science fiction author and is a past president (2005-2007) of SFWA, the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America. Robin also served as SFWA's South-Central Regional Director for nine years and has hosted three of SFWA's annual Nebula Awards weekends; two of those Nebula events were held in his home town of Kansas City, Missouri.
Bailey was one of the founders of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writer's Hall of Fame in 1996, which merged with Paul G. Allen's Vulcan Enterprises in Seattle in 2004 to become part of the Science Fiction Museum and Hall of Fame. Robin continues to serve on its annual induction committee.
Bailey graduated from North Kansas City High School, and received a B.A. in English and Anthropology and an M.A. in English Literature from Northwest Missouri State University.
Bailey was one of the founders of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writer's Hall of Fame in 1996, which merged with Paul G. Allen's Vulcan Enterprises in Seattle in 2004 to become part of the Science Fiction Museum and Hall of Fame. Robin continues to serve on its annual induction committee.
Bailey graduated from North Kansas City High School, and received a B.A. in English and Anthropology and an M.A. in English Literature from Northwest Missouri State University.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
December 26, 2019
This is a difficult review to write.
Skull Gate is billed as Sword and Sorcery, and much of the book has elements of Sword and Sorcery in it. But it reads like much of the fantasy written in the '80's.
I'm also not a fan of emotionally crippled/confused female protagonists.
In a race against time there is going to be dangers that crop up. Spice for the adventure. Although when main characters die, and you are sitting there shell-shocked, only to witness their miraculous recovery in an ambiguous way...You kinda want to put the book down. This happens at least twice.
This was an okay read. I would recommend that if it seemed like something you wanted to read, then by all means find it and read it, but I wouldn't go to any great lengths to obtain this. I've only ever seen a few copies of these books out there, so maybe it wasn't a big seller.
Some books become forgotten for these reasons. Some should probably remain forgotten.
Skull Gate is billed as Sword and Sorcery, and much of the book has elements of Sword and Sorcery in it. But it reads like much of the fantasy written in the '80's.
I'm also not a fan of emotionally crippled/confused female protagonists.
In a race against time there is going to be dangers that crop up. Spice for the adventure. Although when main characters die, and you are sitting there shell-shocked, only to witness their miraculous recovery in an ambiguous way...You kinda want to put the book down. This happens at least twice.
This was an okay read. I would recommend that if it seemed like something you wanted to read, then by all means find it and read it, but I wouldn't go to any great lengths to obtain this. I've only ever seen a few copies of these books out there, so maybe it wasn't a big seller.
Some books become forgotten for these reasons. Some should probably remain forgotten.
July 12, 2021
Skull Gate is an upgrade from Frost in many ways. It keeps the good parts of the first book, fixes some of the issues from it, and adds new elements to the story. In short, it's an improvement in every way.
Not a flawless book, mind. Some of the issues linger, like the writing style, which is greatly improved, but not perfect, at least to me. There's also some probably unintentional racism in this book with the demon Gel which is a bit uncomfortable, but because I feel like real malice would've been more aggressive and made a bigger point about those uncomfortable elements, I'll say that it was probably unintentional.
Even if I did spend a lot of time talking about the negatives of this book, I want to make it clear that I think it's good, it's just that I don't feel the need to repeat myself when it comes to the good parts of the book. All I can say is that I'm looking forward to reading more.
Not a flawless book, mind. Some of the issues linger, like the writing style, which is greatly improved, but not perfect, at least to me. There's also some probably unintentional racism in this book with the demon Gel which is a bit uncomfortable, but because I feel like real malice would've been more aggressive and made a bigger point about those uncomfortable elements, I'll say that it was probably unintentional.
Even if I did spend a lot of time talking about the negatives of this book, I want to make it clear that I think it's good, it's just that I don't feel the need to repeat myself when it comes to the good parts of the book. All I can say is that I'm looking forward to reading more.
January 4, 2017
For 1985, the portrayal of the hero might have been passable. No so much these days. She was not believable.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews