Gordath Wood

Books of the Gordath

by Patrice Sarath

Worlds collide in Gordath Wood.

Something strange is happening in Gordath Wood, the old woods surrounding a training stable called Hunter's Chase. The police think Lynn Romano and Kate Mossland have been murdered, but what actually occurred is much stranger. They've gone through a hole between worlds, into a medieval society at war. In a world that doesn't ordinarily have use for women, the danger is great--good thing Lynn and Kate aren't your ordinary women.

Genres: Fantasy, Adventure, Paranormal, Urban Fantasy

336 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published June 24, 2008

About the author

Patrice Sarath is an author and editor living in Austin, Texas. Her novels include the fantasy books The Sisters Mederos (Book I of the Tales of Port Saint Frey), the series Books of the Gordath (Gordath Wood, Red Gold Bridge, and The Crow God's Girl) and the romance The Unexpected Miss Bennet. 

Patrice is the author of numerous short stories that have appeared in several magazines and anthologies, including Weird Tales, Black Gate, Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine, Realms of Fantasy, and many others. Her short story "A Prayer for Captain La Hire" was included in Year's Best Fantasy of 2003 compiled by David Hartwell and Katherine Cramer. Her story "Pigs and Feaches," originally published in Apex Digest, was reprinted in 2013 in Best Tales of the Apocalypse by Permuted Press.

Patrice is an avid horsewoman. She also enjoys bike-riding, rollerblading, and hiking the woods and trails outside Austin. She can often be found writing at her neighborhood coffee house.

Books:

The Sisters Mederos (2018, Angry Robot Books)
Fog Season (2019, Angry Robot Books)
The Crow God's Girl (2012)
The Unexpected Miss Bennet (2011, Robert Hale and Penguin)
Red Gold Bridge (2009, Penguin Berkley)
Gordath Wood (2008, Penguin Berkley)

Short stories:

A Prayer for Captain La Hire (2002, Black Gate, 2003 Year's Best Fantasy)
Bad Amy (2006, Space Squid)
Bad Dog (2015, Andromeda Spaceways In-Flight Magazine; 2017 Deep Magic)
Blood on the Snow (1999, Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine; 2017 Bloodbound)
Ice (2005, Realms of Fantasy)
Into the Dark (2002, Realms of Fantasy)
Lonely Cries the Winter Wind (2008, Edge of Propinquity)
Memories of Gravity (2013, The Mammoth Book of Futuristic Romance)
More to Glory (2002, Low-Port anthology)
Murder on the Hohmann (2016, Futuristica Vol I)
Pigs and Feaches (2007, Apex Digest, 2013 Best Tales of the Apocalypse)
Pilot's Forge (2009, Mammoth Book of Time Travel Romance)
Reparations (2000, Romance & Beyond)
The Djinn Game (1999, Such a Pretty Face)
The Gig in the Hall of Kings (2004, Cafe Ole anthology)
The Lunch Thief (2007, Weird Tales, published as Bagged Lunch)
The Night of Their Conversion (2007, Space Squid)
The Warlord and the Princess (1999, Beyond the Rose, 2002 Andromeda Spaceways)

Reviews

[Gail · Rating 2 out of 5]

I heard the author read the beginning of this book, and a little bit of the later part, and thought it would be an interesting read. Which it was, but it's not my "cup of tea." The story is about alternate worlds and the gordath, which is the gate between our world and one with a medieval culture. Magic doesn't exist there much more than it does here--it's hidden and secret and scary and mostly involved with the gordath. A couple of women ride horses through the gate and get caught up in a war in the alternate world, which is not a very pleasant experience. This war is complicated by the fact that firearms have been brought through the gate and sold to the rebel armies. Neither side is any more moral/righteous than the other. One woman gets involved with the rebel side, the other--who is a teenaged girl, really--gets caught by the council side. There's a lot of running around and misery and capturing and escaping and threats and threats carried out--and in the end, nothing's really any better than it was before. The gordath gate is closed, but all the potential romances are ruined--ALL of them--things are essentially back to status quo and the end. And that's the main reason I really didn't like this book. There was a whole lot of running around that didn't seem to result in real changes. And Nobody got what they wanted. No. Body. Not for me.

[CJ - It's only a Paper Moon · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book reminded me a lot of Charles de Lint's Wildwood and Patricia McKillip's Solstice Wood.

I was a little disappointed by the ending of the book and would have liked a bit more Joe/Lynn and less Crae. It was a good book but I felt like I didn't know enough about Lynn to really care enough about her. I liked Joe and Kate and wished that I could get to know Lynn more. However, the trick of the book is that you do learn about Lynn through Joe, Crae and Kate and how/what they feel about her.

Kate's sections had the best impact and I have to say, I was also a little saddened by the abruptness of Terrick Jr and Kate. I mean, come on, give a girl something other than broken endings and sudden changes!

