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A review by dusk
The Door Before by N.D. Wilson
4.0
ND Wilson is a master storyteller. Each word is poised and calculated and flowing. Every scene, every person, is wonderfully easy to visualize. Every character is the sort that seems to live and breathe beneath the lines, if only you knew where to look. I would gladly have tea with any of his characters - except Nimiane, though that is also a high compliment. The book is too short (my same complaint with his other recent book, the Last of the Lost Boys) but that’s also a compliment. My mother used to tell me that it was better to leave someplace sad and wishing you could stay longer than to leave someplace frustrated and glad you’re leaving. She was referring to birthday parties and play dates but her wisdom applies equally well here. ND Wilson is a fantastic host and it is always sad to leave his birthday parties, no matter how long they go. I really need to stop beginning my reviews of his books with a paragraph singing his praises but, wow, he’s really that good.
The suspense and mystery pulls you in from the beginning. It didn’t quite leave me satisfied, but I suppose that’s because it’s only a taste of what can be found in the Ashtown Burials. It certainly piques your interest for both series. Hyacinth Smith joins the ranks of Glory Hallelujah in the realm of wonderful female protagonists. Though clearly tweenage-ish boy protagonists are more in Nate’s comfort zone to write, he’s very good at his female ones too and I hope to see more in the future. Hyacinth is just as compelling a protagonist as she was a background character, and I’m sad that she doesn’t have her own spin-off series. Her gifting and abilities are fascinating, and she’s all-around great. Caleb and Mordecai are equally fantastic boys as they are middle-aged men. They’re cut out of the same mold as Faramir and I love it. I might slap these books in the faces of a few guys I know and hope the role models might shape them up (if only!). Books are powerful things, you know! And, I have to say it, it’s always good to see boys and girls in a book together that don’t fall in love (well, Mordecai and Hy do get married, but there isn’t even an inkling of that in this book). Just, great male-female world-saving partnerships. Good stuff.
I am sad to say goodbye to the characters I love, but glad to spend one last adventure with them until I’ve sufficiently forgotten the other Cupboards books enough to reread them and start the whole thing over. Until then, I’ll be reading the Ashtown Burials. My curiosity refuses to abate.
The suspense and mystery pulls you in from the beginning. It didn’t quite leave me satisfied, but I suppose that’s because it’s only a taste of what can be found in the Ashtown Burials. It certainly piques your interest for both series. Hyacinth Smith joins the ranks of Glory Hallelujah in the realm of wonderful female protagonists. Though clearly tweenage-ish boy protagonists are more in Nate’s comfort zone to write, he’s very good at his female ones too and I hope to see more in the future. Hyacinth is just as compelling a protagonist as she was a background character, and I’m sad that she doesn’t have her own spin-off series. Her gifting and abilities are fascinating, and she’s all-around great. Caleb and Mordecai are equally fantastic boys as they are middle-aged men. They’re cut out of the same mold as Faramir and I love it. I might slap these books in the faces of a few guys I know and hope the role models might shape them up (if only!). Books are powerful things, you know! And, I have to say it, it’s always good to see boys and girls in a book together that don’t fall in love (well, Mordecai and Hy do get married, but there isn’t even an inkling of that in this book). Just, great male-female world-saving partnerships. Good stuff.
I am sad to say goodbye to the characters I love, but glad to spend one last adventure with them until I’ve sufficiently forgotten the other Cupboards books enough to reread them and start the whole thing over. Until then, I’ll be reading the Ashtown Burials. My curiosity refuses to abate.