The Saint of Bright Doors

By: Vajra Chandrasekera

Narrated by: Sid Sagar

Length: 12 hrs and 20 mins

Publisher's summary

Winner of the IAFA William L. Crawford Fantasy Award

Long-listed, New York Times Book Review Notable Books of the Year, 2023

The Saint of Bright Doors sets the high drama of divine revolutionaries and transcendent cults against the mundane struggles of modern life, resulting in a novel that is revelatory and resonant.

Fetter was raised to kill, honed as a knife to cut down his sainted father. This gave him plenty to talk about in therapy.

He walked among invisible powers: devils and anti-gods that mock the mortal form. He learned a lethal catechism, lost his shadow, and gained a habit for secrecy. After a blood-soaked childhood, Fetter escaped his rural hometown for the big city, and fell into a broader world where divine destinies are a dime a dozen.

Everything in Luriat is more than it seems. Group therapy is recruitment for a revolutionary cadre. Junk email hints at the arrival of a god. Every door is laden with potential, and once closed may never open again. The city is scattered with Bright Doors, looming portals through which a cold wind blows. In this unknowable metropolis, Fetter will discover what kind of man he is, and his discovery will rewrite the world.

A Macmillan Audio production from Tor.com.

©2023 Vajra Chandrasekera (P)2023 Macmillan Audio

Critic reviews

2023, Nebula Awards - Winner: Winner

2024, Dragon Awards: Short-listed

2023, New York Times Book Review Notable Books of the Year: Long-listed

Nebula Awards - Winner

2023, The IAFA William L. Crawford Fantasy Award: Winner

“By turns mythic and modern, The Saint of Bright Doors delivers a spellbinding labyrinth of mysteries...A hypnotic and intricate debut.”—Sequoia Nagamatsu, bestselling author of How High We Go in the Dark

“I've never seen a fantasy world like this, and I've never met a hero like Fetter. Both will haunt me for a long, long time. Keeps on dropping bombs and surprises and brilliance and heartbreak to the very end.”—Sam J. Miller

“A book that explores how marvellously and brutally humanity remakes the world.”—Indrapramit Das, author of The Devourers

A collage that does not gel

I wanted to like this - ambitious, well written literary fantasy, but the story ends up taking a back seat to the author’s ambition. Perhaps I don’t have the proper background to appreciate the nuances of caste and magic prominent in the book. The childhood of the main protagonist is well described and a very interesting start, but it transitions with little grace into the aimless wandering that makes up the body of the book. In the end, it does not live up to the glowing reviews it has received.

This one is something really special

A great performance of a really magnificent story. Special and weird and magical and grounded all at once. An instant all time favorite.

Huh?

Tapped out halfway through Audible version. ( reader was great)
I had to go back too many times to re- listen to chapters wondering where oh where is this story going and did I miss something.
Doubly bummed after all the glowing reviews.

You should listen!

I thought this book was excellent. I loved the story and the writing. The narrator does a great job. Strongly recommend to lovers of Ursula k le Guinn and n k jemisin.

Luminous!

A marvelously read and acted urban fantasy of brilliant and dark wonder. I was utterly entranced and so sorry when it ended.

Why use one word when 200 words will do. One star but I couldn’t hit it so one star would show

I’ve wasted hours on this book I will never get back. The author is a terrible storyteller. The plot gets completely lost via a catalogue of details. Why tell a story when you can have terrible prose about what’s on the wall. If you must consume this book, do so on Kindle so you can skim and scan. The pay off for this time is terrible

Interesting but hard to follow on audio

I probably should have read this visually... there are a lot of character names and names of political parties that can be hard to keep track of without seeing them written down. The main character is Fetter and his father is the Perfect and Kind. I forgot most of the other characters' names.
The scenes were entertaining but I'm not sure what happened exactly. I'll look for a plot summary or rent a physical copy from the library later.
Interesting stuff here about colonialism, Buddhism, and Sri Lanka. Will have to do more research to understand because listening and not having prior knowledge it was a little hard to follow.
Would still recommend for something different in the scifi/fantasy genre.