Book Review | The Saint of Bright Doors

When Fetter was born, his mother tore his shadow from him and raised him to become the perfect assassin to be used against his sainted father who exiled them. Twenty years later, he's a young man now and attends group therapy with fellow unchosen.

The Saint of Bright Doors by Vajra Chandrasekera paints a strange tale of myth, feuding gods, and revolution that left me with mixed feelings.

The opening pages are absolutely magical and feel like a timeless high fantasy, and I wish it had stayed that way because the more the story progressed, the more confused I became at the worldbuilding. We're given names of fictional cities and continents and yet the story uses colloquial English phrases like "spam folder" and "crowdfunding" that don't seem to fit with the rest of the setting.

Now, there is urban fantasy like American Gods that skillfully tackle the subject of faith in the old gods vs modernity and technology, but in the case of The Saint of Bright Doors, the story doesn't manage to to seamlessly mesh the two in a way that's believable.

Thank you, Netgalley and Tordotcom, for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Book Details:

Publication Date : July 11, 2023

Publisher : Tordotcom

ISBN: 1250847389

Pages : 368

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