The Saint of Bright Doors

May 1, 2023
Chandrasekera debuts with a lyrical but sluggish fantasy following “chosen one” Fetter, son of Mother-of-Glory and her former husband, the Perfect and Kind. Mother-of-Glory trains Fetter as a “child soldier” in her war against his father and cuts off his shadow, enabling him to float and see devils, but leaving him feeling inhuman and disconnected. This changes when he moves to the city of Luriat and puts aside his mother’s revenge quest to focus on attending a support group for “the unchosen, the almost-chosen, the chosen-proximate.” Meanwhile, he studies the “bright door” phenomenon, mystical locked doorways that appear throughout the city. Fetter discovers that the doors are not as sealed as they seem, allowing demons to stream into the world—and that this is just one aspect of a worldwide problem with the Perfect and Kind at its center. There are some nifty ideas within Chandrasekera’s worldbuilding, but the pacing is slow and more than a little odd: characters spend a lot of time talking at Fetter in the first third of the novel, and Fetter spends much of the last third imprisoned on the way to a murky climactic twist. The result is a meandering meditation on mind-body duality, fanaticism, and eschatology that will appeal only to fans of the most cerebral fantasies.

June 1, 2023
Fetter is enmeshed in a cycle of violence as his mother severs his shadow from him at birth and forges him into a weapon to murder his messianic father and dismantle his religion. As an adult, Fetter rejects her indoctrination. He physically and ideologically distances himself from both parents by settling in Luriat, the urban antithesis to his rural hometown, and recalibrating his raison d'�tre to peace: he assists fellow refugees, heals his trauma through therapy, cultivates intimate relationships, and investigates Luriat's mysterious, unopenable, brightly painted doors. Nonetheless, Fetter is reeled back into his family's conflict and becomes entangled in discord arising from government-endorsed systematic oppression, causing him to lose his place in society and calling into question his life's purpose. The story line unravels in the final arc, paralleling Fetter's unmoored state and, perhaps, resulting from an overambitious number of plot points. However, the lyrical, precise prose, the original, organic nature of the world building, and the complex themes of purpose, identity, and the biased, often violent, incomplete nature of history-telling will engage readers long after finishing.

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June 1, 2023

DEBUT After he is separated from his shadow at birth, Fetter is without foundation. He's raised by a messianic figure in a cult where summoning devils and murder are part and parcel of his education. As an adult, he flees to Luriat, a city on the brink of cataclysmic change, where he discovers a new obsession with the Bright Doors. No one knows what is behind them--some believe there are whole worlds, and some believe there is nothing--and Fetter grapples with the unnerving caste system as he digs deeper into the doors' purpose. The threads of the plot are confusing at times, and there is a fair bit of info-dumping. That being said, this novel is driven by the worldbuilding, which is grandly elegant and immersive. Fetter is a relatable character who strays from his destiny, and his journey provides commentary on the threats of oppression and indoctrination. VERDICT Dreamlike and inventive, this unusual novel is a complicated read that ably pairs the mundane with the mystical.--Andrea Dyba

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