Book Review: Beckoning of the Gate

Santha Lathagin is a simple girl from a small village. She tends to her goats and wishes for all the whispers behind her back to go away. One day she stumbles upon a key, and her simple life becomes much more complicated. Santha must leave her village and adventure into the unknown for a quest she doesn’t fully understand. Will she make it past the dangers haunting her, or will she fail and doom the world along with her?

Beckoning of the Gate by Benjamin J Ryan is a tale of faeries and adventure. As we follow Santha through her journey, we see what kinds of faeries and magic exist in her world. We come to understand different cultures. We see what dangers are lurking in different parts of the world. The setting and world is one of the most interesting things about this book. It has some very unique concepts when it comes to magic and the mythical creatures that inhabit the world. Though there are many stories that incorporate the fae folk, I haven’t read any other books that have set them up in the way that this book did. It was refreshing and interesting to read about.

In fact, most of the storyline and overall concept of the book is fairly unique. Keys and other basic items can often become something more in fantasy novels, but Ryan uses this concept in a new way. His use of the key in this story feels fresh and new as the events unfold. Plus, as you get closer to the end, the previously presented elements, such as the key and magic, evolve and become something different than expected. Since everything the reader knows is constantly changing and evolving, the story develops into a strong surprising ending. It was interesting to see how everything turned out.

I do wish, however, that this book had a bit more direction to it. Throughout the first seventy percent of the novel, I feel like the characters are just aimlessly doing things. It is stated, in the beginning, that no one really knows what actually needs to be done, and they are hoping that they will eventually be led in the right direction. Unfortunately, that feeling of not having a direction or any idea of what to do affects the story. It would have been a stronger storyline if there had been more of an actual direction or goal to be completed by the characters much earlier on.

I think that aimlessness also contributed to how slow the book felt to read. Though there were some exciting or tense moments, I felt like the book dragged on in many places. There wasn’t any urge to hurry back to the story when I had to put it down and step away. The most interesting events happened at the end, and I wish there had been more of the same energy from the end throughout the entirety of the novel. If our story had a bit more direction to it, there might have been more urgency and excitement to reading the novel.