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Crossroads #3
Traitors' Gate
Reeve Joss is struggling to defend a country ravaged by the assaults of twin armies. His men now patrol a land of burning villages and homeless refugees as Joss tries to separate traitor from friend. The Reeve's thoughts are also plagued by the intriguing Zubaidit, pleasure-giver, spy and temple-trained assassin. But Zubaidit is focused on a dangerous mission, her target being warped Guardian Lord Radas. His death would leave the invading militia in chaos, but the old tales tell truly of the Guardians' immortality - and of the powers they now wield to twist the hearts of men. Joss's nights are also troubled, disturbed by dreams of Marit. His lost love has returned from death to become a feared Guardian herself, but Marit rejected the corrupt temptations they offered. She now seeks others of her kind, praying some are yet uncontaminated by the blight on the land - and have the will to fight it.
816 pages, Paperback
First published August 18, 2009
35 people are currently reading
1280 people want to read
About the author
Kate Elliott
109 books2,900 followersAs a child in rural Oregon, Kate Elliott made up stories because she longed to escape to a world of lurid adventure fiction. She now writes fantasy, steampunk, and science fiction, often with a romantic edge. She currently lives in Hawaii, where she paddles outrigger canoes and spoils her schnauzer.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 133 reviews
September 28, 2023
After seven years of fond memory, I finally reread this trilogy, one of my enduring favourites. I often felt this book best exemplifies the worldbuilding; this is Elliott's best expression of her vision for The Hundred. It's my favourite imagined secondary world, and the most mature. Elliott created an incredibly lifelike, deep, exotic setting that is eminently human. The ways that daily life, economics, religion, sex, geography, education, storytelling, and every other aspect of the human experience play out in this world is phenomenal. It's true fantasy worldbuilding for grownups. The Hundred lives and breathes, and Elliott trusts the reader to live without a comprehensive accounting, instead focusing on the realistic experience of the characters. We and they don't really know the nature or status of gods, non-human races, or how magical elements works in any way. These things are simultaneously apart from the story and deeply ingrained. The result is phenomenal.
I've wondered for seven years about a certain plot turn, if I should have seen it coming sooner. I accept that I am naturally a dense reader in many regards; I rarely stop to think about what I expect is coming in a story. So I was watching for it on this reread, and found that the turn was masterfully done and not projected unduly ahead of time, while still completely natural and sensible.
And the ending, mwaah! It's not a perfectly tidy ending. It's really just the start to another chapter in the Hundred. But it's also so satisfying and caps off this trilogy perfectly. It's Elliott again trusting her readers' maturity, to not need every little thing spelled out and tied off.
Is this a perfect trilogy? Of course not. There are story flow problems, particularly in the first book. You may dislike and/or not understand various characters. It is not a thing that was fully conceived and written before the first book came out; Elliott worked and worked on each entry and it shows. This series was the first I read of hers, and it made me a fan for life, even if I have yet to read any of her later books. I'm getting to them! Or maybe I'll just re-read this over and over again.
Initial review (2016):
Assuming that you read and enjoyed the first two parts of this trilogy, the final installment does not disappoint in any way. I stayed up very late reading the near-last 100 pages (still left about 30 to go for today, just could not stay awake any longer) as they were extremely compelling, in that ongoing slow-burn manner of the entire series. Events from long ago in the earlier books that may have seemed superfluous or innocuous come back to life with surprising relevance. Overall I will highly recommend this series to intelligent fantasy lovers who can appreciate a focus on character.
I've wondered for seven years about a certain plot turn, if I should have seen it coming sooner. I accept that I am naturally a dense reader in many regards; I rarely stop to think about what I expect is coming in a story. So I was watching for it on this reread, and found that the turn was masterfully done and not projected unduly ahead of time, while still completely natural and sensible.
And the ending, mwaah! It's not a perfectly tidy ending. It's really just the start to another chapter in the Hundred. But it's also so satisfying and caps off this trilogy perfectly. It's Elliott again trusting her readers' maturity, to not need every little thing spelled out and tied off.
Is this a perfect trilogy? Of course not. There are story flow problems, particularly in the first book. You may dislike and/or not understand various characters. It is not a thing that was fully conceived and written before the first book came out; Elliott worked and worked on each entry and it shows. This series was the first I read of hers, and it made me a fan for life, even if I have yet to read any of her later books. I'm getting to them! Or maybe I'll just re-read this over and over again.
Initial review (2016):
Assuming that you read and enjoyed the first two parts of this trilogy, the final installment does not disappoint in any way. I stayed up very late reading the near-last 100 pages (still left about 30 to go for today, just could not stay awake any longer) as they were extremely compelling, in that ongoing slow-burn manner of the entire series. Events from long ago in the earlier books that may have seemed superfluous or innocuous come back to life with surprising relevance. Overall I will highly recommend this series to intelligent fantasy lovers who can appreciate a focus on character.
August 21, 2015
mmmmmmmmMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM I am sO ANGRY
I mean. In a good way, because I really, really care. More than I thought I ever would when I started this trilogy. It really snuck up on me! I anticipate this series will linger in my mind for a while. It hits a lot of the right buttons to make this stick - the biggest of all being my constant need to mentally compare and contrast cultures and histories and understandings of how the world works. And that's pretty much what this series is.
Before I started this book, I wasn't expecting it to go where it did. But looking back, I find I wasn't all that surprised. Elliott did a good job of laying down all the pieces of the characterizations and personal histories that when the final third of the book laid down the drama, it wasn't a surprise. It felt like this was the only way it could have happened, like we were heading here all along.
So be warned of spoilers beware for all three books in Crossroads so far (dated August 2015), because I'm about to talk about all of it.
Okay?
Okay.
FUCKING. ANJI. I'm sitting here trying to explain just how angry I am, because just. It's not just the feeling of "wow, I hate this character", I hate him and it cuts deeper because I actually did like him. But seeing how Elliott put down the pieces of what was going to happen in a way that's only obvious now that I'm finished, it was obviously correct. I mean, I don't feel the book betrayed my expectations - Anji the person did, and I'm angry that I felt hopeful for him in the first place.
I'm - I can't even articulate it, but I'm trying. The biggest thing my mind keeps coming back to is that he changed the Hundred. He and his chiefs made this thing about adapting to the Hundred and their ways, but when faced with something he didn't like, he dismissed it. He couldn't fathom that things were actually different in the Hundred. Not just that the people believed different things, but that the rules truly were not the same as how he was raised. That really grinds my gears. Anji turned out to be the kind of person who listened to his friends in the Hundred, and then didn't even consider it. He would just go "welp, you're being deceived" and he is so condescending that my gorge rises just thinking about - god, everything.
How he treated/thought of the Guardians, how he could never just stop being threatened by Joss, the fact that he imposed Qin law/punishment over the Hundred, how he got to win over the reeves (god I want to throw up), and I don't even want to talk about him hitting Mai. I was so hopeful that he was learning and growing and expanding his mind. Because of that hope, what he turned out to be in the end is about as revolting as the rest of the villains. He is a fucking villain and his beliefs are repellent.
Him and Mai truly did love each other, I think. So the entire ending was just sickening. I love Mai, she is fantastic. Just a lovely woman. Her refusal to take Anji back gives me life. There was a line where she has this realization, seeing criminals strung up, that Anji was Qin and still a conqueror above all, and beyond my revulsion, it was also just truly sad. Mai and Joss and all the Hundred never changed his mind about anything. He's still just what he is. And how fitting is it that the man most concerned with others being corrupted is the one in the end who couldn't change his mind. As the characters described the slow, gentle turn towards the Shadow Gate, Anji can't even see what he's doing. There is no self-awareness. In the end, Anji was the one who acts without compassion and understanding for others because he is so convinced of his own righteousness. I hate him.
Huuu! Now let's talk about others! Mai had an amazing resolution. I thought she had become a Guardian in the final chapter, until I realized that she actually didn't have a cloak. In fact, I didn't realize it until the four Guardians left in the end and didn't refer to her as one of their own. But yeah, seriously, what a thing. She decides in this book she is not going to be afraid, she's going to be angry, and she's going to stand up to anybody including her husband, because she wants to do the right thing. She takes a brave, difficult way by letting her conscience rule. Not a lot of people can do that.
I can't say how pleased I am that Mai turned out to be the hero in the end. She learns that she can exist by herself. She has her friend Miravia with her, Priya and O'eki, Keshad and Zubaidit, she's loved and respected by everyone around her. Anji's men all adore her. Anji tries to win her back, but she's having none of it. She's made her own family with people who are trustworthy and open with her, instead of being withholding and angry. Mai was having these small revelations all along, that life didn't have be like it was with her old family. And every time she had one of these revelations, she grabbed it with both hands and she WON.
A couple small things before I move on.
Tohon and Shai - I wasn't expecting to be as moved as I was. When Tohon asked him to be a part of his household as his son, I choked up a little. This relationship was under the radar, but was certainly built up enough for this to be satisfying. Tohon was so good to Shai, and Shai was clearly desperate for a real family. I really came around to Shai, he grew up a lot. I wish they could've stayed and been a part of what Mai was building in the Hundred, but I'm glad they found happiness.
