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The Rainbow Gate
Which of the worlds was real? And where were the boundaries?
As a child, Helen and her friend Rianna had wandered freely through Charnwood Forest into an enchanted otherworld of brightly-coloured creatures and strangely beautiful, charismatic people. Then Rianna moved away and the enchantment vanished.
Now, fifteen years later, she has returned suddenly, secretive and haunted. And soon Helen finds herself drawn back across those half-forgotten, ever-shifting boundaries between reality and fable. Drawn back into the twin lands of Tevera: the sun-bright, singing lands of the Chalcenians and the chill, sad underworld of the Domendrans.
Very different but connected worlds, their pull is growing stronger. An age-old conflict between the realms of light and darkness is breaking through into Helen's everyday world, dragging in her loved ones too. Wonder gives way to bewilderment and fright. As they come to understand the enigmatic people of Tevera, they realise that they must play their part in the conflict that will save or destroy our own world.
As a child, Helen and her friend Rianna had wandered freely through Charnwood Forest into an enchanted otherworld of brightly-coloured creatures and strangely beautiful, charismatic people. Then Rianna moved away and the enchantment vanished.
Now, fifteen years later, she has returned suddenly, secretive and haunted. And soon Helen finds herself drawn back across those half-forgotten, ever-shifting boundaries between reality and fable. Drawn back into the twin lands of Tevera: the sun-bright, singing lands of the Chalcenians and the chill, sad underworld of the Domendrans.
Very different but connected worlds, their pull is growing stronger. An age-old conflict between the realms of light and darkness is breaking through into Helen's everyday world, dragging in her loved ones too. Wonder gives way to bewilderment and fright. As they come to understand the enigmatic people of Tevera, they realise that they must play their part in the conflict that will save or destroy our own world.
- GenresFantasy
381 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1989
1 person is currently reading
53 people want to read
About the author
Freda Warrington
52 books326 followersFreda Warrington is an award-winning British author, known for her epic fantasy, vampire and supernatural novels.
“The Blood Wine books are addictive, thrilling reads that are impossible to put down and they definitely deserve more attention” – Worldhopping.net
Her earliest novels, the Blackbird series, were written and published in the 1980s. In the intervening years she has seen numerous novels of epic fantasy, supernatural and contemporary fantasy, vampires, dark romance, horror and alternative history published.
Her novel ELFLAND won the Romantic Times BEST FANTASY NOVEL Award in 2009, while her 1997 Dracula sequel DRACULA THE UNDEAD won the Dracula Society's BEST GOTHIC NOVEL Award.
Four of her novels (Dark Cathedral, Pagan Moon, Dracula the Undead, and The Amber Citadel) have been nominated or shortlisted for the British Fantasy Society's Best Novel award. The American Library Association placed MIDSUMMER NIGHT in its Top Ten for 2010.
Recently Titan Book reissued her popular romantic-gothic Blood Wine vampire series set in the 1920s - A Taste of Blood Wine, A Dance in Blood Velvet and The Dark Blood of Poppies - along with a brand new novel, The Dark Arts of Blood. In 2017, Telos Publishing will publish her first short story collection, NIGHTS OF BLOOD WINE, featuring fifteen lush dark tales - ten set in her Blood Wine world, and five others of gothic weirdness.
In 2003, Simon & Schuster published The Court of the Midnight King, an alternative history/ fantasy retelling of the story of King Richard III. To celebrate all the events surrounding the discovery of Richard III's remains in Leicester, The Court of the Midnight King is now available on Kindle and in paperback format. Most of her backlist titles, including the Blackbird series, Dracula the Undead, Dark Cathedral and Pagan Moon, can already be found on Kindle or will be available in the next few months.
Warrington has also seen numerous short stories published in anthologies and magazines. For further information, visit her website Freda Warrington
Born in Leicester, Warrington grew up in the Charnwood Forest area of Leicestershire. After completing high school, she trained at Loughborough College of Art and Design and worked in medical illustration and graphic design for some years. She eventually moved to full-time writing, and also still enjoys design, photography, art, jewellery-making and other crafts, travelling and conventions.
Series:
* Jewelfire
* Dark Cathedral
* Aetherial Tales
* Blackbird
“The Blood Wine books are addictive, thrilling reads that are impossible to put down and they definitely deserve more attention” – Worldhopping.net
Her earliest novels, the Blackbird series, were written and published in the 1980s. In the intervening years she has seen numerous novels of epic fantasy, supernatural and contemporary fantasy, vampires, dark romance, horror and alternative history published.
Her novel ELFLAND won the Romantic Times BEST FANTASY NOVEL Award in 2009, while her 1997 Dracula sequel DRACULA THE UNDEAD won the Dracula Society's BEST GOTHIC NOVEL Award.
