The Gates (The Samuel Johnson Series) Paperback – August 30, 2011

John Connolly has delivered something special for YA and Adult readers alike. The Gates is brilliant.The writing style is fun to read and flows beautifully. It has rhythm that's becoming harder to find in the YA market. It may sound strange, but the dozens of little notes - Connolly's asides to the reader - are quite wonderful and enrich an already fantastic tale.I laughed out loud frequently. In fact, I laughed so often while I read this book that I was beginning to annoy others nearby. Not just by laughing either. Several times, I had to look up and go 'Wow!', even when there was nobody else in the room. While I read the last 15% of it in bed, I had a tough time stiffling the giggles and wows. My wife probably thought I was having convulsions of some sort. Either that or doing something she wouldn't want me blogging about, considering I was in bed after all.The book isn't just funny. It's a great spooky story that will thrill youngsters every bit as much as Connolly's other work scares the pants off his more grown-up readers. The story has action, creepiness, gore, monsters, just a tad of pre-teen angst and more. Oh, it also has poo; essential for any good YA story, wouldn't you agree? JK Rowling could really have made Harry Potter et al more fun if she'd included poo.The plot stands out because not only is so original, it's so well written. It often had me saying to myself, 'Gee, I wish I could make the Large Hadron Collider sound interesting and fun for a YA audience.' Think about it. The holy grail of geekery, quantum physics (and the possibility of creating a black-hole that could destroy the universe) and all, and Connolly comes along and makes it sound fun. For teens. That aint easy.The protagonist, a lad called Samuel Johnson is written to a bit, well... different, shall we say. And he's spot on. The lead baddies are delightfully wicked. The not-so-bad baddies (some are even quite good, truth be told) are a hoot. The rest of the supporting cast are credible and three-dimensional.The Gates gets 9/10 . Will I read more John Connolly? Tell you what: I'll keep his work on my shelves and in my Kindle and every now and then, when I feel like I deserve a special treat, I'll start reading one. I bought my copy from Amazon and when I see it in hardcover, I'll buy a couple of copies - one to read again, and one to keep in the 'no you touch it!' section of my bookshelf.

Clear and correct description of what goes on in a particle accelerator paired with a delightful tale of disgustingly scary beings from "Hell" bent on coming "up" to Earth and taking over. Connolly's descriptions of these creatures is vivid. The dialogue and depictions of characters' motives and inner thoughts are, frankly, amusing if not outright funny. The line I best remember (since just at that point in the book I was thinking the same thing) is when a creature is asked, why, when the world of Hell is so dark, scorched, and barren, would it want to take over and make "upper Earth" the same way. Lots of fun to read.

John Connolly is a brilliant writer. From his Charlie (Bird) Parker series to his stand alone books, you know you'll get an excitingly provocative read.The Gates was semi-reviewed incorrectly in the Oct 26th People Magazine.Here is what the plot really is -A young boy Samuel Johnson, and his loyal dog, Boswell - go trick or treating a few days early and he rings the doorbell at 666 Crowly Road and after being told to go away it wasn't Halloween, looks at the light in the basement and sees 4 adults in black cloaks doing what looks like witchy things -What they are doing in trying to do is have a little fun with the metaphysical that backfires - they cause a gate between Earth and the gates of Hell - and the four get sucked in to a plot to let Satan and his minions back to earth to rule the world.Samuel tries to see what is happening and brings his friends, his trusty dog, as well as a very nice demon, and the members of CERN to help save the planet.It has been said that the experiments CERN does about the big bang theory and doing experiments of epic proportions do no harm, but maybe, just maybe there is a chance of creating a black hole that may swallow us up, but it's not that great a chance...CERN sees a blip in the recording and it leads back to 666 Crowly Road.Be careful what you are playing with - it may bring things you don't want all in the name of science!!!Connolly as he does writes as he does with lyrical proportions with wit and humor and he then proceeds to scare the dickens out of us.It is a wonderful read and again proves that Connolly is a once in a lifetime author that literally brings magic to the word and our imagination.

The Gates: A Novel by John Connolly was adorable, hilarious, charming, intelligent, witty, and certainly enjoyable to read. A great book! I couldn't really tell that it was young adult, I found the humorous writing style to be similar, although less vulgar (perhaps because this is a YA book), than more adult-oriented authors such as Christopher Moore and Tom Holt.I would absolutely recommend this to anyone who enjoys science, religion, evil bitch Hell gods, humor, and logical conclusions. All of the characters were entertaining and it made the book a very quick read.The prose, despite being written for young adults, flows well as you read. The humor and storyline make the simplistic writing less obvious, allowing you to pay more attention to the story as it develops rather than the writing itself. This is a book that children and adults alike can enjoy. Darker themes, such as divorce and death, are prevalent in the book, but are dealt with in a way that is acceptable for a wide range of readers.The Gates was full of some great stuff and is written in a light hearted manner than makes everything funny, even when Connolly is conveying complicated scientific processes.

