Review by pacifickat - The Ten Thousand Doors of January

pacifickat 's review for:

The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow

4.0

adventurous dark emotional tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Overall, I really enjoyed this story and its characters. I liked the exploration of various family relationships, especially that of father and daughter, strained by distance and years of separation. And I liked the messages challenging structures of empire and colonial repression. I'm a sucker for a good feminist protagonist, it turns out.

However, I did find several key plot elements a little too predictable and the primary villain's motivations lacking nuance. The extremely heavy use of similes also wore on me, although the writing is quite good on a whole.

I did enjoy some of the clever turns of phrase and wordplay:

"I escaped outdoors. See how that word slips into even the most mundane of stories? Sometimes I feel there are doors lurking in the creases of every sentence, with periods for knobs and verbs for hinges." (0:11:25)

I liked the primary POV's being those of people of color navigating a world of white privilege:

"Some of that time I've spent simply learning how to navigate this world, a place I find baffling, sometimes cruel, and profoundly unwelcoming. There are rules about wealth and status, borders and passports, guns and public restrooms, and the shade of my skin, all of which change according to my precise location and timing." (7:39:05)

"My papers at the border identify my occupation as an exploratory archaeological researcher, but they might more accurately say well-dressed grave robber. [...] This is what I've become, a scavenger scouring the earth, burrowing into its most beautiful places and harvesting its treasures and myths, eating its stories. I have chiseled out sections of sacred art from temple walls, I've stolen urns and masks and scepters and magic lamps, I've unearthed tombs and stolen jewels from the arms of the dead in this world and a hundred others. All for the sake of a rich man's collection [...]. I would do worse things to find my way back to her." (7:40:45)

As mentioned, the antagonist was given a somewhat worn motivation of

impressing order on a messy world that isn't his own in order to preserve it; basically, the "mastermind" or "benevolent dictator" trope. In this book, the villain uses mind control, charisma, and manipulation to pull the strings of society, working to impose uniformity through colonial expansionism and imperialism in order to achieve unchanging predictability on a global scale.

Part of me wanted it to be more complicated or nuanced than this.

However, I liked the message of pushing back against systems that harbor and even prop up evil:

"The will to be polite and maintain civility and normalcy is fearfully strong. I wonder sometimes how much evil is permitted to run unchecked simply because it would be rude to interrupt it." (10:50:53)

This book has strong elements of xenophobia and racism, fitting themes for the present geopolitical moment and rise of white nationalism in certain countries:

Mr. Locke: "You were exactly what we were striving so hard to prevent, you see. Exactly what we'd sworn ourselves against, a random foreign element with the potential to instigate all sorts of trouble and disruption which ought to be stamped out."
January: "My father was a grieving scholar. I was a half-orphaned baby. What sort of trouble could we cause?" (10:55:04)

"I hope to every god you have the guts to do what needs doing. I hope you will find the cracks in the world and wedge them wider, so the light of other suns shines through." (12:05:00)

And themes of freedom of thought and the courage to dismantle destructive ingrained beliefs after years of being indoctrinated and gaslit:

"I wondered how long it would take before I stopped discovering these petty little laws that had governed my life, and whether I would only reveal them by breaking them. It was a rather cheerful thought." (11:34:10)

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars.

Content Warnings