There's so much I loved about this book; however, the one thing that didn't click was it's characters.

I appreciate the amount of stuff this book has to offer — from the diverse culture, magical elements, to a variety of characters that are properly done with strong motivational drivers. But the fact that they still didn't reach out to me was just unfortunate. I did not connect to any of them. And although I did love Cyrus Lodi, he wasn't enough of a foundation for me to provide this book a higher rating. More so since he is a side-character.

In addition, the amount of description this book has —for the wide culture and diverse characters— is extremely underwhelming. To be honest, I reached the end of the book without even knowing how the characters even look like. I just knew that they were young, old, and in-between.

A princess determined to rule an empire despite her sex, a prince who's life is in ruins when a sorcerer invades and the sorcerer dead set on unleashing the evils of the Seven Hells. Three intertwining stories in the magical land of Laut Besar come together in a riveting adventure.

It took me a while to get into this book, but once I did I was hooked. I love high fantasy and my favorite part of that genre is world-building and this book had some of the best world building I've read.

This novel is one of the best I’ve read this year! The characters are so dynamic yet relatable. I loved the flow of the story. It held my attention the whole time.

This is one of the best fantasy books I have ever read with an intriguing plot, amazing characters, compelling character dynamics and such exquisite writing! The pacing at the beginning of the story is slower but it picks up. Gate of Stone delivers an incredible new world with political intrigue, battles, betrayals. It is important to note that there are some things that occur that may be triggering for some readers so I suggest that you look into these triggers to see if it's something you're comfortable reading.

This has a slow start but it picks in the middle part. It definitely has a richly-imagined world. It was an okay read for me. Others might like this.

Really interesting worldbuilding, although I had an ARC that did not contain a map. This made it difficult to follow along since the politics were a bit complicated. Slow-moving at the start, but it picks up around the halfway point when the plot starts coming together. Well written, but random time jumps disorienting as they skip big events.

I wasn't sure what to expect, but I enjoyed reading this. An interesting story with fun characters. Well written.

There is a lot to like in this book - complex political intrigues, battles, betrayals, magic, epic adventure...but there's also a lot to dislike. The only character I actually cared about wasn't even a major player (Tenga). There is graphic rape, descriptions of bodies being hacked apart, and pretty much everyone was insufferable. I started to get into the story once things started picking up (around 75%) but by then I was too bored with the rest of it to get much enjoyment out of any of it. I couldn't root for anyone to succeed because I disliked them all.

In the end, I can give it 2.5 stars, rounded up to 3 simply because GR doesn't do half stars. It was pretty well-written (although the advance copy I had was riddled with spelling and word errors), a lot of people would enjoy something like this (especially people who like grimdark), and it's definitely a richly-imagined world. But I didn't love it, I had to really slog through to get to the end, and I have zero interest in picking up the next book.

Thanks to NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book and provide a review.

I DNF'd this book about 40 pages in. I wasn't feeling the writing style which I felt was a little on the bland side. The plot wasn't lifting off, and I ended up losing interest pretty quickly.

OMGOMGOMG!

This book was AWESOME!

This book is action-packed and starts off with a bang! I really liked it! However, some parts were a bit slow for me.

It took me a little while to read this one, mostly because I kept having to put it down and do things in the real world (ugh, adulting sucks!), definitely not by choice though.

This book starts off fast, it does get a little slow in the middle, but then it picks back up and keeps its momentum until the very end.

I absolutely 💓💓💓Katerina! She is denied her throne and inheritance solely because of her sex, and she refuses to accept that. She is a total badass and completely ruthless (and possibly a bit of a baddie)... That is one of the things I liked most about this book, although there are "bad guys" (and girls) and "good guys" (and girls), no character is only bad or only good. The author did an excellent job at character development and showing the many different facets of each character's personality so that it is not at all easy to classigy them as one of the other.

The author also did an excellent job of world building. The Laut Besay is wonderfully terrible and brutal and filled with crazy tales that often turn out to be true.

The whole book was full of twists and turns. It kept me on the edge of my seat throughout the whole book!

The ending was EPIC! The only thing I am disappointed about is how long I will have to wait to see what happens next! The sequel is not listed at all on GoodReads yet, so it may be a while until the next book in the series is released. 😢

Until then, I will be waiting not so patiently for news about the second book's release.

