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The Seeker Chronicles #3
Listening at the Gate
All her life, Kat has known that she does not belong.In her father's village, she is scorned for her fiery red hair, legacy of her father's shameful marriage to a native woman. And in her mother's mountain town, Kat is an outsider, someone her aunt and cousins love desperately but cannot understand. Her only true home, she feels, is with a gray-eyed young man named Nall. . . .
But Nall is an outsider too. Cast out by his tribe, he has no place to call home. Can Kat trust his love and make a new life with him, even amid the terror that is spreading around them? For war is breaking out between two clans who both claim Kat's allegiance, and she can do nothing to stop it. When her beloved brother, Dai, is taken prisoner, Kat must confront not only the earthly battle that is tearing her world apart, but the struggle within herself and with the man she loves.
In the face of chaos that is destroying everything they know, Kat and Nall embark on a dangerous quest -- a journey that will take them beyond themselves and beyond the last boundary of all, to the Gate where the world was born.
Beautifully written by Betsy James, the acclaimed author of "Long Night Dance" and "Dark Heart," "Listening at the Gate" is a sweeping epic of love, identity, and change.
But Nall is an outsider too. Cast out by his tribe, he has no place to call home. Can Kat trust his love and make a new life with him, even amid the terror that is spreading around them? For war is breaking out between two clans who both claim Kat's allegiance, and she can do nothing to stop it. When her beloved brother, Dai, is taken prisoner, Kat must confront not only the earthly battle that is tearing her world apart, but the struggle within herself and with the man she loves.
In the face of chaos that is destroying everything they know, Kat and Nall embark on a dangerous quest -- a journey that will take them beyond themselves and beyond the last boundary of all, to the Gate where the world was born.
Beautifully written by Betsy James, the acclaimed author of "Long Night Dance" and "Dark Heart," "Listening at the Gate" is a sweeping epic of love, identity, and change.
502 pages, Hardcover
First published March 7, 2006
4 people are currently reading
145 people want to read
About the author
Betsy James
55 books27 followersAward-winning author-illustrator Betsy James has written and/or illustrated more than a dozen books for children and young adults. She lives in New Mexico where she hikes, grows corn, and shares the shade of a cottonwood tree with one small ground squirrel and several toads.
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Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews
March 27, 2020
So what do you do when you can't bear the world to be the world? When it devours brothers like a shark, twists babies, gives wealth and power to evil men? Do you go to where it is being born-- if you can find that place-- and see whether there, perhaps, it makes sense? Or maybe you just go searching for that place, because if you are moving, the pain is less?
I'm still sorting through words to talk about this book, and this series as a whole now that I've finished it. This, actually, is a theme throughout Listening at the Gate: not having the exact words to say what you mean, but using the words you have.
Betsy James is the queen of motifs-- there are quite a few woven through the narrative that converge in the end and bring a beautiful, heartbreaking epiphany to both the characters and the reader. In Roadsouls, it's names. In Long Night Dance it is the sea. In Dark Heart it is weaving, the rigidity of patterns.
In Listening at the Gate there are several that stand out: songs, "halves" (the term used to mean all the different facets of a person), and "Nothing". Nothing means something very significant throughout this story but only under the weight of context (aka spoilers)-- and it sort of blew my mind when James tied off the loop at the end.
One thing that I loved about this book is that James puts her characters through the absolute wringer. I felt their deep pain, deep loss and deep Nothing due to the loss of identity. These are Young Adult books but they deal with very profound matters in a sort of intuitive way. They're about growing up-- each book is a stage of maturity. A lesson to learn. And Listening at the Gate is the most painful lesson of all.
Kat learns to break out of oppression and to be her own person in the previous books. She is now ready to return to her love, Nall. But there are terrible things happening in her hometown, and, Nall fears, in Nall's own home across the sea. And Nall has his own journey of identity to embark on.
Having a calling, knowing it all your life, embracing it and pursuing it only to have it fall utterly short of your expectation.... that is Nall's journey. And he is changed because of it. It's not stated in the text, but I felt it because I've felt it before-- all the signs of depression are there. Floundering, uncertainty. No direction. He must learn to embrace his new calling.
I saw his face and thought, Until now you've always known who you were and were not. Are you really nothing? Or are you just finding out that you have a thousand halves, like me?
Kat's journey, then, is to learn to love this person she doesn't recognize. And that is so, so hard.
For there was, after all, a ghost in the wind, of a lonely girl who had longed so deeply that she had called a man out of the sea; yet she had not gotten what she wanted. There had been some mistake. She had longed for a lover like the one who had kissed her on Mailin's hearth, and this was not he.
This series as a whole reminds me very much of the Nevermor series by Lani Lenore-- the journey of maturity the characters take, and the pain, are very similar.
Loving is hard. This series shows that unapologetically, for which I'm grateful. But it's worth it.
