Alix E. Harrow: Ten Thousand Doors of January (2019, Orbit)
384 pages
English language
Published Oct. 29, 2019 by Orbit.
Steady page turner on the power to change the world. Obvious parallels to The Starless Sea and The Bell Jar as they are fresh in my mind, and more enjoyable. Best Hugo nominee so far.
Dear me. I boarded the hype train and never reached the promised destination.
[b:The Ten Thousand Doors of January|43521657|The Ten Thousand Doors of January|Alix E. Harrow|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1548174710l/43521657.SY75.jpg|63516505] is a book I had been waiting to read for the longest time, since I saw it one of those 'to-read' lists. I'd like to preface this by saying I really wanted to like the book. Truly. Fantasy fiction is my favourite genre of all time, and I have allowed this partiality to perhaps cloud my judgement of a lot of books that concern themselves with it. Perhaps this is why I managed to get through so many pages before the dawning realisation that this book was, um, not great.
This is not a fantasy fiction book as much as it is a book concerned with political posturing and sermonising. There are other ways in which concepts of colonialism, race, gender biases …
Dear me. I boarded the hype train and never reached the promised destination.
[b:The Ten Thousand Doors of January|43521657|The Ten Thousand Doors of January|Alix E. Harrow|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1548174710l/43521657.SY75.jpg|63516505] is a book I had been waiting to read for the longest time, since I saw it one of those 'to-read' lists. I'd like to preface this by saying I really wanted to like the book. Truly. Fantasy fiction is my favourite genre of all time, and I have allowed this partiality to perhaps cloud my judgement of a lot of books that concern themselves with it. Perhaps this is why I managed to get through so many pages before the dawning realisation that this book was, um, not great.
This is not a fantasy fiction book as much as it is a book concerned with political posturing and sermonising. There are other ways in which concepts of colonialism, race, gender biases and white supremacy could have been conveyed without detracting from the fantasy element, but they dominate the narrative in a rather crowded, ungainly fashion. The prose is beautiful, but not enough to hide the fact that the plot is rather simplistic, the story unidirectional, and that various parts of the story seem to have been tailored too smoothly, almost as if to make sure that everything proceeds slickly (towards a rather predictable ending).
I found it hard to connect with any of the characters, which in turn made it difficult for me to be sympathetic to their plight, and therefore rendered me a mere spectator as the story panned out.
Perhaps you might overlook these details in favour of the overall message of the book, that of the door as a conduit for change, but I could not, much as I wanted to.
This book has a lot of promise and maybe if I'd read it instead of listening to it, or listened to it during a different time, it would've delivered for me. Instead, I didn't find myself that interested in the characters, and the audiobook skipped around a bit so I felt perpetually lost or disoriented. Again, I probably shouldn't punish the book for the technology hiccups, but I suspect if I'd found the book more compelling, I would've started over on a new device. Instead I found myself eager to finish it so I could be done. From a genre standpoint, it kind of reminded me of Dr. Strange and Mr. Norrell.
A really fun read that reminds me a bit of The Magician's Nephew in the portals to infinite worlds that can be explored ways but with more personal stakes to doing so.
Adored all of it.
A powerfully crafted tale that is completely satisfying through multiple layered storylines.
I received an ebook ARC Copy from Goodreads and Orbit and offer an honest review.
I enjoyed the story a lot, but it felt like the rhythm was a bit off, especially at the beginning.