I received a copy of this book from the publishers, via NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review.

I might try this again someday, but honestly, I'm really sad to say that despite how ridiculously high my hopes were for this fantasy release, it isn't working for me. I'm not engaged, I can't connect to any of the characters or the writing, I'm not finding myself genuinely interested in anything that's going on, and the narrative voice itself isn't meshing well with me for a lot of reasons.

I think this will absolutely be a big hit with the right reader, but sadly, that clearly isn't me.

Thank you so much to the publisher for providing me with this free review copy in exchange for an honest review!

"In a world of blood and magic, a powerful epic fantasy begins...

AN EMPEROR’S DAUGHTER WHO WILL NOT BE DENIED
Just before her sixteenth birthday, Princess Katerina is refused her rightful place as heir to the Empire of the Ice-Bear - solely because of her sex. Determined to regain her inheritance, she murders the foreign lord she’s been ordered to marry and embarks on a perilous voyage to the lush, tropical islands of the Laut Besar in search of the vast wealth and power she needs to claim the Empire for herself.

A PRINCE FORCED TO TAKE A STAND
On a small island kingdom, Prince Arjun’s idyllic life is shattered when a malignant sorcerer invades, slaughters his people and steals the sacred sword of Jun’s ancestors. With his royal father dead and his palace in ruins, Jun reluctantly tracks the sorcerer and the magical blade far across the pirate-infested waters of the Laut Besar.

A SORCERER SEEKING TO DESTROY THE WORLD
Long ago the powerful relics known as the Seven Keys were used to safely lock away the terrifying evils of the Seven Hells. With Jun’s ancient sword in his grasp, the sorcerer Mangku has claimed the first Key, and begun his mission to unleash catastrophe upon the land.

As the destinies of these three entwine in the lawless islands of the Laut Besar, the fate of humanity hangs in the balance. For if the sorcerer cannot be stopped, the world itself will be unmade..."

Literal shivers, despite the warm clime.

Gates of Stone features a full, varied narrative complete with three storylines, all converging to decide the fate of this fascinating land. This is a world filled with leaders both large and small who are constantly watching out for the intrigue and deceit of neighboring lands.

Some spoilers ahead, so beware!

We follow three characters through their journeys, each as different as they are intent on their purposes. One, a princess from the North, uses her awesome power to overtake a land she has no desire to lead, exploiting fear and subservient men around her to take a throne. Another, a young prince who is arrogant and vengeful, seeks out the murderer of his family. Finally, we have a wily merchant who seeks to con a formidable ruler out of his gold. Through it all, the stench of battle and death wafts about, making this a land where bloodshed is common and betrayal is expected.

Macallan’s narrative weaves back and forth between these characters, each point of view offering something the others don’t. We see terror, intrigue, and cunning in the princess from the North. We see battle, cowardice and conceit in the wily merchant. And we see moments of learning and a journey out of naiveté from the slighted prince. Through it all, the land itself holds sway in the imagination, filled as it is with myths, legends, and epic histories few have forgotten. Magic is real, the gods are watching, and destiny is at hand.

Gates of Stone is a great example of epic fantasy done right. The characters are deeply imagined, and their actions heavily meaningful from start to finish. There’s the feeling of a grand plan in the works. Add in a terrifying sorcerer whose bloodlust knows no bounds, and you’ve got a new series that truly lives up to the word epic.

Review will be published on 2/13/19: https://reviewsandrobots.com/2019/02/13/gates-of-stone-book-review

Historical fiction author Angus Donald turns his skills to historical fantasy under the pen name Angus Macallan in The Gates of Stone, a novel with a central setting evocative of 18th century Indonesia.Drawing on the author’s interest, knowledge and studies of the region, MacAllan relies strongly on the historical and geographical real world Indonesia in constructing and fleshing out the islands of the Laut Besar.

Taking Indonesia as a base gives an immediate sense of unique geography and a base for a fantasy world that is not the typical Western European model. The author’s experience and knowledge of the real Indonesia and its history permeates the culture, societies, religion and magic that we see in the Laut Besar. From rich courts to deadly jungles, to inhospitable mountains, the author paints a fascinating world for the reader to immerse in.