"Aieh said, 'One loves fools.' But there's nobody else to love, as far as I can tell."
I'm still sorting through words to talk about this book, and this series as a whole now that I've finished it. This, actually, is a theme throughout Listening at the Gate: not having the exact words to say what you mean, but using the words you have.
Betsy James is the queen of motifs-- there are quite a few woven through the narrative that converge in the end and bring a beautiful, heartbreaking epiphany to both the characters and the reader. In Roadsouls, it's names. In Long Night Dance it is the sea. In Dark Heart it is weaving, the rigidity of patterns.
In Listening at the Gate there are several that stand out: songs, "halves" (the term used to mean all the different facets of a person), and "Nothing". Nothing means something very significant throughout this story but only under the weight of context (aka spoilers)-- and it sort of blew my mind when James tied off the loop at the end.
One thing that I loved about this book is that James puts her characters through the absolute wringer. I felt their deep pain, deep loss and deep Nothing due to the loss of identity. These are Young Adult books but they deal with very profound matters in a sort of intuitive way. They're about growing up-- each book is a stage of maturity. A lesson to learn. And Listening at the Gate is the most painful lesson of all.
Kat learns to break out of oppression and to be her own person in the previous books. She is now ready to return to her love, Nall. But there are terrible things happening in her hometown, and, Nall fears, in Nall's own home across the sea. And Nall has his own journey of identity to embark on.
Having a calling, knowing it all your life, embracing it and pursuing it only to have it fall utterly short of your expectation.... that is Nall's journey. And he is changed because of it. It's not stated in the text, but I felt it because I've felt it before-- all the signs of depression are there. Floundering, uncertainty. No direction. He must learn to embrace his new calling.
I saw his face and thought, Until now you've always known who you were and were not. Are you really nothing? Or are you just finding out that you have a thousand halves, like me?
Kat's journey, then, is to learn to love this person she doesn't recognize. And that is so, so hard.
For there was, after all, a ghost in the wind, of a lonely girl who had longed so deeply that she had called a man out of the sea; yet she had not gotten what she wanted. There had been some mistake. She had longed for a lover like the one who had kissed her on Mailin's hearth, and this was not he.
This series as a whole reminds me very much of the Nevermor series by Lani Lenore-- the journey of maturity the characters take, and the pain, are very similar.
Loving is hard. This series shows that unapologetically, for which I'm grateful. But it's worth it.
"Aieh said, 'One loves fools.' But there's nobody else to love, as far as I can tell."
August 1, 2010
Whoa, I had no idea this was a series and that I skipped the first two books. Oops.
Beautifully written and poetic--this is a grown up book set in a world that seems ancient. How is it that a teenager got this so right? Well, the author wrote the stories as a teenager, later painted scenes inspired by the stories, and then as an adult wrote the book. Still. To write of Nothing even in poetry seems pretty deep. The whole concept of different people, different religions and the mysticism that is placed on holy things comes through so well in an unconventional way. There's lots of adventure and danger and running. Always running. Lots of superstition that gets blown to the wind because a girl sang a boy to her.
Beautifully written and poetic--this is a grown up book set in a world that seems ancient. How is it that a teenager got this so right? Well, the author wrote the stories as a teenager, later painted scenes inspired by the stories, and then as an adult wrote the book. Still. To write of Nothing even in poetry seems pretty deep. The whole concept of different people, different religions and the mysticism that is placed on holy things comes through so well in an unconventional way. There's lots of adventure and danger and running. Always running. Lots of superstition that gets blown to the wind because a girl sang a boy to her.
May 4, 2011
These are very thought provoking books. I couldn't put it down all day. The language of these books just sings to me and flows around me. Very well written and thought out. From beginning of this series to the end everything was to come together for the growth of the characters, it was just amazing. I so wish that the swear words would have been left out. There was a lot of skin too but that was the culture of the people and not offensive at all, but these are older books. The language would be difficult for a younger reader.
February 8, 2013
Although marketed as part of a series, this book far surpasses the first two books and is a better stand-alone title. From page one, it captured my attention and my imagination, and I was unable to put it down until the story had concluded.
August 19, 2017
To be fair, I read this in manuscript, picking a print-off up from Ursula K. Le Guin's house, and I am thanked in the Acknowledgments. However, the truth is that I loved this book.
James has enough background in anthropology to construct believable civilizations. The story is compelling, the characters are real live people, and the book is wonderful, in the sense that it is filled with wonders.
James has enough background in anthropology to construct believable civilizations. The story is compelling, the characters are real live people, and the book is wonderful, in the sense that it is filled with wonders.
November 24, 2007
Beautifully written fantasy novel that weaves ancient seal myths with elements of dystopian vision. I didn't realize this was the 3rd book of a trilogy- it stands alone very well. Characters are fully realized and interesting. The taut plot sucked me in fully, and I really enjoyed the ride. Recommended.