I'm a big fan of the Authors writing style. Great book for a teen/ young Adult

I absolutely love this book, It arrived in perfect condition and was exceptional value for the price. I highly recommend :)

Trust John Connolly to make the kid in you jump with joy but at the same time fascinate the teenager you are. This book has the perfect balance of humor, science and fantasy. Every single page left me wanting more from this story and its characters, who might I add, are the most wonderful part of this book.Samuel Johnson was the perfect protagonist, and you fall in love with him from the second he starts talking about angels on pins. His wit and sense of humor are one of the many things that keep the story light hearted. His dachshund Boswell is the very reason I want a dog, maybe even 10. Boswell goes from growling at others to almost getting himself killed for Samuel. Samuel’s character development is what I loved most about this book. He goes from someone who wants an excuse for his dad to come back and visit them to being a boy who is sure of the fact that he is strong enough for both himself and his mother, all while still being 11 years old.I adore Mrs.Abernathy, the demon one. Her devotion to The Great Malevolence baffles me. I get that her being his second in command and all comes into play, but I can’t shake the feeling that she has something else planned out for Samuel and her.While we’re talking about demons, let’s talk about Nurd. God, Nurd was easily my favorite character in the book and his process of discovering our world (Yes, I’m talking about motors) was just hilarious. I adored how he went from “The Scourge Of The Five Deities” to plain old Nurd, who would untimely ride an Ashton Martin while wearing a blanket with two hole for eyes. God, I hope Samuel and Nurd get more face time in the next book.Another thing I adored about this book was how chill everyone in the town was about The End Of The World taking place in their neighborhood. I mean, you have Nurd in the back of a police car, who splits his head open and shows the policemen his brain, and goes on to wiggle his 6 inch tongue, all for the policemen to coolly declare “I think he’s a monster.” Even the Vicar and the Verger, who politely told Bernard The Bad - the bishop who rose from the dead - to “Put that thing back where it came from or so help me.” Every single person in this town is so badass and fearless and IT MAKES ME SO HAPPY. Samuel and his friends and even his mother are so head strong that it gives me so much joy just thinking about them.The science aspect of this book did remind me a bit of Madeleine L’Engle’s writing, but only a bit. The fact that I’m finally encountering a demon who knows how to use physics to his advantage, or say in this case, open a portal between his world and ours is so refreshing. It’s like one of those rare books where magic and science co-exist and it still makes sense. The author’s footnotes are beyond hilarious and put everything into perspective. Although the footnotes started off to explain the science aspect of this book with a bit of humour, it soon changed to endearingly funny commentary which was another amazing part of the book in its own right. This is an immensely amazing read and will, without a doubt leave you laughing your ass off.P.S, Dear John Connolly, HOW DO YOU EVEN DO THIS?

It's wordy in places, no doubt. There's some lengthy sentences in there that I had to read at least twice, and there were quite a few parts where the flow of action was interrupted with an anecdote/footnotes/a second trail of thought...etc but, having read Douglas Adams from a young age, I'm quite used to this style of writing, and enjoy it. I loved the humour - that's really what sells the book. It's very funny and charming and the protagonist is really one that you want to see succeed (then again, when he's all that stands between the world as we know it and a horde of demonic forces hellbent on destruction, you rather root for him to succeed). It's a really enjoyable read, one that I imagine young teenagers would enjoy just as much as adults. Already been recommending people to read it.

John Connollys "The Gates" ist ein lustiger und spannender Fantasyroman, der von der Öffnung der Tore der Hölle in einer kleinen Stadt in England erzählt.Der elf Jahre alte Samuel beobachtet eines Nachts, kurz vor Halloween, wie seine Nachbarn, darunter Mrs. Abernathy, seltsame Dinge in ihrem Keller anstellen: Nachdem sie aus einem merkwürdigen Buch vorlesen, entsteht eine scheibenartige Öffnung zu einer anderen Welt. Mrs. Abernathy wird prompt in sie hineingezogen, nur, um kurz darauf wieder zu erscheinen. Doch irgendwas ist anders: Es scheint, als hätte ein Dämon von ihr Besitz ergriffen. Samuel flieht, allerdings nicht ohne von Mrs. Abernathy entdeckt zu werden. Diese setzt nun verschieden Dämonen auf Samuel an, um ihn zu töten. Mit mäßigem Erfolg. Von einem der Dämonen erfährt er allerdings, dass die große Boshaftigkeit (The Great Malevolence) alias Satan die Tore der Hölle öffnen will, um auf die Erde zu kommen. Samuel versucht jemanden um Hilfe zu bitten, was sich allerdings schwierig gestaltet, da ihm niemand glauben will. Doch gibt es da ja noch den nicht ganz so dämonischen Dämonen Nurd, der aus irgendeinem Grund zwischen seiner Welt, der Hölle, und der Welt Samuels hin- und hergeschleudert wird...Der vollständige Titel "The Gates of Hell are about to open. Mind the Gap." deutet bereits den Humor an, der den Roman in Kombination mit dem Stil des Autors so unverwechselbar werden lässt.Besonderheiten sind unter Anderem die Fußnoten des Autors, die seinen Humor ganz deutlich werden lassen. (So ist man beim Umblättern eher enttäuscht, wenn einem keine Fußnote erwartet.)Ich habe beim Lesen eines Buches noch nie so viel lachen müssen. Und eigentlich hat man fast von Anfang bis Ende ein Grinsen auf dem Gesicht. (Verantwortlich dafür sind Einfälle, wie "Schwell, the Demon of Uncomfortable Shoes", "Ick, the Demon of Unpleasant Things Discovered in Plugholes During Cleaning" oder "Erics', the Demon of Bad Punctuation".)Unbeschreiblich lustig, nur zu empfehlen!