SFF

The Ten Thousand Doors of January

by Alix E Harrow
Redhook: Orbit. Sept. 2019. 384p. ISBN 9780316421997. $27; ebk. ISBN 9780316421980. FANTASY
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DEBUT When she was seven, January Scaller found a blue door in the middle of a Kentucky field. It seemed ordinary, until she wrote “she opened the door” in her diary. The world suddenly shifted, and she walked through the portal to another place. At first between worlds, she eventually arrived safely on the other side and was mesmerized by what she found there. She might have stayed had her wealthy benefactor, Cornelius Locke, not called her name. January’s father, Julian, travels the world collecting oddities for Cornelius and his amateur archaeological society. But each has his own agenda—one to open doors, the other to close them. January will soon learn there are ten thousand doors to ten thousand worlds, and that she has the power to control them and command her own destiny.
VERDICT Harrow’s expressive debut depicts humankind’s resistance to change, repression of the “other,” and the desperation of the privileged when their prosperity is threatened. Fans of C.S. Lewis will be drawn to this magical coming-of-age tale and allegorical commentary on social justice.
Reviewed by Kirsche Romo , Sep 06, 2019
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