Keshad and Miravia. Mmmm... I love Miravia. I'm not so hot on Keshad. SO many times in this book, I was thinking "oh my god, Keshad, shut the fuck up". He's not a good person. He's genuinely awful. Why would I want a darling like Miravia to have to put up with him? But Keshad ... I THINK, really is trying to change, and that was encouraging enough. He had a moment where he was like "The only one who can give me Miravia is Miravia herself, so she's the one I have to convince and everybody else can suck it" (paraphrased). I thought that was the most generous thing he might have ever thought. Anyway, he wasn't really detestable in the last third of the book, so I'll shrug my shoulders and be suspicious-leaning-antagonistic.
The corrupted Guardians' deaths turned out to be pretty anticlimactic! And you know what? I kinda dig that. It totally fit the theme. As we learned more and more about how Guardians worked, that they were all just people who'd been corrupted. That in this world, there may be demons, but great evils can be and are done by regular people who've started to walk down a bad path. That's a core theme in this book. The realization that people who do evil are regular people, that no one is immune from corruption. So it was completely fitting that they died - not like great supernatural monsters finally felled - just like regular people.
(Fucking Anji. I'll never stop being mad at him. He never realized this. Everything bad that happened was "demons" and "being deceived by demons" and never "sometimes people do bad things because that's what humans are capable of".)
And leads me to another point. In a lot of our dear viewpoint characters, we have the benefit of seeing into their minds and hearts. Joss, Marit, Jothinin, Kirit - none of them are totally sure of themselves. They're constantly questioning their own judgment, whether they're doing the right thing, the constant worry that they've already been corrupted. On the other hand, the other Guardians (even including Eyasad) and leaders who fall are the ones who are sure of themselves. They're sure that they're doing the right thing, they're sure that what they've decided to do will work, and they won't let anyone stand in their way.
This is why I can't cut Anji any slack. It goes against the entire grain of the book to go "well, he was doing what he thought was right". Yeah, I know, that's exactly why he's more prone to being corrupted than the Guardians he fears so much.
There's something to be said for an interpretation where readers have Guardian powers, seeing into the stream of consciousness/narrative/thoughts of the characters but always being influenced by our own biases??? So when we see a character like Anji, whose POV we never read from (thereby effectively veiled from our sight), we see him through the lens of what Mai thinks of him (her love of the romantic stories) and what Joss thinks of him (his very simple and good honour, thinking he's found another man like him). And then the reveal happens that during the time that we think Anji is mulling things over and thinking, he's really only keeping his opinions locked down. Anji is near impossible to read, and that fits - everything. I'm impressed with how he was written.
Lastly! Finally! I saved this for the end because it's the part I care about the most. The part that lingered the most, the reason why I was grinning and tearing up and shaking as I finished. Joss and Marit. I am SO HAPPY. I never thought they would be together again. This pair snuck up on me. That they get to be together for a long, long time made me so happy. They had a conversation earlier in the book, the first time they've really spoken since she died. (Dream warnings don't count, okay, neither of them knew for sure it was real.) It was their reunion and I thought it would be a nice way for them to say good-bye.
And then Joss came back from killing Radas and everyone is staring at him but no one is calling him a cloak - but he was! I knew it! He was cloaked in the same way that Kirit was cloaked, he had it but he was still alive, so the power of it was just waiting. So too I was waiting, because nothing says "this character is about to die" more than "hey, Joss, wow, you look younger". That it was Anji who did it had me screaming wordlessly at my ereader because fuck Anji, but I was also bouncing because I was so ready for Joss and Marit to have that moment where they realize that in this one, small, precious thing - it can be like it was before.
And I mean that to the bottom of my heart. Them being able to have one thing simultaneously an old love and now new again defies where the rest of the Hundred is at. Another thing the good Guardians were thinking about (and various other leaders, like some of the reeve marshals) is how the Hundred is changing. Thinking about whether the old ways still have value, or if they're holding onto the way things were for any good reason. A lot of things changed in the Hundred by the end, and we don't know if they'll ever be able to come back. We leave the story right after enormous things have changed and we don't know how much of the Hundred's ways are still the same under Anji's rule.
Which is why Joss and Marit's relationship resuming as both of them become Guardians... Guardians being almost the personification of the old values - it's striking. They're left in the lurch, not knowing for sure if there's any room left for them, but - but! at least they have each other. They know each other's value. These final scenes with the Guardians greeting each other and freeing the other five cloaks was a clear indication of what the story is trying to say: "We don't know what value we still have, but we'll persevere to find out."
That Scar came with Joss is an enormous joy. That Jothinin and Kirit are both still alive, and now the Guardians are this SUPER cute family unit right at the end... I'm in heaven. I know that Anji is screwing up the Hundred (hopefully not beyond repair, and I approve of the fact that they're learning how to defend themselves), and that the Guardians are still in danger, but it was an extremely satisfying journey from start to finish.
I'm a huge believer in considering a story in light of the ending, and this ending is worth it.
I mean. In a good way, because I really, really care. More than I thought I ever would when I started this trilogy. It really snuck up on me! I anticipate this series will linger in my mind for a while. It hits a lot of the right buttons to make this stick - the biggest of all being my constant need to mentally compare and contrast cultures and histories and understandings of how the world works. And that's pretty much what this series is.
Before I started this book, I wasn't expecting it to go where it did. But looking back, I find I wasn't all that surprised. Elliott did a good job of laying down all the pieces of the characterizations and personal histories that when the final third of the book laid down the drama, it wasn't a surprise. It felt like this was the only way it could have happened, like we were heading here all along.
So be warned of spoilers beware for all three books in Crossroads so far (dated August 2015), because I'm about to talk about all of it.
Okay?
Okay.
FUCKING. ANJI. I'm sitting here trying to explain just how angry I am, because just. It's not just the feeling of "wow, I hate this character", I hate him and it cuts deeper because I actually did like him. But seeing how Elliott put down the pieces of what was going to happen in a way that's only obvious now that I'm finished, it was obviously correct. I mean, I don't feel the book betrayed my expectations - Anji the person did, and I'm angry that I felt hopeful for him in the first place.
I'm - I can't even articulate it, but I'm trying. The biggest thing my mind keeps coming back to is that he changed the Hundred. He and his chiefs made this thing about adapting to the Hundred and their ways, but when faced with something he didn't like, he dismissed it. He couldn't fathom that things were actually different in the Hundred. Not just that the people believed different things, but that the rules truly were not the same as how he was raised. That really grinds my gears. Anji turned out to be the kind of person who listened to his friends in the Hundred, and then didn't even consider it. He would just go "welp, you're being deceived" and he is so condescending that my gorge rises just thinking about - god, everything.
How he treated/thought of the Guardians, how he could never just stop being threatened by Joss, the fact that he imposed Qin law/punishment over the Hundred, how he got to win over the reeves (god I want to throw up), and I don't even want to talk about him hitting Mai. I was so hopeful that he was learning and growing and expanding his mind. Because of that hope, what he turned out to be in the end is about as revolting as the rest of the villains. He is a fucking villain and his beliefs are repellent.
Him and Mai truly did love each other, I think. So the entire ending was just sickening. I love Mai, she is fantastic. Just a lovely woman. Her refusal to take Anji back gives me life. There was a line where she has this realization, seeing criminals strung up, that Anji was Qin and still a conqueror above all, and beyond my revulsion, it was also just truly sad. Mai and Joss and all the Hundred never changed his mind about anything. He's still just what he is. And how fitting is it that the man most concerned with others being corrupted is the one in the end who couldn't change his mind. As the characters described the slow, gentle turn towards the Shadow Gate, Anji can't even see what he's doing. There is no self-awareness. In the end, Anji was the one who acts without compassion and understanding for others because he is so convinced of his own righteousness. I hate him.
Huuu! Now let's talk about others! Mai had an amazing resolution. I thought she had become a Guardian in the final chapter, until I realized that she actually didn't have a cloak. In fact, I didn't realize it until the four Guardians left in the end and didn't refer to her as one of their own. But yeah, seriously, what a thing. She decides in this book she is not going to be afraid, she's going to be angry, and she's going to stand up to anybody including her husband, because she wants to do the right thing. She takes a brave, difficult way by letting her conscience rule. Not a lot of people can do that.
I can't say how pleased I am that Mai turned out to be the hero in the end. She learns that she can exist by herself. She has her friend Miravia with her, Priya and O'eki, Keshad and Zubaidit, she's loved and respected by everyone around her. Anji's men all adore her. Anji tries to win her back, but she's having none of it. She's made her own family with people who are trustworthy and open with her, instead of being withholding and angry. Mai was having these small revelations all along, that life didn't have be like it was with her old family. And every time she had one of these revelations, she grabbed it with both hands and she WON.
A couple small things before I move on.
Tohon and Shai - I wasn't expecting to be as moved as I was. When Tohon asked him to be a part of his household as his son, I choked up a little. This relationship was under the radar, but was certainly built up enough for this to be satisfying. Tohon was so good to Shai, and Shai was clearly desperate for a real family. I really came around to Shai, he grew up a lot. I wish they could've stayed and been a part of what Mai was building in the Hundred, but I'm glad they found happiness.
Keshad and Miravia. Mmmm... I love Miravia. I'm not so hot on Keshad. SO many times in this book, I was thinking "oh my god, Keshad, shut the fuck up". He's not a good person. He's genuinely awful. Why would I want a darling like Miravia to have to put up with him? But Keshad ... I THINK, really is trying to change, and that was encouraging enough. He had a moment where he was like "The only one who can give me Miravia is Miravia herself, so she's the one I have to convince and everybody else can suck it" (paraphrased). I thought that was the most generous thing he might have ever thought. Anyway, he wasn't really detestable in the last third of the book, so I'll shrug my shoulders and be suspicious-leaning-antagonistic.
