The Gate Thief

In this middling sequel to The Lost Gate, Card connects Egyptian myth with his “literalizing of Indo-European gods” to create Danny North, the 16-year-old incarnation of the messenger/trickster god Thoth-Mercury-Hermes-Loki. Danny masquerades as an ordinary teen but is the son of the Norse gods Odin and Gerd. He’s just coming into his full powers as a gate mage when some of the old gods set out to kill him. He’s also so filled with “innate goodness” that he can fend off all the hot girls who want him and subdue his own adolescent hormones. Naturally, he takes on the task of saving Earth and defeating the forces of evil through a heroic act that’s devoid of real consequences. Card’s afterword reveals his struggles with clarifying his unusual and highly complicated world-building, but only the most devoted readers will have sympathy for these creative problems. (Mar.)