The competing Great powers that the author sets here as the moving forces that push and pull the characters are inspired by but not necessarily exact clones of the powers in 18th and 19th century Indonesia. In this world, the Ice-bear Empire (clearly modeled on Russia) has a warm weather port that it lacked in our world, and it is from here that one of the main characters launches her path into the Laut Besar. There also appears to be a resurgent version of a Chinese Empire far less insular than the one in our timeline, as well, and a Federation inspired by India. The Laut Besar is a playground of Great Powers, with the smaller local powers pushed by all and sundry.

The occasional “Extract from Ethnographic Travels” at the front of some of the chapters does some of the heavy lifting in the worldbuilding. These short pieces were clearly written and point to a world before the events of the narrative, providing a guide to the places and cultures of the Laut Besar that the characters in the work itself might have well consulted, had they a copy. It gives a “baseline” for the reader of how we got to the point we are before the catastrophic events of the narrative, filling in some of the gaps of the world that are not immediately discernible from the plot.

Where the novel starts to shine is when the characters get their feet under them. Like the worldbuilding above, the novel takes its time to really get the characters into a depth where we can truly appreciate them and what they do. Katerina, for instance, the Princess of the Ice-Bear Empire, kills her new husband in chapter one. It’s a bold choice that I am not entirely certain works, because I was left with an early mis-impression that she was set to be the main antagonist of the book by this action. In point of fact, she is really the primary protagonist of the series. Too, the other major characters we meet, Arjun, Semar, Farhan are all met in conflict and struggle, and take their time to really start to flesh out who they are and give the reader a reason strong reasons to care about their plight. The minor characters in their orbit are all drawn well as well, with arcs and character development of their own.

One additional thing I did appreciate, though, was the very human (and the real big bad), Mangku. In contrast to much of fantasy, his plans, plots and schemes are not perfect, and we see him have to adapt on the fly as things don’t always go his way. It grounds him in the world and as another character struggling to achieve his aims, rather than a nameless, seemingly implacable force that will eventually be defeated way down the line. His powers may be alien and strange to his friend and foe alike, but he himself is relatable, for all that his plan is reprehensible.


The action beats, however, is where the novel really sings, and what will draw most readers. Setting the novel in an 18th century sort of setting means that this novel, as well as a historical novel, also fits alongside the work of authors like Django Wexler, Brian McClellan and Stina Leicht as being a gunpowder fantasy as well. While there are some feats of swordsmanship and hand to hand fighting, stunningly rendered, it is the soldiers with cannons and muskets that provide the lever for ambitions, especially of Princess Katerina.

The set piece action finale to the novel does indeed take place in the titular Gates of Stone. It’s an amazingly well described conflict, with successes, reverses, surprises and pulse pounding action. I was reminded, favorably, of accounts of the siege of Malta, and it is clear that the author has drawn on deep history and depictions of sieges and assaults to give this siege real life and vividity. It was for me, unquestionably, a fitting climax sequence of the book.

The Gates of Stone is a strong and focused turn into fantasy by an experienced novelist seeking to ply the waters of historical fantasy. The strong foundations that he has laid here hold much promise for additional stories involving a set of well drawn characters that I have become invested in, especially Princess Katerina. The novel takes its time to set up those characters and the world, but by the end of the novel, I was looking for the next volume of the series.

This book was received as an ARC from Berkley Publishing Group in exchange for an honest review. Opinions and thoughts expressed in this review are completely my own.

One of the needs in our library is new exciting sci-fi fantasy novels and Gates of Stone sure delivered on the wow factor. If I could describe this book the best its like what if Merida from Brave meets Maven from Red Queen and the setting of their adventure is a Game of Thrones type of environment. From beginning to end, this book was filled with excitement, adventure through every page you turn. When I read books like these I examine the title and then read through each chapter with the title in mind. This was the first book where the title and the context of the book made sense in the most unique way and the avid sci-fi/fantasy readers will really appreciate that!

We will consider adding this book to our sci-fi/fantasy collection at our library. That is why we give this book 5 stars.

In the market to begin a new epic fantasy series? Maybe something to help take the edge off once the final season of Game of Thrones airs on HBO? Luckily, there's a new series that will fit the bill coming this February. Gates of Stone, the first novel in the Lord of the Islands series, weaves tales of folklore and custom into a comprehensive tale of magic and political drama.   