The corrupted Guardians' deaths turned out to be pretty anticlimactic! And you know what? I kinda dig that. It totally fit the theme. As we learned more and more about how Guardians worked, that they were all just people who'd been corrupted. That in this world, there may be demons, but great evils can be and are done by regular people who've started to walk down a bad path. That's a core theme in this book. The realization that people who do evil are regular people, that no one is immune from corruption. So it was completely fitting that they died - not like great supernatural monsters finally felled - just like regular people.
(Fucking Anji. I'll never stop being mad at him. He never realized this. Everything bad that happened was "demons" and "being deceived by demons" and never "sometimes people do bad things because that's what humans are capable of".)
And leads me to another point. In a lot of our dear viewpoint characters, we have the benefit of seeing into their minds and hearts. Joss, Marit, Jothinin, Kirit - none of them are totally sure of themselves. They're constantly questioning their own judgment, whether they're doing the right thing, the constant worry that they've already been corrupted. On the other hand, the other Guardians (even including Eyasad) and leaders who fall are the ones who are sure of themselves. They're sure that they're doing the right thing, they're sure that what they've decided to do will work, and they won't let anyone stand in their way.
This is why I can't cut Anji any slack. It goes against the entire grain of the book to go "well, he was doing what he thought was right". Yeah, I know, that's exactly why he's more prone to being corrupted than the Guardians he fears so much.
There's something to be said for an interpretation where readers have Guardian powers, seeing into the stream of consciousness/narrative/thoughts of the characters but always being influenced by our own biases??? So when we see a character like Anji, whose POV we never read from (thereby effectively veiled from our sight), we see him through the lens of what Mai thinks of him (her love of the romantic stories) and what Joss thinks of him (his very simple and good honour, thinking he's found another man like him). And then the reveal happens that during the time that we think Anji is mulling things over and thinking, he's really only keeping his opinions locked down. Anji is near impossible to read, and that fits - everything. I'm impressed with how he was written.
Lastly! Finally! I saved this for the end because it's the part I care about the most. The part that lingered the most, the reason why I was grinning and tearing up and shaking as I finished. Joss and Marit. I am SO HAPPY. I never thought they would be together again. This pair snuck up on me. That they get to be together for a long, long time made me so happy. They had a conversation earlier in the book, the first time they've really spoken since she died. (Dream warnings don't count, okay, neither of them knew for sure it was real.) It was their reunion and I thought it would be a nice way for them to say good-bye.
And then Joss came back from killing Radas and everyone is staring at him but no one is calling him a cloak - but he was! I knew it! He was cloaked in the same way that Kirit was cloaked, he had it but he was still alive, so the power of it was just waiting. So too I was waiting, because nothing says "this character is about to die" more than "hey, Joss, wow, you look younger". That it was Anji who did it had me screaming wordlessly at my ereader because fuck Anji, but I was also bouncing because I was so ready for Joss and Marit to have that moment where they realize that in this one, small, precious thing - it can be like it was before.
And I mean that to the bottom of my heart. Them being able to have one thing simultaneously an old love and now new again defies where the rest of the Hundred is at. Another thing the good Guardians were thinking about (and various other leaders, like some of the reeve marshals) is how the Hundred is changing. Thinking about whether the old ways still have value, or if they're holding onto the way things were for any good reason. A lot of things changed in the Hundred by the end, and we don't know if they'll ever be able to come back. We leave the story right after enormous things have changed and we don't know how much of the Hundred's ways are still the same under Anji's rule.
Which is why Joss and Marit's relationship resuming as both of them become Guardians... Guardians being almost the personification of the old values - it's striking. They're left in the lurch, not knowing for sure if there's any room left for them, but - but! at least they have each other. They know each other's value. These final scenes with the Guardians greeting each other and freeing the other five cloaks was a clear indication of what the story is trying to say: "We don't know what value we still have, but we'll persevere to find out."
That Scar came with Joss is an enormous joy. That Jothinin and Kirit are both still alive, and now the Guardians are this SUPER cute family unit right at the end... I'm in heaven. I know that Anji is screwing up the Hundred (hopefully not beyond repair, and I approve of the fact that they're learning how to defend themselves), and that the Guardians are still in danger, but it was an extremely satisfying journey from start to finish.
I'm a huge believer in considering a story in light of the ending, and this ending is worth it.
January 17, 2012
Fantasy Review Barn.
About half way through this book I felt that maybe I had lost a little of the magic. Then Elliott hit me with one of the best conclusions to a series I have read recently.
The ending is unlike any that I can think of, it is not a happy ending by any means, we see a world we love with some serious problems foreshadowed. But unlike the current GRIMDARK phase, not every character is miserable at the end, in fact most are actually in a good place.
This book took Mai, who was always a strong central character, and made her amazing. Several other characters also grew into their roles.
There were a few negatives, especially in the middle. Naming two characters Sis and Brah made me cringe, some sloppy editing made a couple conversations almost unreadable. And a couple of characters from the last book showed up only in token roles, making my wonder why they were introduced at all(Nalla and her sister especially).
But the strength of the ending more than makes up for it, and the series as a whole was well worth the time. If Elliott goes ahead with plans to build on this world in the future, I am all in.
About half way through this book I felt that maybe I had lost a little of the magic. Then Elliott hit me with one of the best conclusions to a series I have read recently.
The ending is unlike any that I can think of, it is not a happy ending by any means, we see a world we love with some serious problems foreshadowed. But unlike the current GRIMDARK phase, not every character is miserable at the end, in fact most are actually in a good place.
This book took Mai, who was always a strong central character, and made her amazing. Several other characters also grew into their roles.
There were a few negatives, especially in the middle. Naming two characters Sis and Brah made me cringe, some sloppy editing made a couple conversations almost unreadable. And a couple of characters from the last book showed up only in token roles, making my wonder why they were introduced at all(Nalla and her sister especially).
But the strength of the ending more than makes up for it, and the series as a whole was well worth the time. If Elliott goes ahead with plans to build on this world in the future, I am all in.
June 3, 2023
I feel like I have been reading this book for approximately six months, and yet it's only been eighteen days. This was a tense and exhausting read, because--okay, you know that scene in a horror movie where the music tinkles ominously as the character walks down a hall or opens a door, oblivious to the monster about to leap out and eat them? That scene is this entire book--except the monster is colonialism.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 7, 2009
I have decided to not read anymore Kate Elliott. She is a good writer and has wonderfully complex characters, but I don't trust what she does with them. I don't trust her moral sense or world sense enough to give more of my life to thinking like she does. She seems to multiply complexities rather than sorting through them.
December 17, 2016
Well, I finished this and it was... OK, I guess? Certainly better than the second volume at least.
While the ending was relatively satisfying, I felt the series as a whole was a bit of a let-down for me. (Of course I was reading this at the same time I was reading Wrath, so it was bound to suffer in comparison.)
3.5 Stars.
While the ending was relatively satisfying, I felt the series as a whole was a bit of a let-down for me. (Of course I was reading this at the same time I was reading Wrath, so it was bound to suffer in comparison.)
3.5 Stars.
May 12, 2011
I enjoyed the first two books, but this one blew me away; a solid 4.5 stars. At this point, everything has been set up, the tension is high, and the increasingly ominous foreshadowing had me finishing this book more quickly than either of the others, even though it is longer. Obviously more action here, and there’s a new POV character on the “evil” side who does a good bit to dispel the notion that this is traditional good-vs-evil fantasy. The ending, although well-foreshadowed, was unexpectedly bittersweet and brilliant. I don’t know why more people don’t read Elliott, and have to assume they’re turned off by the slow beginnings and cheesy covers. And they shouldn’t be, because neither is representative of how good this trilogy really is.
A spoiler-free review of the trilogy:
STORYLINE/PACING: Like many an epic fantasy, this could be summarized as "a defensive war against evil." But being a character-driven book, the plot is as much about each character's individual arcs and subplots, and being toward the realistic end of the fantasy spectrum, good and evil aren't clear-cut. There's much more character interaction than swordfighting, and the pacing is maybe a bit on the slow side, but once it gets going midway through the first book, the plot is compelling and something is always happening.
While there are logical ending points for the first and second books, like most fantasy trilogies this one is of the "three-volume novel" variety, and I rushed through them all back-to-back. But although more novels are planned in this world, there's a solid resolution at the end.
CHARACTERS: The character development overall is quite good, and most of the main characters are sympathetic and likable if at times frustrating. Elliott is a rare epic fantasy writer in that she uses the multi-book format to actually further develop the characters, and I found my opinions on several of them changing book by book.
A few things that stand out: One, the characters have actual interests, like carpentry, gardening, etc., beyond fulfilling their plot-related goals (these books made me realize how rare that is in fantasy). Two, they're products of their cultures, and have baggage and prejudices that they never shed. I was expecting the main characters by the end to repudiate slavery and realize there's no such thing as demons.... but most of them never did, and that made it better. Three, I liked the way sexual relationships are handled. There's romance (surprisingly little of it), and there's meaningless sex, and there's attraction that never turns into relationships. Characters (women included!) can be attracted to and have sex with more than one person in the series. Speaking of which: there are a lot of strong female characters, but more in a realistic way than a wish-fulfillment kind of way; it's good stuff.
For the first two books I did feel that personal morality aligns rather too closely with which side of the war a character is on, and wished for more moral ambiguity. To a large degree that's subverted in the final volume, though.
