Reviews

The Door Into Fire by Diane Duane

aimiller's review against another edition

adventurous emotional reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Is the pacing sort of wild? Maybe. Did I still bawl like a baby? Absolutely I did. 

wayfarer06's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious

3.5

wetdryvac's review against another edition

5.0

I keep re-reading this series, and every time am reminded why Duane is one of my favorite authors. Well executed characters, system of magic, and most important of all: A strong feeling of connection to every aspect of the tale.

poetic_liz's review against another edition

4.0

A just overall perfectly rounded, wonderful book. 

I loved the characters, especially how human and hurt and loved they were. This book and its approach towards love felt like a love letter to humanity sometimes. 

The book is also extremely rich in world building, it has a quite unique approach towards the world's religious lore, and the magic feels very all-encompassing. Even though heavy in world building, it was easy and quick to read and felt very welcoming towards the reader. I enjoyed the main character being a bit older and already more settled in his life and still being able to follow him on his way without feeling left behind. 

And of course kudos for the very unapologetic, matter-fact and very very lovely queer representation.

annika2304's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

toopunkrockforshul's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

snazel's review

Really enjoyed the world. But auuuugh I'm so over that trend in 80s fantasy where to love anyone is to have sex with them. Any person. All people.

markdudley's review against another edition

3.0

Interesting, perhaps intriguing, but didn't leave me thirsting for more

valhecka's review against another edition

adventurous emotional inspiring medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

wilt's review against another edition

slow-paced

4.0

 Any book that can be summed up as "it's about love, actually" is going to be a good read for me. My favorite thing about this book was the presence of an established relationship between Herewiss and Freelorn. It's not something I get to see often in fiction and for a while it had me wondering if their relationship would be relegated to minor flavor text, a small detail that wouldn't play a big part either way. How glad I was to be wrong about that. Not only is their relationship emotional and tender and  withstands the test of time, it's frequently pulled to the very forefront. We linger on their feelings for each other, their love and fears and struggles. They're also both bi and there are obvious polyam elements that I enjoyed. As if that wasn't enough, there's also a cool genderfluid elemental who is also sometimes a horse.

I did find this to be a slow read at times, as meandering and languid as retro fantasy tends to be. There's a ton of worldbuilding and lore given to you at all times but by the end of it I really enjoyed my time here. As someone who enjoys pre-2000s fantasy it was really nice to see a complex m/m relationship in tandem with all the swords and sorcery, and the ending left me feeling really, really good.