9 years after the 3rd novel in the series, Cherryh returned to the world of Morgaine and Vanye (or should I say worlds). I did not wait as long - I read the previous one just 6 years ago - I had been trying to read all her novels in some semblance of order so it had to wait a bit.

It starts where the previous one finished - with Morgaine and Vanye crossing into a new world. But before we see them, we see the world they are coming into - a brutal world where the Qhal keep the humans under their thumb (and the humans revolt occasionally). Part of the story is told from the perspective of the new characters in this novel (both Qhal and human), some of it is from Vanye. As usual, we don't get to hear Morgaine's perspective (which may be a good thing - or a lot of things will get a lot less mysterious) although I was hoping that we may actually get it here.

On the surface, it almost feels like more of the same but under the usual story of gates and horses, there is also a lot of backstory about ancient races, about Morgaine's parents (with her mother coming from the stars and some of the other clues in the series, it feels almost like this is supposed to be another Union story) and about how the worlds ended up the way they did. There are battles, both with swords and with other means, there is love and betrayal and and open ending - allowing for a lot more novels if Cherryh ever decides to write more.

And then there is Vanye - who is so besotted with Morgaine that half of the time he sounds like a teenager who does not know better (and worse, Morgaine finally lets herself admit some of her own feelings which leads to an almost disaster). This newly found connection is almost amusing to watch - even when it gets annoying in places. But it also adds a new dimension to their partnership - not because of the love story but because of how Morgaine reacts to it and what she does (and does not do). I'd have loved to see how that develops on the next worlds...

It is a good continuation of the series and it may even work as a standalone novel (although a lot of the rich tapestry of the past will get missed that way). I am not sure it was strictly necessary - the previous 3 novels worked as a trilogy and that one clarifies and adds more to the backstory but it does not really close the story. And yet, I am very glad that it exists. ( )

The fourth Morgaine novel, published a decade after the first three, "Exile's Gate" reflects the extra years of Cherryh's publishing career by being the longest, most complete and sophisticated, and certainly best-written of the four. The last act is more complex and entertaining than the first three books combined.

Sadly, being fourth is also the biggest flaw with this tale; while the presentation differs from the earlier novels, the pieces are the same. The leaden dialog, the stock characters making stupid decisions because the author wrote it that way, even Vanye getting separated from Morgaine and beaten bloody AGAIN. There's no way 'EG' works as a standalone, and it is too much retelling of the same things to be fresh.

I'm glad I read it for completeness' sake. ( )

Morgaine travels thru time/space gates to destroy them

I love this whole series of books. I read them when I was in Middle School and I still love them today. This is the last book in the series but we never got an ending to these books and after all these years I doubt we'll get another book in the Morgaine Saga.

Even though these books were never given an ending, I would still recommend them to anybody to read. I love all her books in this series and I love the two main characters and the building relationship between the two of them. This book is very large, bigger than the others in the series, but Cherryh writes in a way that makes her books very easy to read. ( )

Another loved series by Cherryh. ( )