Teen Summer Reading Program: It's the Final Countdown!

The saint of bright doors

by Vajra Chandrasekera

SCIENCE FICTION Chandras Vajra
Fantasy

"The Saint of Bright Doors sets the high drama of divine revolutionaries and transcendent cults against the mundane struggles of modern life, resulting in a novel that is revelatory and resonant. Fetter was raised to kill, honed as a knife to cut down his sainted father. This gave him plenty to talk about in therapy. He walked among invisible powers: devils and anti-gods that mock the mortal form. He learned a lethal catechism, lost his shadow, and gained a habit for secrecy. After a blood-soaked childhood, Fetter escaped his rural hometown for the big city, and fell into a broader world where divine destinies are a dime a dozen. Everything in Luriat is more than it seems. Group therapy is recruitment for a revolutionary cadre. Junk email hints at the arrival of a god. Every door is laden with potential, and once closed may never open again. The city is scattered with Bright Doors, looming portals through which a cold wind blows. In this unknowable metropolis, Fetter will discover what kind of man he is, and his discovery will rewrite the world"--

This book is incredibly hard to describe--it's fantasy, but grounded, also, paradoxical, wildly dreamlike? It's hard to know what's "true" in the book. At first, characters seem dishonest and manipulative, but maybe there's reality in what they're telling us. It's an amazing book, and I do it disservice in trying to tell you about it. I highly recommend it. -Brian