The Lost Gate by Orson Scott Card

The Lost Gate is the first book in a new series by Orson Scott Card. I loved his Ender's Game series, so I decided to give this one a try. It's set in present-day Earth, but revolves around a set of people descended from the ancient gods with various magical powers. The hero, Danny, is a young teenage boy born to two of the greatest mages of his family. It's too bad he seems to be completely powerless and can't even manage the most basic magical tasks.

Eventually, he realizes he's actually quite powerful, but has a type of magic totally forbidden to the world: he can create gates from one place to another, connecting them instantly. Knowing his family will be forced to kill him if they find out, he leaves the family compound and enters the human world to pursue his powers.

It's a fun, engaging book, but Danny is a little TOO realistic. He is most definitely a young, irritating, whiny, immature teenage boy. It took away my enjoyment of the story a little, but I still enjoyed it overall. It's a bit expensive for the Kindle right now ($11.99), but if you can get someone to lend it to you, or wait until the paperback comes out in November ($7.99), I'd recommend it.