Door into Faerie

The Shards of Excalibur

By: Edward Willett

Narrated by: Elizabeth Klett

Length: 6 hrs and 14 mins

Publisher's summary

Shortlisted for the 2017 Aurora Award (honouring the best in Canadian science fiction and fantasy) for Best Young Adult Novel!

In the climactic fifth book of the Shards of Excalibur, Ariane, Wally, Flish, and Rex Major are on a collision course, converging on the resting place of the final piece of the sword: the hilt, long ago removed from its original hiding place by the descendants of King Arthur. When Wally uncovers its surprising location, far closer to hand than they’d ever guessed, it seems all Ariane and Wally have to do is claim it and reforge the sword to defeat Merlin forever.

Except…how, exactly, do you reforge a magical sword? Especially, how do you do it when the richest man in the world is on your trail and pouring all of his enormous resources into stopping you?

When the pieces of the sword are at last reunited, the long-closed door into Faerie swings open wide. Who - and what - emerges from it may destroy everything and everyone Wally and Ariane have fought so hard to save - and allow Rex Major to snatch victory from the very jaws of defeat.

©2016 Edward Willett (P)2018 Edward Willett

Critic reviews

“This fifth book is as forged with magic, conflict, action and travel, as well as a little history, as the earlier four book…but family, which has always been important, becomes paramount..and ultimately help resolve its plotlines, a monumental task in a fantasy based on the Arthurian legends. Yet Edward Willett accomplishes this easily....” (Helen Kubiw, CanLit for Little Canadians)

“Door into Faerie will appeal to young readers in search of adventure as well as adults who enjoy the timeless story of King Arthur.... Highly recommended.” (Ronald Hore, CM Magazine)

“I loved this YA fantasy. Willett wields his well-honed writing chops from page one, and my interest was maintained until the final word....” (Shelley A. Leedahl)

Great finale, some swearing this time

This is the fifth book i have read/listened to by this author and I would listen to another. I’ve enjoyed this entire series and am sorry it’s over. The ending is very good and I thoroughly enjoyed every book. The idea of the shards, descendants and how the magic works is very creative. The kids have learned their magic along the way, that seems to me, a natural progression.


This is the fifteenth book I have listened to by this narrator ( Elizabeth Klett ) and I would definitely listen to another.

There are no explicit sex scenes, or excessive violence. There is swearing. I don’t recall any in previous books so was surprised. The altercations with the ‘bad guys’ are appropriate, not far fetched and tame on the violence which makes it very appropriate for preteens, but then the swearing??

I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and voluntarily left this unbiased review.
Please feel free to comment on whether you found my review helpful.

An extremely satisfying end to the saga

Based on the previous 4 books in this series, I expected another great adventure. I certainly got that in spades! The action took off as soon as the ice melted near the end of the first chapter, and didn't stop until the end of the last chapter. This is the final book in the series, so of course, the last shard of Excalibur has to be found, but there were a whole lot of twists and turns along the way, many of them in unpredictable and surprising directions. I really enjoyed the ending to this very fun book series. Without giving anything much away, I will say that Ariane and Wally behaved magnificently, and I was extremely satisfied with the fate of that nasty Rex Major!

Elizabeth Klett finishes the series off with another top notch narration job, adding Scottish to her repertoire of accents. She has made listening to this series a great experience for me.

Mr. Willet has written a wonderful saga that any teenager (or teenager at heart) should enjoy, and I recommend it whole heartedly.