Game of Thrones in Asia
Gates of Stone is being marketed as “Game of Thrones in Asia”. This both helps and hurts the novel. For obvious reasons, comparing a book to a well known property can pull in parts of a dedicated fan base. But this can also backfire. As we all know, fans are a tricky bunch and can be quite fickle. Gates of Stone is an epic fantasy drama with political struggles at its core, much like A Song of Ice and Fire (ASOIAF).

There are additional similarities between Gates of Stone and Game of Thrones – in style, in scope, in brutality. And there are things that seem outright identical – a brutal horse-riding culture and a drinking, scheming, murderous woman with a desire to rule. These things provide a two-edged sword, to use a fantastical analogy. While it may lure some readers in, there is a sense that they’ve already committed years to a series and don’t need to do the same with a copycat series set in a different climate. Personally, I found the initial chapter introducing us to Katerina to fall into that category. I was dismayed. The book is large and dense and I just wasn’t sure if I wanted to read it. The brutality and the drug use were blatant and disturbing.

But, I kept reading. As a result, I was introduced to the other characters in this epic adventure. Occasionally, there are bits that call dismayingly call back so familiarly to A Song of Ice and Fire. But when it doesn’t, when Gates of Stones revels in its own story, it is brilliant.

The Individualism of Gates of Stone
The Gates of Stone is most engaging as it forges its own path. The mythology and the “ethnographic” studies are inventive and detailed. There is an attention to detail in the variety of cultures mixing in the island nations. The book is mostly set in the Laut Besar, a region of numerous tropical islands reminiscent of Indonesia. There are pirates, cannibals, religious fanatics, merchants, slave traders, drug addicts, and more roaming the seas and islands of the Laut Besar.

And despite this vast area, the main characters and their story lines converge sooner rather than later. This provides a welcome contrast to the occasional plodding pace of ASOIAF. Because of this I look forward to the next installment of the Lord of the Islands. I'm eager to see Ketut and Katerina interact with each other. I want to know if Xi Gung will catch up with Farhan Madani. And I can’t wait to discover the remaining Keys of Power. I'm eager to see the ultimate impact they will have on the world if brought together. There is a lot to enjoy and look forward to in the series.

My Review: This was a very interesting story of one girl who is denied her right to the throne because she's a girl. I feared that this being written by a man would make this a very sexist story. But I am happy to report that that is not the case. This was a very seat of your pants story that was inspired by a large number of different cultures. I will say that this one has rape, gang rape and a little bit of gore in so because of that I would say this one is set for higher teen readers.

This one really slightly reminded me of And I Darken by Kristen White. Just in the fact that this is way darker than I thought it was going to be. It was very good and I really need a finished copy of it but sadly it's not out yet. If you are looking for a fast read that you won't be able to put down check this one out!


Go Into This One Knowing: Indonesian-inspired, Chinese, Japanese, and Indian influences, rape, gang rape, and gore

I enjoyed this fantasy novel, which builds its world out of Asian culture rather than the standard medieval European backdrop. I'm very interested to see where Macallan goes next with the series.

An Indonesian-inspired epic fantasy accompanied by Chinese, Japanese, and Indian influences; I’ve never read an epic fantasy with world-building like the one in Gates of Stone.

Angus Macallan is a pseudonym for Angus Donald, a historical fiction writer most well-known for The Outlaw Chronicles series. Gates of Stone, the first book in Lord of the Islands series marked his first foray into the fantasy genre. When I first stumbled upon this book on Twitter, I was utterly filled with joy and disbelief that someone actually wrote an epic fantasy inspired by my home country. And it’s real and not a joke; Macallan cleverly utilized his skills as an author of historical-fiction into creating a powerful beginning of an Indonesian-inspired epic fantasy series.

The two main characters of the book are Katerina and Prince Arjun. Just before her sixteenth birthday, Katerina, the rightful heir to the Empire of the Ice-Bear was denied her ascension solely because of her gender. As such, Katerina was determined to scour the tropical islands of Laut Besar in search of vast power and wealth to regain her rightful inheritance. As for Jun, his peaceful life was shattered when a malicious sorcerer came to his island, slaughtered everyone and stole the ancient sword in his father’s possession. Jun then decided to track down the sorcerer and reclaim the ancient weapon, which apparently was one of the Seven Keys required to unlock a devastating power. Although the two main characters are teenagers, their stories contain trigger warnings for rape, gang rape, and some gore.