October 3, 2018
This is the final book in a young-adult fantasy trilogy centered on the character of Kat. It is a book that I find hard to assign an overall grade, averaging out a reading experience that varied widely. At its best, this book is wonderful. James's prose can be near perfect, and the story and characters and emotion were sometimes near perfect too. At other times, the tale felt longwinded. Worse, at times the story made me feel out-of-sorts, because it didn't have the shape I wanted it to have, because (mild spoilers from here onward)
P.S. I note that I unequivocally loved James's most recent book, "Roadsouls," which is set in the same invented world as this trilogy.
P.S. I note that I unequivocally loved James's most recent book, "Roadsouls," which is set in the same invented world as this trilogy.
October 4, 2014
Well, my goodness. Those of you who got here by reading the other two books, be aware: this is massive compared to those two! At least three times the size.
We come back to Kat's character growth, which, if you think about it, has been what this series is really about. The world turning, changing, and developing. It's not pretty, it's not ugly, it just is. This series is about things that are, and how they happen.
The past two books I thought were beautiful. The writing was amazing, descriptive, and real. The characters were alright too, fitting into the world the author created but sometimes to my mind seeming too small for it. I enjoyed the second book a lot- Kat ran away from her hometown and her love, Nall, to her mother's people. She couldn't give herself to Nall if she didn't know what she was, she thought, and I think that's a good thought and true. So in the second book, Kat learned more about who and what she was. In this book, she returns to Downshore and the life she knew and finds it just as changed as she is.
Now, this book is beautiful as the others. But like I said, it's longer- and that's not a problem. My main problem is that this book seems to wander quite a bit. It's not because the author didn't know what she was doing- I have faith in her, and I can see the design. It's because Kat, Nall, and all the others are struggling through their world the same we we struggle in ours, and it's not neat and tidy and able to be packed into a package, like an episode on TV where the victim is killed and the murder solved in the same 45 minutes.
That being said, I think the book could have benefited from a little more focus. I felt it wandered a lot, and although it ended acceptably, I felt it could have ended a little better, maybe been more clear. It didn't quite have the guts to go where few books do and have Kat break off from Nall (who she's confused about throughout the entire book), but neither did it conform and have theirs become just a normal love story. It fell somewhere in between, and so ended up lukewarm.
I think that sums up the overall ending, as well. There's no real decision made- we don't know exactly what happened or what's going to happen. I found that somewhat unsatisfying, and for a book this long, I was a little disappointed. Of course, it's kind of this series' habit to be philosophical and keep it centered on just people while at the same time striving for things that no one can describe.
I hope this review makes sense. I would recommend this book for people who've read the rest of the series. Otherwise, I think it would be too out there. Start with the first book.
We come back to Kat's character growth, which, if you think about it, has been what this series is really about. The world turning, changing, and developing. It's not pretty, it's not ugly, it just is. This series is about things that are, and how they happen.
The past two books I thought were beautiful. The writing was amazing, descriptive, and real. The characters were alright too, fitting into the world the author created but sometimes to my mind seeming too small for it. I enjoyed the second book a lot- Kat ran away from her hometown and her love, Nall, to her mother's people. She couldn't give herself to Nall if she didn't know what she was, she thought, and I think that's a good thought and true. So in the second book, Kat learned more about who and what she was. In this book, she returns to Downshore and the life she knew and finds it just as changed as she is.
Now, this book is beautiful as the others. But like I said, it's longer- and that's not a problem. My main problem is that this book seems to wander quite a bit. It's not because the author didn't know what she was doing- I have faith in her, and I can see the design. It's because Kat, Nall, and all the others are struggling through their world the same we we struggle in ours, and it's not neat and tidy and able to be packed into a package, like an episode on TV where the victim is killed and the murder solved in the same 45 minutes.
That being said, I think the book could have benefited from a little more focus. I felt it wandered a lot, and although it ended acceptably, I felt it could have ended a little better, maybe been more clear. It didn't quite have the guts to go where few books do and have Kat break off from Nall (who she's confused about throughout the entire book), but neither did it conform and have theirs become just a normal love story. It fell somewhere in between, and so ended up lukewarm.
I think that sums up the overall ending, as well. There's no real decision made- we don't know exactly what happened or what's going to happen. I found that somewhat unsatisfying, and for a book this long, I was a little disappointed. Of course, it's kind of this series' habit to be philosophical and keep it centered on just people while at the same time striving for things that no one can describe.
I hope this review makes sense. I would recommend this book for people who've read the rest of the series. Otherwise, I think it would be too out there. Start with the first book.