Four of her novels (Dark Cathedral, Pagan Moon, Dracula the Undead, and The Amber Citadel) have been nominated or shortlisted for the British Fantasy Society's Best Novel award. The American Library Association placed MIDSUMMER NIGHT in its Top Ten for 2010.
Recently Titan Book reissued her popular romantic-gothic Blood Wine vampire series set in the 1920s - A Taste of Blood Wine, A Dance in Blood Velvet and The Dark Blood of Poppies - along with a brand new novel, The Dark Arts of Blood. In 2017, Telos Publishing will publish her first short story collection, NIGHTS OF BLOOD WINE, featuring fifteen lush dark tales - ten set in her Blood Wine world, and five others of gothic weirdness.
In 2003, Simon & Schuster published The Court of the Midnight King, an alternative history/ fantasy retelling of the story of King Richard III. To celebrate all the events surrounding the discovery of Richard III's remains in Leicester, The Court of the Midnight King is now available on Kindle and in paperback format. Most of her backlist titles, including the Blackbird series, Dracula the Undead, Dark Cathedral and Pagan Moon, can already be found on Kindle or will be available in the next few months.
Warrington has also seen numerous short stories published in anthologies and magazines. For further information, visit her website Freda Warrington
Born in Leicester, Warrington grew up in the Charnwood Forest area of Leicestershire. After completing high school, she trained at Loughborough College of Art and Design and worked in medical illustration and graphic design for some years. She eventually moved to full-time writing, and also still enjoys design, photography, art, jewellery-making and other crafts, travelling and conventions.
Series:
* Jewelfire
* Dark Cathedral
* Aetherial Tales
* Blackbird
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
August 9, 2017
The Rainbow Gate is an addictive fantasy about a woman called Helen whose friend Rianna used to lead her to play in a different world when they were children. Fifteen years later Rianna returns, and Helen finds herself slipping back into the other world.
Helen is a refreshingly normal heroine. Through everything that happens I was thinking "yeah, that's probably what I'd do". She's not super smart, brave, or wonderfully selfless. She has an ex-husband who is a self-obsessed jerk, but she still cares about him even though she doesn't want him back. She's kinda half in love with someone else's partner, and often runs the other way if she sees danger coming.
Freda Warrington's writing is wonderful (as usual), it's almost poetic without being flowery or sentimental. The plot is unusual and original, I couldn't guess where it was going, and I certainly didn't predict the ending! I felt like it did start to drag a bit towards the end, but I still couldn't put it down.
I recommend this to anyone that enjoys reading fantasy stories with down to earth female characters
Helen is a refreshingly normal heroine. Through everything that happens I was thinking "yeah, that's probably what I'd do". She's not super smart, brave, or wonderfully selfless. She has an ex-husband who is a self-obsessed jerk, but she still cares about him even though she doesn't want him back. She's kinda half in love with someone else's partner, and often runs the other way if she sees danger coming.
Freda Warrington's writing is wonderful (as usual), it's almost poetic without being flowery or sentimental. The plot is unusual and original, I couldn't guess where it was going, and I certainly didn't predict the ending! I felt like it did start to drag a bit towards the end, but I still couldn't put it down.
I recommend this to anyone that enjoys reading fantasy stories with down to earth female characters
December 27, 2020
90s goth emo fantasy.
I'm simultaneously too young for this (because I was too young to read it back in the 90s) and too old (because even though the protagonists are in their late 20s, the book seems juvenile in many ways).
This is not a good novel.
It's an incomplete tale that involves a secondary, parallel world the characters travel to, then they come back again and are essentially back to square one. There is a lack of resolution, of a point, here, that felt immensely frustrating.
I listened to the audiobook and stalled at the last hour to finish it, only to see myself rushed through a half-assed ending that didn't feel like an ending.
I wasn't the target audience, of course, as the 90s are long over. The whole book feels dated, even though the novel doesn't rely on 90s pop culture. Instead, it feels like the tropes and twists in the book are just ... old. Tired.
I wouldn't call it a boring book. But it was tedious, and I am not sure who in this age and day would actually benefit positively from reading it. It's not a great fantasy work (because of the lack of resolution). It does touch on somber subjects like depression ... but not in a way that was meaningful enough to actually remain with me as a lesson. Other strong themes, like Romance and Friendship, were big themes in the book. Relationship constellations were a big subject. However, the way the book ended ruined both the romance and the friendship, which means you have no warm, fuzzy feelings after having read this book.