That sentiment echoes throughout the book. There's just something missing from the pages that didn't captivate as well as I was hoping to be. I literally finished the book and had to ponder for ten minutes whether I liked it.

The reason for the four stars is that it's actually a three and a half star book and that's mostly because of Joe and Kate. I liked Crae but I think I like Joe more (if you've read the book, you know what I'm referring to).

Anyway, if you love horses, surreal fantasy and the tangled webs that people weave, you will like this book.

I believe there is a sequel coming out soon.

[Rene · Rating 5 out of 5]

Can't wait to read the next one!

I enjoyed this book so much and I'm thrilled to see that there are more of them in the series. Especially great was the authenticity of the details of horses and horse people. Moving on to the next book as soon as I can find it!

[Adrian Simmons · Rating 4 out of 5]

A classic "portal" story with a number of twists! This was a great, fun book, and sets the stage for RED GOLD BRIDGE and THE CROW GOD'S GIRL. Check it out!

[Onjei · Rating 2 out of 5]

A surprisingly sad and bittersweet end to a free paperback novel of outlander-esque potential.

[Flint · Rating 2 out of 5]

Two girls are swallowed up by a magical forest and spit out into a bronze age alternate dimension, but the rift between worlds is unstable and causing earthquakes on both sides and must be closed before both worlds are ultimately destroyed. However before any of this happens Lynn and Kate who are now seperated, enjoy themselves as political prisoners between rival Lords preparing for war and trying to find out how each of the women can help them, because someone from Kate and Lynn's world has also come thru and has been bringing in guns to help one side win the conflict, in exchange for certain favors.

The concept for the story is interesting enough, but the author appears to have completely forgotten to construct the world she created. After Kate and Lynn are transported to this strange magical land which still hasn't progressed beyond our own bronze age, we learn absolutely nothing about it. They are almost immediately captured and confined to either a room in a castle or a tent in an army encampment on opposing sides of an impending war. I felt that this rushed the storytelling along faster than it needed to be and did not enable her characters to develop more by exploring her world.

Another thing that bothered me was the fact that one character got more development over another for no appparent reason. Kate seems to have gotten all the attention not only by the author by also by the book's male characters despite describing her as being plain, whereas Lynn who is described as looking like a model is generally ignored.

[Nancy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gordath Wood is just a splendid book! It begins with jumpers (horses that are trained to handle courses with hurdles) and the people who train and care for them. When Lynn Romano decides to ride the prized horse Dungiven home through the Gordath Wood instead of loading him into the trailer; the decision changes her life. She finds herself in a kind of medieval land where two lords, Tharp and Terrick war over the Red Gate Bridge and the right to control something that is uncontrollable.

Gordath Wood has opened and closed at will since the last Guardian left. It controls the passage from the Now we know to the Then, a land of knights, swords and horses. Lynn has all she can do to keep her head on her shoulders. She is followed into the woods by one of her proteges Kate; who also gets lost and ends up in a camp of the Terrick army while Lynn is captured by one of Tharp's men.

Meanwhile, Joe, Lynn's stablehand and lover, tries his best to see what is happening to the Woods he knows and how to find Lynn and Kate. The horse's owner, Mrs, Hunt is no help at all and seems not to care about the outcome of her best stallion and trainer.

This book is full of plots, magics, love and mysteries. It is a good read and for a first novel, is excellent. Congratulations to the author and I hope to read more from her soon.

[Jupiter1 · Rating 1 out of 5]

I had way too many problems with this book, and so I skimmed through most of it. They just don't treat the horses well, which I did not appreciate, and I saw more of the point of view of one character, I think her name was Kate, when I expected the character from the blurb on the back, I think her name was Sarah, making me think that she wasn't the main character, but that Kate was. Kate, who is fourteen or close to it, was horribly whipped by a crazy general who 'loves' her, which just irked me the wrong way, not to mention that she just took it, like that was part of her world and that she deserved it, even though she didn't. She got far too used to the world far too fast for me to see it as realistic. I checked out the blurb for the sequel and found out that Kate may want to actually go back to the parallel world, which I did not understand at all, so this made me not want to read the next book. The only good thing I can say about this book was that it was well written. Overall, though, I did not like this book and would not recommend it.

Sorry if this is too confusing, I read this close to a year ago and no longer own it, so I'm going from memory. I figure I don't remember enough of it to write a 'real' review, so I just wrote some of my thoughts on it.

[Margaret · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow! Awesome! Masterful! Kept me up until the wee hours because I absolutely could not put this book down! (Also, if you enjoy Mary Stewart, you'll love this book!) (AND if you love horses, I highly recommend this book!)

I am SO thankful that SF Gateway has decided to reissue Patrice Sarath's Gordath Wood trilogy so I'd have a second chance to read it. I had had no idea that Gordath Wood (the first book) had been published by Ace as a mass market paperback back in 2008!