There is a marked contrast in the personalities and character development of the two main characters. Katerina exhibits brutality and tyranny; her determination to not let anything stand in her way resulted in gruesome cruelty. She started off as terrifying and intimidating but as the story progressed, we get to see the depth of her personality peeled off layer by layer. Jun, on the other hand, was almost the complete opposite of Katerina in his characterization. I enjoyed the two characters’ development and storylines immensely. Admittedly, there was another side POV that took quite a while to spark my interest, Farhan. While Katerina and Jun’s storylines started with characterization over action sequences, Farhan’s POV featured tons of battle scenes right from the beginning with very few breaks in between. This isn’t necessarily a problem; I would imagine that anyone who prefers faster-paced narratives with action sequences introduced early on may enjoy his story a lot. However, as I’ve mentioned this in almost every review of mine, I’m a reader that places the utmost priority on characterization. It’s not until around 70% of the book that I was finally invested in Farhan’s story. Luckily, even though Farhan’s POV didn’t really click with me, the other two main characters were more dominantly featured.

Macallan’s prose and action sequences were incredibly engaging and easy to follow. It doesn’t matter whether it was naval battles, close-quarter combats, magic, or sieges, Macallan delivered his vivid and visceral action scenes. I believe that his ability to write such great action scenes was one of the two skills stemming from Macallan’s experience as a historical fiction author; the other is world-building.

Generally, I’m not a fan of reading a high fantasy that takes place on the same world like ours but I found the originality and intricacy in the world-building to be my favorite part of this book. Obviously, I’m a bit biased because I’ve been living in Indonesia since I was born. However, even without being an Indonesian, the book’s setting was highly original for an epic fantasy and its Indonesian inspirations were absolutely spot-on. The islands, the jungle, the fauna, the weapons, the terms, the names, the clothing, and the lore; I can’t possibly talk about each of them in detail without adding on at least an extra thousand words into this review. I’ll just list some of these Indonesian influences:

Pahlawan is an Indonesian word meaning ‘hero’.
Garuda Bird is the symbol for Pancasila, the official foundational philosophy of Indonesia.
Yawa is derived from Java, the islands of Indonesia.
Dewa in this book equates to the lower caste of a slave but the word itself means ‘god’ in Indonesia.
Muda is an Indonesian word for ‘young’.
Mburu, a hunter in this book, is most likely a derivative of the word ‘pemburu’, the Indonesian word for ‘hunter’.
Raja in Indonesia means ‘king’. Same meaning in this book.
Istana in Indonesia means ‘castle’. Same meaning in this book.
Laut Besar literally means ‘big sea’ in Indonesia.
Obat is an addictive narcotic in this book; in Indonesia, obat is ‘medicine’ or ‘drug.’
Hantu Harimau is the other nickname for Ghost Tiger in this book. ‘Hantu’ and ‘harimau’ literally means ‘Ghost’ and ‘Tiger’ in Indonesia.
Kris (search for an image of this unique weapon.)
Additionally, below this is a comparison between the maps of the world inside the book versus Indonesia.

Picture: The World Map in Gates of Stone

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DpN9CsKW0AIyS58.jpg:large

Picture: Map of Indonesia

https://www.mapsland.com/maps/asia/indonesia/large-detailed-elevation-map-of-indonesia.jpg

I purposely left some out, but if you really want to know the meaning behind the other terms while reading this book, do feel free to message me and I’ll answer your query the best that I can. Indonesian influences aside, other Asian influences from China, India, and Japan were also evident. Macallan imbued noteworthy Asian influences into his work with due justice. As an avid fantasy reader and a Chinese born, raised, and living in Indonesia, and one who also loves Japanese cultures, I truly applaud Angus Macallan for the courage to write something original and different from the other current mainstream fantasy.

Gates of Stone is a uniquely great and impactful start to an epic fantasy series. Thank you, Angus Macallan. I’ve read many fantasy books over the past two years, and I’m pretty sure I’ve never read any with a setting and lore like the one in this book. With Gates of Stone, Macallan has established that he’s here to stay in the fantasy genre.