Fantasy book review: The Gateway by Glenn G. Thater
As the opening novel of Glenn G. Thater's The Harbinger of Doom Saga, The Gateway delivers straight up heroic fantasy with unapologetic hack and slash action. Thater opens the novel very effectively with the quaint technique of claiming to only be embellishing upon rare and ancient manuscripts that tell of the exploits of the legendary hero Angle Theta. This approach worked very well for impressing upon the reader the significance of the hero, whose presence as a character in the ensuing adventure was very solid and compelling.
The story begins with the Fortress of Dor beset by a strange mist and a hideous wailing noise. The lord of the fortress has disappeared in the woods with his men, and the hero Angle Theta shows up to aid in the rescue mission. Theta knows that his travels have taken him to this remote place for a reason because he is a man meant to defend his world from horrors that would consume lesser men. Theta recognizes that the forces of chaos are breaking down the barriers between worlds and seeking to conquer the human world of Midgaard, and he has come to stop it.
The heir of the missing lord along with knights, a champion, a wizard, and a cranky gnome named
"As they approached the first line of obsidian columns, the grotesque, debased painted bas-reliefs adorning their surfaces came into view. Every manner of horrific, depraved, obscene, and unspeakable activity was prominently, even proudly, depicted on the gruesome faces of those sinister pillars. Such was the horror of those odious images that the men surely would have lost their sanity, if not their very souls, had they gazed upon them for more than mere moments."
Within this terrible place, the gateway to the hellish plane of chaos opens and a frenzied and desperate battle between men and fiends and demons breaks out that lasts for several chapters. The narrative charges through the action and insists that you advance through the pages.
Admittedly, this short novel is not for the squeamish. The battles are gory, but readers seeking vivid action as men battle against supernatural beasts will be more than satisfied with The Gateway. Thater also achieved a nicely developed fantasy world within this novel and established some characters whose struggles will likely prove interesting in the subsequent novels of the saga. I give The Gateway a four swords rating.
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