February 19, 2017
I borrowed this book from a friend several months ago (probably close to a year ago tbh) and just now got around to reading it. I felt like the writing was slighly juvenile in places and the pacing somewhat erratic, but that was actually probably on purpose as it mirrored the ultimate message. I found it distracting sometimes, though. This book gets 5 stars from me more because of the importance of that message than the actual writing. The past month or so I've been questioning my life calling and struggling with feeling like too much is pointless and insignificant. I needed this book to remind me what one person can do in the face of widespread corruption and violence, to remind me that nothing really is everything, and that the mystery of life can be conforting rather than overwhelming.
Read
July 12, 2012I'm honestly not certain how to rate this one. I think James has a way with words and her writing is quite beautiful, however, sometimes the main character, Kat, drove me up the wall with her brash impulsiveness and the way in which she sometimes treated Nall as a possession instead of a person (when she practically had a knock-down, drag-out fight with another girl over the poor man, I nearly threw the book across the room). And while we are on the subject of Nall, I feel as if I hardly got to know him, perhaps because he was dealing with some heady issues throughout the majority of the book, and he seems like the type to go into his own head during times like these and seems to struggle with verbalizing exactly what he is experiencing.
It wasn't until practically the end of the book that the pair of them finally got their act together and that only after other characters practically head-slapped them into an understanding of how things ought to be between them. Was it too little, too late for me? I don't rightly know and it might take a second reading for me to figure that out. The question is, do I want to go through this all over again? Time will tell.
It wasn't until practically the end of the book that the pair of them finally got their act together and that only after other characters practically head-slapped them into an understanding of how things ought to be between them. Was it too little, too late for me? I don't rightly know and it might take a second reading for me to figure that out. The question is, do I want to go through this all over again? Time will tell.
April 10, 2010
This the third and final book in "The Seeker Chronicles" series. There were parts that I liked but the first two were undoubtedly much better. This one drug on. Painfully so that as it got towards the end I hated it.
I felt that the editors needed to cut out hours of this book.
I'm not sure what changed with the author but her writing style between the first two and this last changed. It was as if the first two were edited and this third wasn't and it should have. Oh my gosh it drug on and on and on..........
I felt that the editors needed to cut out hours of this book.
I'm not sure what changed with the author but her writing style between the first two and this last changed. It was as if the first two were edited and this third wasn't and it should have. Oh my gosh it drug on and on and on..........
started-never-finished
October 31, 2011I tried to get through this book, I really did. But I couldn't. It dragged on and on and by the time some semblance of plot showed up I really didn't care anymore.
I didn't feel like I understood any of the characters, even 200 pages in. Kat and Nall sort of irked me, to be honest.
I just noticed now that this is apparently the third book in a series (would it have killed them to mention that in the jacket somewhere?). Maybe that accounts for some of the issues I had with this book, but even so, I won't be going back and trying the first two.
I didn't feel like I understood any of the characters, even 200 pages in. Kat and Nall sort of irked me, to be honest.
I just noticed now that this is apparently the third book in a series (would it have killed them to mention that in the jacket somewhere?). Maybe that accounts for some of the issues I had with this book, but even so, I won't be going back and trying the first two.
October 29, 2012
It would have been better if I would have realized from the start that this was the third book in a trilogy... The beginning had a a lot of background information, and I understood all but the little details left out in the introduction summary. The plot was good, but overall, the whole story was a little slow. In my mind, it didn't even have a good ending, but maybe that was because I didn't read the first two books... If I have time soon, I might do back and read the first two, and see what parts I really missed. It was an ok book, but I would not read it if you like lots of action.
December 31, 2008
this book was really good, though Nall got me very frustrated in this book and so did Kat. this book kind of keeps going on and on so if you feel like stopping just keep reading to the end and it is really good.
July 3, 2013
So.... I didn't read the first two books but still managed to like this one. Confusing at points and maybe I will go back and read the first two and write a review. It would have been nice if the fact that it was a series was advertised somewhere on the book quite visibly.
October 14, 2007
it was a nice read. something different than the previous two books in the chronicle.kat goes on a bigger more exciting adventure at the sea and found herself...:p
January 20, 2009
I have reviewed this series as a whole on my blog here.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Want to read
April 29, 2009This series is really good. I enjoyed 1,2 and hope to read 3 in the near future.
August 23, 2010
Good book, wonderful conclusion to this series. I thought the ending got a bit slow and boring, but the last three chapters wrapped it up nicely :)
September 14, 2012
I actually read the advanced reading copy of this and had no idea it was part of a series. It was a decent enough story and the writing was good but not outstanding.
June 24, 2014
I haven't read the first two, but did find myself gently drawn into the world, and touched by this book.
April 28, 2016
What a tripy book this was, dragged a bit, but really weird. Loved every bit of it. Didn't know it was the final book in a series.
January 2, 2017
I enjoyed it. The endings were unexpected but right.
August 13, 2009
dragged a bit... not the most interesting :D
Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews