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Tree of Seasons- Stephen Gately


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I looked if there was another thread like this and I couldn't find one so I'm sorry if there is! :(

 

I wondered if anyone had read the book by the recently passed Stephen Gately...

 

 

A charming and heartwarming novel written by Boyzone's Stephen Gately shortly before he died. Stephen Gately brought joy to many millions of fans throughout the world. In the months before his tragic death, he wrote this, his first novel, The Tree of Seasons. When Josh, Michael and Beth Lotts catch sight of some mysterious lights one summer's evening, they are drawn into a dense forest near their home where no one dares ever go. What they find there is incredible. The Tree of Seasons is a doorway into another world. There are four kingdoms in this world, each forever stuck in spring, summer, autumn and winter and each with its own ruler. The tree and the world it conceals have existed for hundreds of years and have never been uncovered by anyone, until now. The Lotts find that peace has been shattered in this magical world. One ruler, who bears a remarkable resemblance to their aunt is intent on power at all costs. She causes destruction and suffering that threaten to tear worlds apart. Josh, Michael and Beth have arrived just in time to take part in the battle that the other three kingdoms have to fight in order to survive. The Tree of Seasons is a beautiful story of good and evil and a vividly imagined portrait of a world beyond our own.

 

To me this book sounds amazing and I cannot wait until I get my hands on it! I might even read it to my younger borther when I'm finished! Haha!

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I spotted this in the new books section at the library mainly as it has a really nice cover, it does sound like a good story so i'll be interested to see what people think about it.

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Not a rumour Laura, his husband and a writer finished off the book when he died,

He was just pages away from completing it at the time of his death last year but, determined to realise Stephen's dream of having it published, his husband Andrew worked with a writer to finish the final few pages, using Stephen's notes. (from stephengatelyfans.co.uk)
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I bought this book, very irresponsibly on the grounds that I adored Stephen from when I was approximately 6 years old and I'm sad that he's dead, not because I think it'll be good or that I'll like it.

 

The dustcover and the 20+ internal illustrations are absolutely beautiful, and I rather love the font too (though I have no idea what it is). It's easily one of the more beautiful books on my shelves - the little silver snowflakes shimmer and all. Even if I don't enjoy it, at least it was aesthetically worth the €16 I spent on it :D

 

I'm less than a chapter into it, so I probably shouldn't be posting for another while. I'm also slightly disappointed coming into a thread with five replies to find nobody posting has actually read it! Either way, so far it reads a bit like Enid Blyton (I have to admit, a bunch of kids with a forbidding wood behind their house - Enchanted Wood much? but I'll reserve judgement) - and it might just be me but I'm half expecting it not to be very well written (since it's written by a pop singer) so it's seeming to be a bit dodgy. And I'm mentally reading it in a Dublin accent. Sorry Steo, I'm being very harsh on you :)

 

I do love that it's set in Ireland. I don't remember the last time I read a fantasy novel set in Ireland. Okay, that's a lie, I do, but that was more a children's sci-fi/horror kind of fantasy, and this is an Enid Blyton kind of fantasy.

Edited by Nollaig
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  • 1 month later...

Stephen Gateley > The tree of seasons

 

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Synopsis from amazon

 

When Josh, Michael and Beth Lotts catch sight of some mysterious lights one summer’s evening, they are drawn into a dense forest near their home where no one dares ever go. What they find there is incredible. The Tree of Seasons is a doorway into another world. There are four kingdoms in this world, each forever stuck in spring, summer, autumn and winter and each with its own ruler. The tree and the world it conceals have existed for hundreds of years and have never been uncovered by anyone, until now. The Lotts find that peace has been shattered in this magical world. One ruler, who bears a remarkable resemblance to their aunt is intent on power at all costs. She causes destruction and suffering that threaten to tear worlds apart. Josh, Michael and Beth have arrived just in time to take part in the battle that the other three kingdoms have to fight in order to survive.

 

My thoughts

 

I bought this book only because I used to love Boyzone when I was younger and because the cover is really really pretty. I din't expect it to be well written and so I wasn't surprised when I found out that I was right about that. The idea of the story is quite nice and if I would actually be a child (and therefor wouldn't really pay attention to the writing style)I probably liked it better. I find the book wasn't well thought through, the story is jumpy and the different parts of it aren't really developed. It's like a chain of things is put together one after another without developing each part fully.

I started the book probably in June (I think it was June) and finished it today, just to be finished. I always picked it up, read a chapter or two and put it back to read something else first.

 

Rating: 2/5

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  • 2 years later...

I was a huge Boyzone fan and I bought the book on Amazon because I thought Steo deserved it. It has a good plot but the style is.. how to say... childish. But it's not so fair to judge this aspect because Stephen didn't have the time to re write some parts or something. His housband printed it lost in the deep flows of emotions after that sad October night. Maybe Steo would have changed something, if only...

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