From the moment he left the Family compound and started shoplifting at the Lexington Wal-Mart, the book hummed along right to the end. The scene that I had originally envisioned as the beginning of the novel—a gate that would allow Danny and other kids to shoot right to the top of a climbing rope in a high school gym in Buena Vista, Virginia—now became the climactic scene. Meanwhile, Wad’s story, which had stayed stubbornly vague for years, suddenly took on clarity as I wrote the story “The Man in the Tree,” always intended as a chapter of this book, and then created the character of Queen Bexoi as Wad’s ally, lover, and nemesis.
Only one ingredient was missing, and it came by purest chance. Years ago, Victoria Von Roth, a wonderful actress whom I directed in Posing As People in a production in Los Angeles, almost demanded that I name a character in one of my books after her. Since then she had reminded me from time to time, and it happened that one of those reminders came at exactly the moment when I had Danny in Yellow Springs, Ohio, and had no idea how to push him forward on his journey of discovery. “Use my name in this book,” Veevee suggested, so I did. I thought of the real Victoria’s exuberant personality and genuine kindness, and the character who bears her name in this novel came forth. I ran the chapters past Victoria for her approval; if she hadn’t liked the character, I would simply have changed the name. But she did approve, and the name stayed.
Beth Meacham was reading the chapters as they came out of my computer, the first time I have ever let an editor read my chapters at the same time as my wife, Kristine, read them, instead of waiting till after. Beth was helpful at every stage, either with suggestions or needed encouragement; Kristine was also my reliable first reader, helping me walk the narrow line between the earthiness I wanted and some level of decorum that the general readership might enjoy.
Other primary readers—Erin and Phillip Absher and Kathryn H. Kidd—got the chapters in their rawest form as well. They all contributed greatly as I moved the story forward.
With the ironclad deadline for publication looming during the summer of 2010, more than thirty-three years after I first drew the maps of the world I now call Westil (after one of the more important nations in its history), I was compelled to finish the novel despite all other distractions, including teaching two weeklong writing workshops. I wrote a chapter nearly every day as Kristine and I flew to Poland for the launch of the translation of Ender in Exile. Chapters were written in jets on the way to and from Poland, in Warsaw, and in Czeszin, where I took part in a sci-fi and fantasy convention that combined the annual EuroCon with the national conventions of Poland, Czechland, and Slovakia. I met or reacquainted myself with many wonderful people, and came home with all but four of the chapters done.
On the first of September I finished the last chapter, and put the book into the hands of the wonderful staff at Tor, who went the extra mile in making up for my late completion to bring the book out on time. My thanks to all.
Above all, though, I must thank my family—Kristine, of course, and our youngest, Zina—for their patience during the stress it always causes when I have a book under construction. Erin Absher helped many times to make our lives possible during episodes of travel, while my assistant (and the managing editor of my magazine, Orson Scott Card’s InterGalactic Medicine Show at www.oscigms.com), Kathleen Bellamy, and our webwright and IT manager, Scott Allen, kept the world running smoothly around us.
This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
THE LOST GATE
Copyright © 2010 by Orson Scott Card
All rights reserved.
A Tor® eBook
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eISBN 978-1-4299-9341-8
Tor Books by Orson Scott Card
Note: Within series, books are best read in listed order.
—–
ENDER UNIVERSE
Ender Series
Ender Wiggin: The finest general the world could hope to find or breed.
Ender's Game
Ender in Exile
Speaker for the Dead
Xenocide
Children of the Mind
Ender's Shadow Series
Parallel storylines to Ender's Game from Bean: Ender's right hand, his strategist, and his friend.
Ender's Shadow
Shadow of the Hegemon
Shadow Puppets
Shadow of the Giant
Shadows in Flight
The First Formic War Series
One hundred years before Ender's Game, the aliens arrived on Earth with fire and death.
These are the stories of the First Formic War.
Earth Unaware
Earth Afire
Ender novellas
A War of Gifts
First Meetings
The Authorized Ender Companion by Jake Black
A complete and in-depth encyclopedia of all the persons, places, things, and events in Orson Scott Card's Ender Universe.
THE MITHER MAGES SERIES
Danny North is different from his magical family. And when he discovers his gift, it is greater than he ever imagined—which could earn him a death sentence.
The Lost Gate
The Gate Thief
THE TALES OF ALVIN MAKER SERIES
Visit the magical America that might have been, marvel as the tale of Alvin Maker unfolds.
Seventh Son
Red Prophet
Prentice Alvin
Alvin Journeyman
Heartfire
The Crystal City
HOMECOMING SERIES
Earth has been rendered uninhabitable. But it is still vital.
The Memory of Earth
The Call of Earth
The Ships of Earth
Earthfall
Earthborn
WOMEN OF GENESIS SERIES
Fiction exploring the human side of Biblical women.
Sarah
Rebekah
Rachel & Leah
THE COLLECTED SHORT FICTION OF ORSON SCOTT CARD
Experience Card's full versatility, from science fiction to fantasy, from traditional narrative poetry to modern experimental fiction.
Keeper of Dreams
The Changed Man
Cruel Miracles
Flux
Monkey Sonatas
STAND-ALONE FICTION
Hart's Hope: Dark and powerful fantasy.
Lovelock (with Kathryn Kidd): A startling look at the ethics of bioengineering.
Pastwatch: In this novel of time travel, can the past be changed?
Saints: A novel of the early days of the Mormon Church.
Songmaster: An SF classic and a haunting story of power and love.
The Worthing Saga: The tale of a seed ship sent out to save the human race.
Wyrms: The story of a young woman's journey to confront her destiny, and her world's.
The Folk of the Fringe: When America is destroyed, it's up to those on the fringes to rebuild.
—–
www.tor-forge.com
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