Theodora is a great character and the plots are pretty twisted. A fun ride. There are a few character continuity problems, like when Theo practices kata with a staff for months in the first book, then never does it in the other books and even starts as a beginner in hand-to-hand training. But those are only noticeable because the rest of the story flows so well.

I wish there were more of these, but the author is a busy TV writer now.

If you are bothered by the unresolved questions at the end of the third book, you should read this post by the author with some notes about some things that would be in a fourth book, if were ever written: http://tightropegirl.livejournal.com/15388.html

Not in the Palo Alto library, but available in the Mountain View library as soon as I return it.
( )

I've had this book on my shelf for years. I generally pass right over it when deciding what to read because I can't remember a thing about it. But every once in a while when I'm looking for a good thick book to reread, I pull it down and remember, oh yes, it's that one. And it rereads pretty well.

It has a science fiction feel to it even though the use of magic, or sorcery, is absolutely central to the book. This is because the viewpoint character, Theodora, is not native to Ivory, the only planet on which magic functions. Theodora was raised on Pyrene and educated on Athena, planets which are characterized by utter pragmatism and intellectual academia, respectively, so her viewpoint reasonably matches those of a modern reader. Although virtually all the action occurs on Ivory, Theodora travels through a variety of Ivoran microcultures in the course of the stories, so that too gives it an SF feel.

It's not a great epic; the stories are told on a personal rather than galactic or societal scale. But it's a pretty good story.

(And now, I'll find out whether the act of writing a review for this book will nullify what I said above about not remembering a thing about it. I hope not! - that's part of the fun of rereading it.) ( )

Nette Mischung zwischen Fantasy- und Abenteuerromanen auf einem fremden Planeten, auf dem Zauberei existiert.
3 Romane in einem Band, der erste ist der Beste, da hier auch die Zauberei im Vordergrund steht, später nimmt dies leider stark ab. Aber immer noch gute Abenteuerromane.
Die Welt Ivory ist sehr lebensecht: Armut und akzeptierten Mord, sehr weit verbreitete Drogensucht. ( )

Awkward to hold and read properly. My favourite story is the first one (Gate of Ivory); [Spoiler] the final story ends unsatisfactorily, with Ran and Theodora apparently having to adopt a child. The genetics part was really lame and implausible. The premise behind the trilogy was overall really good and mostly I liked Egan's writing. ( )

This was a reread for me, after finally remembering enough plot details to sleuth it out in the library's Novelist database. It's a blend of futuristic planetary sci fi, fantasy, and mystery, with romantic elements. It's about a young folklorist student who gets stranded on another planet, Ivory, while on vacation from university. She does tarot card readings in the bustling marketplace to make ends meet & gets hired by a young man who is Ivory's version of a minor lord. He is a magician who needs someone to run his tarot cards for him as part of his magic jobs, preferably someone without family or friends because it's a hazardous job - someone appears to be trying to block him from the cards' use by killing his readers. I enjoyed the charcters, mystery/romantic/travel journey plot, and the vivid depiction of the planet and its ruthless, but vivid and thriving culture. This omnibus has a sequel which was pretty good, another mystery with the same characters as their relationship progresses, and a third, weaker follow up story which leaves relationship plot elements hanging. ( )