WORLDBUILDING: A highlight of this trilogy. There are multiple highly-detailed cultures. I loved the amount of thought Elliott clearly put into the customs, religions, and so forth, and the fact that the inspiration was non-European. I see some Pacific Islander, Chinese, Mongol, Muslim and Zoroastrian influences, and undoubtedly didn't recognize many more. The world is increasingly well-developed in subsequent volumes.
The Hundred, where most of the action takes place, is a bit idealized, but every culture has its strengths and weaknesses. The Hundred does very well (especially compared to the other countries in this world) in women's rights and accepting homosexuality, and has been peaceful for generations despite no strong central government. But slavery is widespread, arranged/forced marriages are normal, and there's corruption, xenophobia and disenfranchisement of religious minorities. Meanwhile, the only group in the entire world that opposes slavery also forces its women to wear something burqa-ish, and virtually imprisons them in the home.
The introduction to the world is handled well. Customs aren't explained so much as mentioned in passing, allowing the readers to deduce cultural practices and background from context. Sometimes a custom will be alluded to and never mentioned again, hinting at hidden depths. So, thank you Ms. Elliott for treating readers like adults here.
THEMATICS: You can tell Elliott thinks about what her books are saying, and epic fantasy still being a somewhat conservative and male-dominated genre, I love reading good fantasy books informed by a progressive and feminist ethos. The trilogy examines how power affects people, how cultures interact and change and has a fascinating take on the myth of the fantasy hero and the good-vs-evil dichotomy.
I did think that the "good" side (with very different, conflicting ideas of what's "good") was better drawn than the "evil" side. It's great that the "evil" army is human, comes from within the Hundred itself and that the problem was at least partially caused by actual corruption and ignored problems--but in my judgment Elliott didn't do enough with that, and there's no apparent reason why many of the people on the evil side are quite as evil as they are, and why there are so many of them. One has to read between the lines to figure it out, where the author should probably have explored the reasons for this more or else not had so much cruelty on the one side and so little on the other.
WRITING: The prose is average. Not bad, but workmanlike. It's true there's a lot of description, which I mostly liked but isn't for everyone. There are several POV characters, but dealt with in a disciplined way; we don't get into everybody's head, the POVs are well-developed and there's no head-hopping.
MAGIC: Not much of it, thankfully. No sorcerers, although a very limited number of people have very limited magical powers. The supernatural elements are mostly in the worldbuilding, while the real focus here is on people, as it should be.
OTHER THINGS I LIKED:
1) Groups that are usually either evil or two-dimensional in fantasy are neither here: merchants, conquering horsemen, people who wear headscarves or turbans, and most notably, non-white people (which describes almost everyone in the trilogy). Even slave traders aren't automatically written off.
2) Elliott allows main characters to be illiterate. Most authors do cortortions to avoid this even where it's realistic.
OTHER THINGS I DISLIKED:
1) Being told halfway through the second book that "week," "month" and "year" don't mean what I thought they meant. What do you mean a year has 432 days? Couldn't another word have been used to clue me in to this sooner? Do I have to recalculate everyone's ages now? Blargh.
2) Characters coincidentally meet rather too frequently.
I would recommend this trilogy to fantasy lovers who don't demand constant action; the character development and worldbuilding more than make up for the slow spots.
A spoiler-free review of the trilogy:
STORYLINE/PACING: Like many an epic fantasy, this could be summarized as "a defensive war against evil." But being a character-driven book, the plot is as much about each character's individual arcs and subplots, and being toward the realistic end of the fantasy spectrum, good and evil aren't clear-cut. There's much more character interaction than swordfighting, and the pacing is maybe a bit on the slow side, but once it gets going midway through the first book, the plot is compelling and something is always happening.
While there are logical ending points for the first and second books, like most fantasy trilogies this one is of the "three-volume novel" variety, and I rushed through them all back-to-back. But although more novels are planned in this world, there's a solid resolution at the end.
CHARACTERS: The character development overall is quite good, and most of the main characters are sympathetic and likable if at times frustrating. Elliott is a rare epic fantasy writer in that she uses the multi-book format to actually further develop the characters, and I found my opinions on several of them changing book by book.
A few things that stand out: One, the characters have actual interests, like carpentry, gardening, etc., beyond fulfilling their plot-related goals (these books made me realize how rare that is in fantasy). Two, they're products of their cultures, and have baggage and prejudices that they never shed. I was expecting the main characters by the end to repudiate slavery and realize there's no such thing as demons.... but most of them never did, and that made it better. Three, I liked the way sexual relationships are handled. There's romance (surprisingly little of it), and there's meaningless sex, and there's attraction that never turns into relationships. Characters (women included!) can be attracted to and have sex with more than one person in the series. Speaking of which: there are a lot of strong female characters, but more in a realistic way than a wish-fulfillment kind of way; it's good stuff.
For the first two books I did feel that personal morality aligns rather too closely with which side of the war a character is on, and wished for more moral ambiguity. To a large degree that's subverted in the final volume, though.
WORLDBUILDING: A highlight of this trilogy. There are multiple highly-detailed cultures. I loved the amount of thought Elliott clearly put into the customs, religions, and so forth, and the fact that the inspiration was non-European. I see some Pacific Islander, Chinese, Mongol, Muslim and Zoroastrian influences, and undoubtedly didn't recognize many more. The world is increasingly well-developed in subsequent volumes.
The Hundred, where most of the action takes place, is a bit idealized, but every culture has its strengths and weaknesses. The Hundred does very well (especially compared to the other countries in this world) in women's rights and accepting homosexuality, and has been peaceful for generations despite no strong central government. But slavery is widespread, arranged/forced marriages are normal, and there's corruption, xenophobia and disenfranchisement of religious minorities. Meanwhile, the only group in the entire world that opposes slavery also forces its women to wear something burqa-ish, and virtually imprisons them in the home.
The introduction to the world is handled well. Customs aren't explained so much as mentioned in passing, allowing the readers to deduce cultural practices and background from context. Sometimes a custom will be alluded to and never mentioned again, hinting at hidden depths. So, thank you Ms. Elliott for treating readers like adults here.
THEMATICS: You can tell Elliott thinks about what her books are saying, and epic fantasy still being a somewhat conservative and male-dominated genre, I love reading good fantasy books informed by a progressive and feminist ethos. The trilogy examines how power affects people, how cultures interact and change and has a fascinating take on the myth of the fantasy hero and the good-vs-evil dichotomy.
I did think that the "good" side (with very different, conflicting ideas of what's "good") was better drawn than the "evil" side. It's great that the "evil" army is human, comes from within the Hundred itself and that the problem was at least partially caused by actual corruption and ignored problems--but in my judgment Elliott didn't do enough with that, and there's no apparent reason why many of the people on the evil side are quite as evil as they are, and why there are so many of them. One has to read between the lines to figure it out, where the author should probably have explored the reasons for this more or else not had so much cruelty on the one side and so little on the other.
WRITING: The prose is average. Not bad, but workmanlike. It's true there's a lot of description, which I mostly liked but isn't for everyone. There are several POV characters, but dealt with in a disciplined way; we don't get into everybody's head, the POVs are well-developed and there's no head-hopping.
MAGIC: Not much of it, thankfully. No sorcerers, although a very limited number of people have very limited magical powers. The supernatural elements are mostly in the worldbuilding, while the real focus here is on people, as it should be.
OTHER THINGS I LIKED:
1) Groups that are usually either evil or two-dimensional in fantasy are neither here: merchants, conquering horsemen, people who wear headscarves or turbans, and most notably, non-white people (which describes almost everyone in the trilogy). Even slave traders aren't automatically written off.
2) Elliott allows main characters to be illiterate. Most authors do cortortions to avoid this even where it's realistic.
OTHER THINGS I DISLIKED:
1) Being told halfway through the second book that "week," "month" and "year" don't mean what I thought they meant. What do you mean a year has 432 days? Couldn't another word have been used to clue me in to this sooner? Do I have to recalculate everyone's ages now? Blargh.
2) Characters coincidentally meet rather too frequently.
I would recommend this trilogy to fantasy lovers who don't demand constant action; the character development and worldbuilding more than make up for the slow spots.
September 3, 2009
I've been busy and thus wary of starting this for fear I'd get sucked in and neglect all else. I was right! I started it yesterday and stayed up all night finishing it! Aui!
Another thing I was worried about was that I would have to refer to Books 1 & 2 to remember what was going on, but as soon as I read page one I was back in the flow. The characters do an initial info dump as they are reintroduced in a way that flows right with the story. Really well done.
In fact, I was a bit more than half-way through the book when I caught myself thinking that this whole trilogy is really a masterpiece of the epic fantasy form.
As to the ending, no WONDER the blurb on the front called it "surprising". One of those shocking things that nonetheless had a lot of warning. One might even call them red flags. I too, have perfect hindsight.
The most bittersweet wrap up ever.
I'm full of questions, of course
...semi spoilers ahoy ...
.
.
.
Is this the end of Mai & Anji's story as central characters? What about Shai, & Zubaidit?
When did Kate Elliott know what was going to happen to Mai & Anji -- right at the start or did it surprise her too? Did it break her heart? I'm guessing it was planned; really an amazing way of driving home the point of the history Jothinian was retelling -- we didn't see until it was too late.
What's the plan for the next books -- when & where will they be set?
Another thing I was worried about was that I would have to refer to Books 1 & 2 to remember what was going on, but as soon as I read page one I was back in the flow. The characters do an initial info dump as they are reintroduced in a way that flows right with the story. Really well done.