In short, you read this book and you lose instead of gain experiences, and therefore I would say it's a dated novel that has little or no place in the reading catalogue of tomorrow. There is no positive reason why you should read it. Unless you are a die-hard Freda Warrington fan. In which case, good for you. But this is not her best work.
I found her Blood Wine Sequence to be more intense, romantic, suspenseful and revolutionary than this. It has LGBTQI reps, polyamory and some valuable life lessons amidst intriguing world-building. Dark Cathedral is also a great book. Read those instead.
I'm simultaneously too young for this (because I was too young to read it back in the 90s) and too old (because even though the protagonists are in their late 20s, the book seems juvenile in many ways).
This is not a good novel.
It's an incomplete tale that involves a secondary, parallel world the characters travel to, then they come back again and are essentially back to square one. There is a lack of resolution, of a point, here, that felt immensely frustrating.
I listened to the audiobook and stalled at the last hour to finish it, only to see myself rushed through a half-assed ending that didn't feel like an ending.
I wasn't the target audience, of course, as the 90s are long over. The whole book feels dated, even though the novel doesn't rely on 90s pop culture. Instead, it feels like the tropes and twists in the book are just ... old. Tired.
I wouldn't call it a boring book. But it was tedious, and I am not sure who in this age and day would actually benefit positively from reading it. It's not a great fantasy work (because of the lack of resolution). It does touch on somber subjects like depression ... but not in a way that was meaningful enough to actually remain with me as a lesson. Other strong themes, like Romance and Friendship, were big themes in the book. Relationship constellations were a big subject. However, the way the book ended ruined both the romance and the friendship, which means you have no warm, fuzzy feelings after having read this book.
In short, you read this book and you lose instead of gain experiences, and therefore I would say it's a dated novel that has little or no place in the reading catalogue of tomorrow. There is no positive reason why you should read it. Unless you are a die-hard Freda Warrington fan. In which case, good for you. But this is not her best work.
I found her Blood Wine Sequence to be more intense, romantic, suspenseful and revolutionary than this. It has LGBTQI reps, polyamory and some valuable life lessons amidst intriguing world-building. Dark Cathedral is also a great book. Read those instead.
January 28, 2015
My first fantacy novel and my all-time favourite.
The first time i read it, i was in secondary school. My cousin lended it to me, saying that he liked it but it's more a girl's book. As i started reading, i was soon facinated by the mysterious mood and surreal world created by the author. Although at that time it was hard for me to comprehend every detail of the story written in English, i always felt like being sucked into a a dream whenever i started reading. Many years later, as i re-read this book and complete the book without the blanks i once had because of my poor English. The story plot finally becomes clear to me, and that doesn't change the dreamy feeling it gives me. I couldn't put it down.
I didnt read a lot of fantasy novels, so i can't make any fair comparison. But to me, this is definitely a great book and I will surely re-read it again some years later. (I am not ready to return this book to my cousin yet!)
The first time i read it, i was in secondary school. My cousin lended it to me, saying that he liked it but it's more a girl's book. As i started reading, i was soon facinated by the mysterious mood and surreal world created by the author. Although at that time it was hard for me to comprehend every detail of the story written in English, i always felt like being sucked into a a dream whenever i started reading. Many years later, as i re-read this book and complete the book without the blanks i once had because of my poor English. The story plot finally becomes clear to me, and that doesn't change the dreamy feeling it gives me. I couldn't put it down.
I didnt read a lot of fantasy novels, so i can't make any fair comparison. But to me, this is definitely a great book and I will surely re-read it again some years later. (I am not ready to return this book to my cousin yet!)
August 2, 2018
Fantasy and mild horror. Well written -- oftentimes when pick up its easy enough to keep reading for a while, though some of those times for me personally there's not much motivation in my picking it up (apart from that it's the only fantasy book I've got round at the moment).
Thing wrote after the first 50 pages because I felt like chuntering on, but the gist is more applicable to girlish fantasy (dolls, horses, crafts, steady, emotional, child-hood fantasy world that can't be taken as real, post-divorce main character, solid female friend) indulgence, it then gets a bit more `twisted'/darker later on...
Personally I got a bit fed-up of/worn-out from the back and forward between numerous aspects (prospective partners/sexual relationships, motivations for more than one character, nature of certain objects and the world in the story) 'its bad' or 'its good' and variations on it, flipping from one to the other more than once for each aspect. But I'm sure some would love it. Ultimately there seems little of bite for me personally (interesting perspectives, interpretations, snip-its,....), but I know sometimes it's more the entertainment/thrill value than that that people read -- which is fine. But I felt 2 was being a little mean given execution of its plot/... S0 3 it was.... 2.5, maybe.