Gordath Wood is a wholly original take on "modern person falls into medieval world". I love books in this vein and have read a number of them. This is the first book where, after our modern person has changed worlds, we still see the world which our modern person came from. Action takes place in both worlds!

AND this book has dual protagonists. Not one girl but TWO make the journey. That was a first for me, also.

The ONLY downside is that SF Gateway decided not to reissue all three books at the same time. So, I have to wait nine endless days (October 24) until the second book is delivered to my Kindle. AAARGH!

Highly recommended for both strong characters and well-written battle scenes!

[Stacey · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm so CONFLICTED. While it took awhile for the story to get really started, slowly I got hooked on the experiences of our modern day heroines in the alternate, medieval-based world on the other side of the Gordath. The modern equestrian setting felt a little too convenient (Lynn and Kate aren't too out of their depth when they're required to ride everywhere), but there are some interesting plot elements that develop out of it.

Kate and Lynn both had great storylines, but I enjoyed Kate's especially, since she's so young and yet so strong. Her experiences really run her through the wringer, but she manages to grow and thrive. Lynn also had great adventures, but hers was more focused on romance (and a love TRIANGLE, sheesh).

I figured out all the plot twists and angles before they were revealed, but that's fun, too - it spikes the suspense as I wait to find out if I'm right.

It REALLY needs a sequel.

[Dorri · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was not the book that I expected when I picked it up. I know many people who will adore and even love this book. Unfortunatly, I am not one of them.

Two worlds exist between the gordath stones. One, the modern world of cars, guns and electricity. The other of carved stone, swords and rough hewed medicine. When the Woods are open, things that should be outside their own worlds flow through.

To say much more about this book is to give it away. It wasn't a horrible read, to that matter I found it well written. Just not my type of book.

[mirba · Rating 2 out of 5]

As many others says, don't let the cover trick you. This is not a horse book, it's a out of earth book.
Also don't let the intro trick you. The two females main characters are not particularly strong or anything. Just normal girls. The adult one is just wandering around most of the time.
The teenager, that's a good girl. She's corageous, and practical.

The storyline is not much believable either. and the map of the other world makes no sense. maybe giving a drawing so that people has an idea of what is happening would make more sense.

[Kristin · Rating 2 out of 5]

Read from 6/24 to 6/30. Good concept, but bungled somewhat in the execution. I actually communicated a bit with the author about this, and she agreed with me and had apparently been told the same by other people. She seems to be a decent author, though, and should improve with some more experience.

[Jennifer · Rating 1 out of 5]

I agree with Margaret P. Bought the book based on front cover and back description. Thought I was getting a story about Lynn Romano but story was written from the perspective of too many other characters. Sorry, but I didn't attempt to finish the book after the first chapter. Too many points of view.

[Emily · Rating 1 out of 5]

I did not like this book. What a mess. There's no clear protagonist, no clear story, and the bad guys were just too cookie cutter evil. It was like the author had four different books she wanted to write but wasn't sure if she would ever be able to publish more than one, so she threw it all in here. Bad job on the part of the editor. I skipped around but didn't even care enough to read the end.

[Elvet · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm rereading this one before I start the next Red Gold Bridge. I think I like it better the second time around.

[Ruby · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is not a bad book, though it was a lot different than what I had expected. I liked that the author actually knows about horses, and wasn't just guessing. While it has a bit of a cliched and campy feel, the plot had a distinct feel, and is one that I haven't come across often.

[Ubalstecha · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not bad for a first novel. Pretty standard fantasy fare, with a gate between two worlds, and a medeval style war being chaged with the addition of guns. Nice use of (and knowledge of) horses. The author has left the door open for a sequel, which I will pick up if and when it comes out.

[Eduardo · Rating 4 out of 5]

If any time travel story send you back in time and makes you feel like you're really, really there, it makes the story so much better. Gordath Wood certainly accomplishes that, making it a taut page turner.

[Eileen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Going through a portal to another world is common. The book is made interesting by good characters of various ages and realistic portrayals of paternalistic society. Details about horses and their care add to the richness.

[Amy · Rating 2 out of 5]

If you are a horse lover, you might like this book. It was entertaining enough for a week-end read, but nothing amazing, and I didn't care for the swearing.

[Kathi Wallace · Rating 4 out of 5]

REALLY liked this book!

[Jamie · Rating 4 out of 5]

interesting book with a fun mix of past and present time. Had strong characters that were interesting to see develop. Read it in like 2 days-was that good!

[Lynn Calvin]

Amazon received

[Michelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

A surprisingly complex story with varied characters.

[Kathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this book quite a bit, although the second book and third book in the series seemed much stronger with bolder story lines.

[Priyanka Nagaraj · Rating 5 out of 5]

luv'd it really...... nd crae.... wow dats my most favourite character.....

[Jessica · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great story. The characters are all believable, the story is complete and intriguing enough to make me read it straight through.