In fact, I was a bit more than half-way through the book when I caught myself thinking that this whole trilogy is really a masterpiece of the epic fantasy form.
As to the ending, no WONDER the blurb on the front called it "surprising". One of those shocking things that nonetheless had a lot of warning. One might even call them red flags. I too, have perfect hindsight.
The most bittersweet wrap up ever.
I'm full of questions, of course
...semi spoilers ahoy ...
.
.
.
Is this the end of Mai & Anji's story as central characters? What about Shai, & Zubaidit?
When did Kate Elliott know what was going to happen to Mai & Anji -- right at the start or did it surprise her too? Did it break her heart? I'm guessing it was planned; really an amazing way of driving home the point of the history Jothinian was retelling -- we didn't see until it was too late.
What's the plan for the next books -- when & where will they be set?
September 22, 2009
(I actually give this 3.75 stars.) TRAITORS' GATE, by Kate Elliott, is the third installment of a fantasy trilogy called CROSSROADS. It was preceded by SHADOW GATE and SPIRIT GATE.
The world of The Hundred is inhabited by merchants and such, but also by people called Reeves who are chosen by enormous eagles to help patrol the roadways and keep peace in general. There are Guardians, who fly on winged horses and are initially dead, but have been risen by a cloak to act as what we would call a judge for villages that they pass through.
The Qin arrive from the south as conquerors/protectors. They are called Outlanders by the people of The Hundred. Some of the Guardians turn evil and start to invade the land with armies, so the Qin band together with the Reeves to fight them off. Without giving too much away, two main couples are the romantic conflict of the plot.
The language of the Qin is a bit stilted, but it helps to portray them as stoic. Descriptions of land, buildings, and people are done well. Passages skip between the viewpoints of many of the plentiful characters.
I was slightly disappointed that there was not a grand finale; after the final battle, there was more of a calm get-on-with-life attitude. Nevertheless, I look forward to the next book set in the world of The Hundred.
You must read the first two books before this one or else you will be extremely confused. Overall, I would recommend this trilogy to fantasy fans.
The world of The Hundred is inhabited by merchants and such, but also by people called Reeves who are chosen by enormous eagles to help patrol the roadways and keep peace in general. There are Guardians, who fly on winged horses and are initially dead, but have been risen by a cloak to act as what we would call a judge for villages that they pass through.
The Qin arrive from the south as conquerors/protectors. They are called Outlanders by the people of The Hundred. Some of the Guardians turn evil and start to invade the land with armies, so the Qin band together with the Reeves to fight them off. Without giving too much away, two main couples are the romantic conflict of the plot.
The language of the Qin is a bit stilted, but it helps to portray them as stoic. Descriptions of land, buildings, and people are done well. Passages skip between the viewpoints of many of the plentiful characters.
I was slightly disappointed that there was not a grand finale; after the final battle, there was more of a calm get-on-with-life attitude. Nevertheless, I look forward to the next book set in the world of The Hundred.
You must read the first two books before this one or else you will be extremely confused. Overall, I would recommend this trilogy to fantasy fans.
May 20, 2012
I thought the ending to this series was one of the best I have ever read. The way she dealt with cultural differences, and questions of power, was simply stunning. I saw the ending with Anji coming from within the second book, but the way the author tied it together was marvelous. I also greatly admire her female characters, that she has strong female characters who are not warriors. She has some warriors, like Zubaidit, but then there's Mai, who is an amazing character. Her characterisation in general was fantastic, they were all so very multi-faceted. I thought she neglected some characters in the final book, such as Nallo, and I would have liked to see more of Marit and Kirit, but I do see that it wasn't really necessary to the story as such. I would really love to see more of this world (which was beautifully developed), and am thrilled to see on her website that another book is planned.
June 17, 2022
Ugh, I really need to get over my habit of finishing series just because I started them. Book 3 dragged just as much as the first two, if not more. And damn, that ending! Not the sort of thing I really want to read about 2000 pages to get to.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 23, 2017
It was difficult to finish this book.
Not because it was bad, but because I had to periodically stop and wipe the tears from my eyes. I cried so much at the end of the book, and it really made me think about the dangers of becoming complacent, etc.
Not because it was bad, but because I had to periodically stop and wipe the tears from my eyes. I cried so much at the end of the book, and it really made me think about the dangers of becoming complacent, etc.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 19, 2021
Kate Elliott is a phenomenal writer who lives in every word and in every moment and invites you to do the same. The world of the Hundred is visceral and immediate and full of dread and hope. You can see how Elliott loves even her villains. She drew me in and with casual brutality, led me to the end, my mouth agape in horror, unable to do anything about the doom that settled over every page, growing darker with each passing line.
I've said it before: a lesser writer makes you feel every page, but Ms Elliott exults in the minutiae so much you can't help but enjoy it with her as she builds a world that lives and breathes as much as its characters do.
Traitor's Gate swells with anticipation and dread, pushing at the skin until it rips wide an everything you feared comes to be. It was a wild ride, and so very worth it, though it is let down a bit by the unsatisfying end. Yet, I think some will be happy with the outcome as Elliott does a lot to try to soothe the anguish. It may not satisfy those looking for an alternative to Martin, but it will satisfy those looking for fantasy that has no interest in your chosen ones and your stark and arbitrary morality.
It manages to be grim without being grimdark, as the kids say these days, and yet seeds a lining of hope for all the failures of its heroes, and even the villain in his victory finds it a pyrrhic one.
There's a lot to unpack in this story, not just this book but the entire series. If I were to pick a book for a book group that was fantasy, this series would be high on the list. There is so much to unpack, so much to unravel and decipher and mull over to find parallels and metaphor that it could be discussed for ages.
I must admit to being a bit exhausted now, but I keep eyeing Black Wolves because...damn her...I need to know.
I've said it before: a lesser writer makes you feel every page, but Ms Elliott exults in the minutiae so much you can't help but enjoy it with her as she builds a world that lives and breathes as much as its characters do.
Traitor's Gate swells with anticipation and dread, pushing at the skin until it rips wide an everything you feared comes to be. It was a wild ride, and so very worth it, though it is let down a bit by the unsatisfying end. Yet, I think some will be happy with the outcome as Elliott does a lot to try to soothe the anguish. It may not satisfy those looking for an alternative to Martin, but it will satisfy those looking for fantasy that has no interest in your chosen ones and your stark and arbitrary morality.
It manages to be grim without being grimdark, as the kids say these days, and yet seeds a lining of hope for all the failures of its heroes, and even the villain in his victory finds it a pyrrhic one.
There's a lot to unpack in this story, not just this book but the entire series. If I were to pick a book for a book group that was fantasy, this series would be high on the list. There is so much to unpack, so much to unravel and decipher and mull over to find parallels and metaphor that it could be discussed for ages.
I must admit to being a bit exhausted now, but I keep eyeing Black Wolves because...damn her...I need to know.
May 31, 2017
The three currently existing Crossroads books are a big, fun read.
Update: the author replied to my query about the series continuing. She said that the trilogy is complete in itself but there will be another trilogy set in the same world. How cool is that?
Update: the author replied to my query about the series continuing. She said that the trilogy is complete in itself but there will be another trilogy set in the same world. How cool is that?
July 26, 2015
It's finally over. I've read longer series with longer books witin those series and they went faster than this did...
Generally speaking, the story is not bad. It's just another fantasy war epic and I feel that many elements of earlier works of fantasy were borrowed for this. And although the author did seem to try to do some things differently, such as attempt to make some kind of attempt at highlighting racism and xenophobia issues, I thought those things fell flat.
There are too many characters. Some authors are able to pull off so many different characters doing so many different things relatively well, but I don't think this one is one of those. There were several times through the book where I'd be very interested in what a set of characters were up to, then the perspective would change to another set, and it didn't mesh well or flow quite right and I found myself falling into boredom. That's a larger part of why it took me so long to read through this last book. Those pockets of boredom were enough to make me find some excuse not to open the book back up and carry on, even knowing I would eventually get back to the more main-set characters.
As an addition to there being too many characters, the book is just too long as a whole. I think it could have benefitted not just with the cutting of those minor characters but also with a little shortening overall. Long books are fine and dandy, but if it seems like you're dragging your feet to make the book longer, that's no good. Might be something the author had done on purpose, but it certainly felt that way sometimes.
I didn't find the ending very satisfying. Feels like too much was left undone. Was it meant to be that way? Were more books in this series considered than just three, but the author decided to end at three anyway? That's how it feels...
I liked this book, so it gets a solid 3 stars. As for the series altogether, I think maybe 2.5 stars. It starts weak, the middle got better, and then this last book dragged too much. Not bad, though. If you like fantasy war epics it might be worth your while to give it a try. If not, then, you may as well skip it.
Generally speaking, the story is not bad. It's just another fantasy war epic and I feel that many elements of earlier works of fantasy were borrowed for this. And although the author did seem to try to do some things differently, such as attempt to make some kind of attempt at highlighting racism and xenophobia issues, I thought those things fell flat.
There are too many characters. Some authors are able to pull off so many different characters doing so many different things relatively well, but I don't think this one is one of those. There were several times through the book where I'd be very interested in what a set of characters were up to, then the perspective would change to another set, and it didn't mesh well or flow quite right and I found myself falling into boredom. That's a larger part of why it took me so long to read through this last book. Those pockets of boredom were enough to make me find some excuse not to open the book back up and carry on, even knowing I would eventually get back to the more main-set characters.
As an addition to there being too many characters, the book is just too long as a whole. I think it could have benefitted not just with the cutting of those minor characters but also with a little shortening overall. Long books are fine and dandy, but if it seems like you're dragging your feet to make the book longer, that's no good. Might be something the author had done on purpose, but it certainly felt that way sometimes.
I didn't find the ending very satisfying. Feels like too much was left undone. Was it meant to be that way? Were more books in this series considered than just three, but the author decided to end at three anyway? That's how it feels...
I liked this book, so it gets a solid 3 stars. As for the series altogether, I think maybe 2.5 stars. It starts weak, the middle got better, and then this last book dragged too much. Not bad, though. If you like fantasy war epics it might be worth your while to give it a try. If not, then, you may as well skip it.
April 10, 2015
This book concludes the Crossroads trilogy following Mai, Zubaidit, Joss, Keshad, Arras, and Marit as they struggle for control of the Hundred. The defenders finally have some kind of plan and organization, thanks to Joss and Mai's husband, Anji.
Clearly the best of the series and it is always nice when an author finishes strong.
The characters continued to ring true for me and I enjoyed the flavor of intrigue that entered the story at this point. Additionally the plot itself felt strong to me. I also really liked the theme of whether power corrupts everyone and what leads some to become corrupted by power while others are not.
The problem for me remains Elliott's writing style. She continued to jump through too many characters at one go and she would also leave you removed from the action at what seemed like critical points. For example, Joss would look on while Anji did something and not be able to see all of the action. This felt like Elliott was trying to have it both ways. On the one hand she was trying to give the story a grand scope by pulling in the perspectives of all these different characters, including some that were on the other side of the conflict while she was also trying to limit the scope to what was personal and perceivable by the individuals. It just ended up feeling misjudged to me. Her pacing had largely improved for this book. There were still moments when I felt she lost momentum, but to a much lesser degree than the previous two of the trilogy. The ending was satisfying, but still left itself open enough that I am hopeful she will return to this world in a future series. I guess my feeling is summed up in the fact that while I would eagerly buy more books in this series, I don't have a strong desire to buy any of the other books by Elliott.
Clearly the best of the series and it is always nice when an author finishes strong.
The characters continued to ring true for me and I enjoyed the flavor of intrigue that entered the story at this point. Additionally the plot itself felt strong to me. I also really liked the theme of whether power corrupts everyone and what leads some to become corrupted by power while others are not.
The problem for me remains Elliott's writing style. She continued to jump through too many characters at one go and she would also leave you removed from the action at what seemed like critical points. For example, Joss would look on while Anji did something and not be able to see all of the action. This felt like Elliott was trying to have it both ways. On the one hand she was trying to give the story a grand scope by pulling in the perspectives of all these different characters, including some that were on the other side of the conflict while she was also trying to limit the scope to what was personal and perceivable by the individuals. It just ended up feeling misjudged to me. Her pacing had largely improved for this book. There were still moments when I felt she lost momentum, but to a much lesser degree than the previous two of the trilogy. The ending was satisfying, but still left itself open enough that I am hopeful she will return to this world in a future series. I guess my feeling is summed up in the fact that while I would eagerly buy more books in this series, I don't have a strong desire to buy any of the other books by Elliott.
October 17, 2013
Near miss or masterpiece? Much of this book and perhaps of the whole series was about exploring relationships - within families, between master/mistress and servant, between owner and slave, between leaders and foot soldiers, between people who work together, and above all the relationships between husband and wife and between lovers. There are many very different characters in this book, so the permutations are complex and interesting.
The way the author manages this vast array of characters, emotions, politics, religions and conflicts is a real tour de force, although even Kate loses us occasionally, and sometimes particular characters drop out of sight for so long that you forget they exist until they suddenly surprise us by reappearing - not that all reappearances came as a total surprise. There were many places in this novel where I could have justified five stars, but I was really disappointed by the ending. I see other readers loved it, so don't be put off on my account, but I was left feeling unsatisfied, so only four stars this time, but I look forward to my next Elliott novel.
The way the author manages this vast array of characters, emotions, politics, religions and conflicts is a real tour de force, although even Kate loses us occasionally, and sometimes particular characters drop out of sight for so long that you forget they exist until they suddenly surprise us by reappearing - not that all reappearances came as a total surprise. There were many places in this novel where I could have justified five stars, but I was really disappointed by the ending. I see other readers loved it, so don't be put off on my account, but I was left feeling unsatisfied, so only four stars this time, but I look forward to my next Elliott novel.
November 16, 2016
An epic conclusion with an open ending. This book deftly drew many threads together, despite not always being completely satisfying (the author seems to like to keep secrets!). The second half covered a lot of ground but perhaps a bit too quickly. Again, characters were neatly turned on their heads and your original perspective skewed. Fun.
June 3, 2019
The world she sets up is fabulous and the characters are compelling. My only problem was the pacing. It just takes too long to get anywhere. I finished it because I was interested in the story, but it took so long that it felt like work for a lot of it. The ending was good enough to partially make up for it, but I am not sure how much I will recommend it.
May 24, 2017
I left a review on the first book to talk about how much I loved this series, so all I'll say here is: I LOVE THIS SERIES. I don't think I've ever had an ending make me squeal and jump around like this one. It was amazing. Amazing! Read all three books!
November 6, 2017
I've just finished it and I don't know what to say. I'm left speechless by it. A very solid ending to the trilogy for sure.
April 19, 2010
This book is set immediately after the events in Shadow Gate as the people of the Hundred along with the help of the Reeves [Policemen of the land who fly with the help of eagles:] & the foreign Qin soldiers try to recuperate from their previous misfortunes & prepare themselves for a battle with the rebel army threatening their existence. The novel is narrated from a third person POV and features many characters from the previous books as well as a few new ones.
I'll be listing the main ones as readers of the books are already familiar with them & they are:
Reeve Commander Joss who is struggling to acclimatize himself with his new position but is still resilient in his approximation about Reeves and their new roles in the fight against rebels.
Mai, wife of Anji & new mother of a bonny baby, who strives to do good while learning about her position & powers as wife of the Outlander warrior chief.
Marit, former murdered reeve & now a Guardian of the White(Death) Cloak, who strives to unite the remaining Guardians.
Shai, uncle to Mai & seventh son who sees & converses with dead people, he was thoroughly distraught on learning of his Brother Hari's new condition & now has to struggle with his new station due to his blood relations.
Zubaidit, female hierodule & spy, who through her fearless zeal has managed to penetrate the enemy forces & is working hard at fulfilling her mission.
Keshad, brother to Zubaidit, a master accountant who recently freed himself & his sister from legal slavery & now is caught up in the war to save his land. He arrives in the Sirniakan lands & receives a huge shock when entrusted with a responsibility concerning the revelation in the last chapter of Shadow Gate.
Nallo, newly made reeve, who is steadily adapting to her new role & her eagle.
Kirit aka Cornflower, who is learning more about her new role from Jonithin as they contemplate their future as Guardians.
There are a couple more new POV's which I'll let the reader to RAFO as Robert Jordan used to fondly recite as it will be appropriate this way. The Hundred is in chaos due to the handling of the corrupt Guardians who though stronger in numbers, are antagonized by Marit, Kirit & Jonithin's stark opposition to their plans.
The 3 guardians try to search for the ninth hitherto missing compatriot & also try to release Hari from the hands of the corrupted cloaks. They split up in their tasks and go their separate ways. Joss & Anji plot together to gather the support of other cities & remaining reeve clans to unify & deal with the rebel armies which while disorganized still have strength from their numbers.
Shai continues his travels partly as a prisoner & partly as a shocked but coerced person amongst the rebels. Mai struggles to deal with the happenings in her household due to certain new arrivals & also due to the events in the previous book. Keshad returns from his sojourns with more than he bargained for & is glad to be given a chance to claim his heart's desire. A lot more happens in this trilogy ending; however to reveal it will spoil many a readers expectations.
Kate Elliott continues her fine form in her prose & plotting as there are many battles & the body count rises significantly in this novel. Be forewarned the author has implied to the readers some notions in the previous two books, while in this one she has done her utmost to shock & surprise us & she succeeds to a great extent. Not everything happens as the readers expect, in fact one can easily say, the last 150-200 pages will leave many readers gasping with shock.
The title refers to traitors & it is not related to any specific single character. It might refer to a whole bunch of them as they do things we couldn't have foreseen or probably weren't foresighted enough to understand. One character about whom I had my doubts does end being a villain so as to speak, however the chain of events leading up to this culmination makes the reader understand the "how" of the situation, while no real insight into the "why" can be gleaned as we are not given the glimpse into character's thoughts.
Kate Elliott has definitely outdone herself with this book. I must admit I was not thoroughly impressed with the "Crown of Stars" series. I almost gave Spirit Gate a miss because of the perceived pickles in the previous series. However I did end up reading it based on the book description and it was a definite improvement from her previous books but still left a lot to be explained about the world & problems in the Hundred.
The 2nd book Shadow Gate changed the equation completely as it widened the world & deepened the story by explaining about the world history & by giving us back-stories of certain characters. It also had a great ending & last chapter which set the bar rather high for the trilogy ending. This book while having a few negatives still blew me away as all the story threads started from the 1st book are resolved. We are given resolutions to character arcs & conflicts, not in the way we expect but that's what will make the novel even more enticing to its readers & fans of the series.
Kate has given us a richly detailed world which is unlike most of the pseudo-European fantasies published; it might take a while for readers to grasp the world's customs, practices & people, however it makes fascinating reading & gives jaded fantasy readers a different experience.