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Picked it up in a second hand bookshop. Honestly, I probably wouldn't have bought it online with the access to the plethora of information it gives (that the author writes *gasp* vampire novels *gasp* would have been extremely off-putting for me).
I think, generally speaking, it suits female readers better; particularly females with some inner girlish fantasy awaiting some indulgence; perhaps that which maturity and reality as they so have unraveled through life have tended to push or yell 'shut up' to in the numerous forms that 'girlish fantasy' can take. The main character fits that description both in the more normal ways that hit people and it seems in a more fantastic than normal way. There is a central female friendship.
Why do I presently think it suits such readers better? The combination of it appearing to indulge some inner childish fantasy (or has elements that you'd see in children's' fantasy), the fact that the main character is who she is, and there is that central female friendship... The nature of a close female, supporting friendship is something that might be difficult for a standard chap to latch on to (though I might be wrong in that assertion): research suggests that women spend a lot longer grieving such a friendship when it is broken than a male partner (yes, when they are heterosexual). It could be generally similar for males for all I know (indeed I'm sure there are cases where it has been the same for males)... It just seems to be a set-up that generally speaking females would empathize and identify with more. Anyway, that explanation aside....
It seems to be suiting my mood -- I wouldn't have read the first 50 pages without getting restless otherwise. Perhaps, I have some inner fancy (perhaps in particular one that should not be) that has been too much denied that makes it suits it more *shrugs*... Personal contemplation aside... If further reading warrants an edit of this, then I'll edit it. At the moment its 3 stars because it seems more in the realms of an indulgent flick rather that uses not particularly unusual or new elements (if a competently written one -- which is important) than something to arouse more excitement.
Apologies for the length. Don't let the fact that she writes vampire novels put you off if your mood seems to call to it given what is stated in this review (or if you are a chap and it seems to also!).
Thing wrote after the first 50 pages because I felt like chuntering on, but the gist is more applicable to girlish fantasy (dolls, horses, crafts, steady, emotional, child-hood fantasy world that can't be taken as real, post-divorce main character, solid female friend) indulgence, it then gets a bit more `twisted'/darker later on...
Personally I got a bit fed-up of/worn-out from the back and forward between numerous aspects (prospective partners/sexual relationships, motivations for more than one character, nature of certain objects and the world in the story) 'its bad' or 'its good' and variations on it, flipping from one to the other more than once for each aspect. But I'm sure some would love it. Ultimately there seems little of bite for me personally (interesting perspectives, interpretations, snip-its,....), but I know sometimes it's more the entertainment/thrill value than that that people read -- which is fine. But I felt 2 was being a little mean given execution of its plot/... S0 3 it was.... 2.5, maybe.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Picked it up in a second hand bookshop. Honestly, I probably wouldn't have bought it online with the access to the plethora of information it gives (that the author writes *gasp* vampire novels *gasp* would have been extremely off-putting for me).
I think, generally speaking, it suits female readers better; particularly females with some inner girlish fantasy awaiting some indulgence; perhaps that which maturity and reality as they so have unraveled through life have tended to push or yell 'shut up' to in the numerous forms that 'girlish fantasy' can take. The main character fits that description both in the more normal ways that hit people and it seems in a more fantastic than normal way. There is a central female friendship.
Why do I presently think it suits such readers better? The combination of it appearing to indulge some inner childish fantasy (or has elements that you'd see in children's' fantasy), the fact that the main character is who she is, and there is that central female friendship... The nature of a close female, supporting friendship is something that might be difficult for a standard chap to latch on to (though I might be wrong in that assertion): research suggests that women spend a lot longer grieving such a friendship when it is broken than a male partner (yes, when they are heterosexual). It could be generally similar for males for all I know (indeed I'm sure there are cases where it has been the same for males)... It just seems to be a set-up that generally speaking females would empathize and identify with more. Anyway, that explanation aside....
It seems to be suiting my mood -- I wouldn't have read the first 50 pages without getting restless otherwise. Perhaps, I have some inner fancy (perhaps in particular one that should not be) that has been too much denied that makes it suits it more *shrugs*... Personal contemplation aside... If further reading warrants an edit of this, then I'll edit it. At the moment its 3 stars because it seems more in the realms of an indulgent flick rather that uses not particularly unusual or new elements (if a competently written one -- which is important) than something to arouse more excitement.
Apologies for the length. Don't let the fact that she writes vampire novels put you off if your mood seems to call to it given what is stated in this review (or if you are a chap and it seems to also!).
April 13, 2011
Very addictive... don't know why, but I can't put it down.
July 6, 2011
Didn't hold my interest past 70 pages, and the prologue was particularly painful to slog through.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews