Portal of a Thousand Worlds
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The looming threat of a once-in-a-millennium magical event sends nineteenth-century China into violent chaos in this epic alternate-history fantasy. Author of the Seventh Sword series Dave Duncan transports us to Imperial China in an alternate nineteenth century—an Asian epoch not unlike the Boxer Rebellion era—with a spellbinding tale of rebellion, political intrigue, larceny, seduction, shape-shifting, dark magic, and murder. These are troubled years in the Good Land. Ten centuries have passed since the last time the Portal of a Thousand Worlds opened, bringing chaos, upheaval, and radical change to the then-ruling dynasty, and now the mystical gateway is rumored to be on the verge of opening once more. Only the Firstborn—he who has been reincarnated through countless generations and remembers all he has ever learned—knows what the future holds, but he has been imprisoned for refusing to comply with a repressive imperial government’s wishes. Now, those hoping to seize the opportunity for wealth and position are hatching sinister plots. And as the cold-hearted dowager empress closely guards a fateful secret, and a rebel army led by a fanatical zealot gathers strength under the Bamboo Banner, the cataclysm approaches. . . . The recipient of two Aurora Awards and numerous Locus and Endeavour Award nominations, Dave Duncan is an acknowledged master of sword-and-sorcery adventure on par with George R. R. Martin of Game of Thrones fame. A sprawling epic with a colorful cast of royals, thieves, prostitutes, gods, warriors, dragons, assassins, merchants, and mages set against the backdrop of a volatile alternate Asia, Portal of a Thousand Worlds is a magnificent work of invention from one of the premier fantasists of our day.
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3.5 stars - Metaphorosis Reviews
In an alternate China, destiny and sly characters bring great events to a head. The mysterious Portal, the secretive Grey Helpers, invulernable rebels, a reincarnated mystic, and a troubled Emperor all play their parts in a complex, puzzle that has taken millenia to reach this point.
I've started to worry about Dave Duncan recently. He's put out a fair number of new books, and a number of them haven't been very good. I worried that either he was cleaning out the closet, or losing his touch. Happily, Portal of a Thousand Worlds is more of a return to form, though not perfect.
I didn't really buy the alternate Chinese setting, but when I accepted it as simply a fantasy universe, it went down better. Duncan has a lot of characters in play. That's fair, in an epic novel that covers a vast landscape, but I found it easy to lose track of which was which, and what they were doing, especially since many of them had similarities, and they changed names at the drop of a hat. Still, aside from that occasional confusion, the plot moved smoothly and quickly. As is usual for Duncan, the tone was relatively light, and the characters (whatever their names) engaging. Women don't come off very well; it's a very male-centric world. That works better in an alternate historical China than in a modern fantasy, but that's not how I was looking at it. Every now and then even Duncan seems to lose track of his setting, introducing tennis metaphors, and a few other oddities.
While Duncan's characters and their machinations kept me interested, the book is steadfastly pointed at the opening of the Portal and the revelation of its mysteries. Here, Duncan lets us down, with a fairly thin ending that leaves very many things unexplained. The book works reasonably well despite that, because of the strength of the characters' interactions, but it would have been much stronger if it had either focused on that to begin with and left off the teasers, or put more energy into the finale.
It's an enjoyable, rapid read despite its size and complexity, and mostly satisfying. Duncan's still got it, when he puts his mind to it.
Received free copy of book in exchange for honest review.