Now the drawbacks of this book though few are still there. The characterization which is a strong point of the author can be a drawback sometimes as readers looking for a fast paced read will not be getting their heart's desire. The heavy descriptions can be a bit troublesome especially when you as a reader want to see events and things happen faster. This marred the COS series for me as it swelled from 4-5 books to an eventual 7 books saga. The author had said that she wanted a bit more brevity in this series & it is heartening to see her efforts.
Another minor niggle I had was that certain events towards the end seemed rushed so as to complete the story & close the curtain on this tale of the Hundred. However the author had pointed out in a previous interview that this series was originally set as prologue to the story she had in mind & in context to this revelation, I can see why she choose to expedite & end the things this way.
In the end as this review has gone a bit longer than I intended, I would like to leave all readers with this simple thought , the author had previously described her books as "historical novels set in imaginary worlds" & I believe this is one history story you'll be interested in reading for its sheer ingenuity & as it sets up the foundation for the future & also with the last line in this trilogy warns us to be "ready for anything"!
Am I ready? Maybe; will I be reading the remaining books? Most definitely!
I'll be listing the main ones as readers of the books are already familiar with them & they are:
Reeve Commander Joss who is struggling to acclimatize himself with his new position but is still resilient in his approximation about Reeves and their new roles in the fight against rebels.
Mai, wife of Anji & new mother of a bonny baby, who strives to do good while learning about her position & powers as wife of the Outlander warrior chief.
Marit, former murdered reeve & now a Guardian of the White(Death) Cloak, who strives to unite the remaining Guardians.
Shai, uncle to Mai & seventh son who sees & converses with dead people, he was thoroughly distraught on learning of his Brother Hari's new condition & now has to struggle with his new station due to his blood relations.
Zubaidit, female hierodule & spy, who through her fearless zeal has managed to penetrate the enemy forces & is working hard at fulfilling her mission.
Keshad, brother to Zubaidit, a master accountant who recently freed himself & his sister from legal slavery & now is caught up in the war to save his land. He arrives in the Sirniakan lands & receives a huge shock when entrusted with a responsibility concerning the revelation in the last chapter of Shadow Gate.
Nallo, newly made reeve, who is steadily adapting to her new role & her eagle.
Kirit aka Cornflower, who is learning more about her new role from Jonithin as they contemplate their future as Guardians.
There are a couple more new POV's which I'll let the reader to RAFO as Robert Jordan used to fondly recite as it will be appropriate this way. The Hundred is in chaos due to the handling of the corrupt Guardians who though stronger in numbers, are antagonized by Marit, Kirit & Jonithin's stark opposition to their plans.
The 3 guardians try to search for the ninth hitherto missing compatriot & also try to release Hari from the hands of the corrupted cloaks. They split up in their tasks and go their separate ways. Joss & Anji plot together to gather the support of other cities & remaining reeve clans to unify & deal with the rebel armies which while disorganized still have strength from their numbers.
Shai continues his travels partly as a prisoner & partly as a shocked but coerced person amongst the rebels. Mai struggles to deal with the happenings in her household due to certain new arrivals & also due to the events in the previous book. Keshad returns from his sojourns with more than he bargained for & is glad to be given a chance to claim his heart's desire. A lot more happens in this trilogy ending; however to reveal it will spoil many a readers expectations.
Kate Elliott continues her fine form in her prose & plotting as there are many battles & the body count rises significantly in this novel. Be forewarned the author has implied to the readers some notions in the previous two books, while in this one she has done her utmost to shock & surprise us & she succeeds to a great extent. Not everything happens as the readers expect, in fact one can easily say, the last 150-200 pages will leave many readers gasping with shock.
The title refers to traitors & it is not related to any specific single character. It might refer to a whole bunch of them as they do things we couldn't have foreseen or probably weren't foresighted enough to understand. One character about whom I had my doubts does end being a villain so as to speak, however the chain of events leading up to this culmination makes the reader understand the "how" of the situation, while no real insight into the "why" can be gleaned as we are not given the glimpse into character's thoughts.
Kate Elliott has definitely outdone herself with this book. I must admit I was not thoroughly impressed with the "Crown of Stars" series. I almost gave Spirit Gate a miss because of the perceived pickles in the previous series. However I did end up reading it based on the book description and it was a definite improvement from her previous books but still left a lot to be explained about the world & problems in the Hundred.
The 2nd book Shadow Gate changed the equation completely as it widened the world & deepened the story by explaining about the world history & by giving us back-stories of certain characters. It also had a great ending & last chapter which set the bar rather high for the trilogy ending. This book while having a few negatives still blew me away as all the story threads started from the 1st book are resolved. We are given resolutions to character arcs & conflicts, not in the way we expect but that's what will make the novel even more enticing to its readers & fans of the series.
Kate has given us a richly detailed world which is unlike most of the pseudo-European fantasies published; it might take a while for readers to grasp the world's customs, practices & people, however it makes fascinating reading & gives jaded fantasy readers a different experience.
Now the drawbacks of this book though few are still there. The characterization which is a strong point of the author can be a drawback sometimes as readers looking for a fast paced read will not be getting their heart's desire. The heavy descriptions can be a bit troublesome especially when you as a reader want to see events and things happen faster. This marred the COS series for me as it swelled from 4-5 books to an eventual 7 books saga. The author had said that she wanted a bit more brevity in this series & it is heartening to see her efforts.
Another minor niggle I had was that certain events towards the end seemed rushed so as to complete the story & close the curtain on this tale of the Hundred. However the author had pointed out in a previous interview that this series was originally set as prologue to the story she had in mind & in context to this revelation, I can see why she choose to expedite & end the things this way.
In the end as this review has gone a bit longer than I intended, I would like to leave all readers with this simple thought , the author had previously described her books as "historical novels set in imaginary worlds" & I believe this is one history story you'll be interested in reading for its sheer ingenuity & as it sets up the foundation for the future & also with the last line in this trilogy warns us to be "ready for anything"!
Am I ready? Maybe; will I be reading the remaining books? Most definitely!
March 11, 2017
An invading army is laying waste to the lands of the Hundred. The reeves, the giant eagle-riding police force of the land, are unable to hold them back. In desperation they have struck up an alliance with an exiled outlander prince and his militia, but the enemy are led by corrupted Guardians, resurrected beings with the power to look into souls and strike people dead with a glance. The only hope of victory may lie with the uncorrupted 'pure' Guardians. But to achieve this, they may have to give up a terrible secret...
Traitors' Gate concludes the Crossroads trilogy by Kate Elliott, or rather it concludes the opening three-book arc of the series. Future books are planned picking up the story some generations further down the line. For now, however, it is a self-contained trilogy with no major cliffhangers or unresolved plot elements.
It's been five years since I read the first two volumes in the series, so I was initially a bit swamped as I caught up with what was going on. The core storyline is fairly straightforward, but the secret to the success of the trilogy is how Elliott layers in thematic elements to apparently trivial characterisation and how she addresses a wide range of different topics - from sexuality and female empowerment to commerce and religious freedom - within the confines of a more straightforward story. In fact, my biggest complaint about the trilogy as a whole is that it like it could have done with an additional book to help flesh out the world and cultures (a far cry from her prior Crown of Stars series which, whilst very good, could have probably done with at least a volume being shaved off its length).
The book and the trilogy as a whole also explores the concept of corruption and the ethics of the use of power. Elliott has little truck with evil magic or other examples of simplistic morality, instead citing that every person has within them the capacity for good or ill, the Guardians included, and she contrasts well the rigid thinking of the Qin (who prefer to see the world in absolutes rather than shades of grey) against those who are more open to a more complex view of the world. There's a good culture clash element which is not over-egged. There's also a feeling of melancholy to the story: the Hundred is an open-minded, tolerant land which has to become harder and more regimented to fight the invaders and in the process loses something of itself.
The worldbuilding is excellent - the Hundred is not another European medieval fantasyscape but an original creation drawing on many sources - and the characterisation is fairly strong. The pacing is a little off: for almost three-quarters of the length of the novel it honestly feels like there is no way of defeating the enemy and most of the time is spent on less-important character arcs, and suddenly everything spins on a dime. It is done reasonably convincingly, but certainly the ending feels a little abrupt. However, the ending is also deliciously messy. Allies suddenly find themselves at odds and what seems like deliverance could be (and we don't find out for certain) enslavement under a different name.
Traitors' Gate (****) concludes an accomplished fantasy trilogy with intelligence and complexity. Elliott has crafted an interesting world here and it'll be interesting to see what happens there next.
Traitors' Gate concludes the Crossroads trilogy by Kate Elliott, or rather it concludes the opening three-book arc of the series. Future books are planned picking up the story some generations further down the line. For now, however, it is a self-contained trilogy with no major cliffhangers or unresolved plot elements.
It's been five years since I read the first two volumes in the series, so I was initially a bit swamped as I caught up with what was going on. The core storyline is fairly straightforward, but the secret to the success of the trilogy is how Elliott layers in thematic elements to apparently trivial characterisation and how she addresses a wide range of different topics - from sexuality and female empowerment to commerce and religious freedom - within the confines of a more straightforward story. In fact, my biggest complaint about the trilogy as a whole is that it like it could have done with an additional book to help flesh out the world and cultures (a far cry from her prior Crown of Stars series which, whilst very good, could have probably done with at least a volume being shaved off its length).
The book and the trilogy as a whole also explores the concept of corruption and the ethics of the use of power. Elliott has little truck with evil magic or other examples of simplistic morality, instead citing that every person has within them the capacity for good or ill, the Guardians included, and she contrasts well the rigid thinking of the Qin (who prefer to see the world in absolutes rather than shades of grey) against those who are more open to a more complex view of the world. There's a good culture clash element which is not over-egged. There's also a feeling of melancholy to the story: the Hundred is an open-minded, tolerant land which has to become harder and more regimented to fight the invaders and in the process loses something of itself.
The worldbuilding is excellent - the Hundred is not another European medieval fantasyscape but an original creation drawing on many sources - and the characterisation is fairly strong. The pacing is a little off: for almost three-quarters of the length of the novel it honestly feels like there is no way of defeating the enemy and most of the time is spent on less-important character arcs, and suddenly everything spins on a dime. It is done reasonably convincingly, but certainly the ending feels a little abrupt. However, the ending is also deliciously messy. Allies suddenly find themselves at odds and what seems like deliverance could be (and we don't find out for certain) enslavement under a different name.
Traitors' Gate (****) concludes an accomplished fantasy trilogy with intelligence and complexity. Elliott has crafted an interesting world here and it'll be interesting to see what happens there next.
March 13, 2020
First, I'm a Kate Elliott fan. Second, I enjoyed the Crossroads series pretty much up to the final 100 pages or so, when it became clear she wasn't going to really conclude the trilogy -- instead, it was just going to stop.
The reason, I think, for the abrupt ending is that Elliott had written herself into a corner, and the moral issues that she brought up simply couldn't be resolved in any satisfactory manner. The Guardians, with their great powers, would always have to deal with their human failings; the foreign commander, Anji, could not overcome his own fears and upbringing in a way that would blend with the society he wanted to rule; and so on down the line.
In some genres of fiction, of course, this kind of ambiguity is not only accepted, it's expected, and when stories trail off into uncertainty, the reader is hardly surprised. But one of the reasons many of us read fantasy is that stories end, generally in a positive way, and we get some relief from the inherent ambiguity of the world we live in, and from the existential angst that is bred in the bone of much modern fiction.
So two stars for Elliott on this book, though it was a fun read for a while -- and it must be said that others have found the ending more satisfying than I did. Still, if you're looking to read Kate Elliott, I'd start with "Crown of Stars," overlong though it is, because it finishes as strongly as it begins.
The reason, I think, for the abrupt ending is that Elliott had written herself into a corner, and the moral issues that she brought up simply couldn't be resolved in any satisfactory manner. The Guardians, with their great powers, would always have to deal with their human failings; the foreign commander, Anji, could not overcome his own fears and upbringing in a way that would blend with the society he wanted to rule; and so on down the line.
In some genres of fiction, of course, this kind of ambiguity is not only accepted, it's expected, and when stories trail off into uncertainty, the reader is hardly surprised. But one of the reasons many of us read fantasy is that stories end, generally in a positive way, and we get some relief from the inherent ambiguity of the world we live in, and from the existential angst that is bred in the bone of much modern fiction.
So two stars for Elliott on this book, though it was a fun read for a while -- and it must be said that others have found the ending more satisfying than I did. Still, if you're looking to read Kate Elliott, I'd start with "Crown of Stars," overlong though it is, because it finishes as strongly as it begins.
Read
April 22, 2020I'm lying; I haven't finished this book. But I am finished with this book, and I skimmed and spoiled myself and saw how my central questions were resolved, and that was that.
The ending is mostly happy, and the characters I cared about survived.
No rating as I don't feel comfortable giving it one. No review to come as I don't feel comfortable reviewing it. This is one hell of a good trilogy, and I'd love to rec it - except that I have such complicated feelings towards it.
I think its primary fault is that it got darker in the second book - in a natural way, it worked in the story - but it pushed me away from caring about it, and coupling that with the traitor in the third book and alas. If you are reading this, then I earnest ask you to try the first book, as the writing and worldbuilding are so good.
As an aside, if you think that it's unfair that I've marked it complete and added it to my books read for the year - tough. I read at least a hundred pages of this, put a lot of time and thought into it, and I'm done with it. It gets to count.
The ending is mostly happy, and the characters I cared about survived.
No rating as I don't feel comfortable giving it one. No review to come as I don't feel comfortable reviewing it. This is one hell of a good trilogy, and I'd love to rec it - except that I have such complicated feelings towards it.
I think its primary fault is that it got darker in the second book - in a natural way, it worked in the story - but it pushed me away from caring about it, and coupling that with the traitor in the third book and alas. If you are reading this, then I earnest ask you to try the first book, as the writing and worldbuilding are so good.
As an aside, if you think that it's unfair that I've marked it complete and added it to my books read for the year - tough. I read at least a hundred pages of this, put a lot of time and thought into it, and I'm done with it. It gets to count.
March 21, 2021
Wow. Okay. What an ending to an epic fantasy trilogy.
Reasons I love Kate Elliott:
1. Crossroads
2. Unforgettable characters
3. Intentional, colorful, diverse cultures
4. Gorgeous, old-fashioned prose
4. Thoughtful, deep, philosophical situations
This trilogy felt more like a 7-book series to me. Mostly because I started it about 3 years ago and took about a year to finish each book, but still. It's JAM-PACKED full of amazing cultures, epic eagles, beautiful, old language, great plot twists, and unforgettable characters.
On the characters...
I don't think I have a favorite character in this series. But at the same time, I don't dislike any characters. Even the unlikable characters, Kate Elliott is able to make relatable. This is why I love her as an author. She's just remarkable.
Let's be honest. I'll probably come back to this review and update it with more things I think of to love about her books.
Reasons I love Kate Elliott:
1. Crossroads
2. Unforgettable characters
3. Intentional, colorful, diverse cultures
4. Gorgeous, old-fashioned prose
4. Thoughtful, deep, philosophical situations
This trilogy felt more like a 7-book series to me. Mostly because I started it about 3 years ago and took about a year to finish each book, but still. It's JAM-PACKED full of amazing cultures, epic eagles, beautiful, old language, great plot twists, and unforgettable characters.
On the characters...
I don't think I have a favorite character in this series. But at the same time, I don't dislike any characters. Even the unlikable characters, Kate Elliott is able to make relatable. This is why I love her as an author. She's just remarkable.
Let's be honest. I'll probably come back to this review and update it with more things I think of to love about her books.
September 4, 2018
The first book of this series I received as a present when I was a teenager, and let me tell you the notion of a "sex god" had me cringing too badly to continue with the series. Very glad I picked it up again when I was more mature to see the importance and need for the "sex gods" in the narrative.
As for the book, while I got a few good predictions right, that really just enhanced my enjoyment of the book. I do so love being proven right! Though I'm not saying this book was by any means predictable. Kate Elliott managed to lead the reader down the path of this book like a horse on a lead-rope. Inextricably, and relentlessly. Looking back the path of the book was so we'll defined and quite obvious. I'm sure that's one lesson all the characters do learn to appreciate: "hindsight is a bitch"!
Would recommend and could not put the book down for those 6-odd chapters!
As for the book, while I got a few good predictions right, that really just enhanced my enjoyment of the book. I do so love being proven right! Though I'm not saying this book was by any means predictable. Kate Elliott managed to lead the reader down the path of this book like a horse on a lead-rope. Inextricably, and relentlessly. Looking back the path of the book was so we'll defined and quite obvious. I'm sure that's one lesson all the characters do learn to appreciate: "hindsight is a bitch"!
Would recommend and could not put the book down for those 6-odd chapters!
July 14, 2019
This one felt like it took me forever to read through, but I thought it was an excellent conclusion to the trilogy. She weaved the stories of the main characters in interesting ways. I wasn't expecting the ending to go as it did, but I was impressed by the direction she took with it. She tied up loose ends fairly well, and left room for future books set in this world. Although it took me a while to finish reading, the world was as immersive and intricate as in the previous books and remained a reason I kept turning the pages.
Overall I was impressed greatly with this series. It was well worth the read, from the intricate characters to the larger story and lore. The series is titled "Crossroads", and I felt that was a perfect way to describe it. The world she built was truly a crossroads of different peoples, cultures, and actions. A solid fantasy series I'd recommend.
Overall I was impressed greatly with this series. It was well worth the read, from the intricate characters to the larger story and lore. The series is titled "Crossroads", and I felt that was a perfect way to describe it. The world she built was truly a crossroads of different peoples, cultures, and actions. A solid fantasy series I'd recommend.
July 13, 2024
I've had an incredible amount of fun with these books (it also helps that I read this with some other fans). So much has changed in the Hundred from the beginning of this series to the very end. The worldbuilding was great (I always love cultural touches), but here I loved the growing realization that perhaps your allies may not be fully on your side. This book also didn't go in the direction I thought it would, focusing mostly on the mundane characters rather than the mystical. And despite all the bad things that happened towards the end, I found the ending very hopeful, and the series with an interesting examination of corruption as a series of choices one makes (a crossroads if you will).
March 17, 2021
A strong finish to the Crossroads Trilogy and a wonderful staging point for what was supposed to be a second trilogy until Ms. Elliott's publishers pulled the plug after the VERY enjoyable Black Wolves (idiots!). The pacing and continuity were vastly improved in this third outing. As in the earlier novels, the character development displays one of the better facet's of the author's writing. The world building also continued to improve, with the blending of various Asiatic influences. Think I will go on Amazon and order another of Ms. Elliott's books !
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