The Ten Thousand Doors of January
"A gorgeous, aching love letter to stories, storytellers, and the doors they lead us through...absolutely enchanting." --Christina Henry, bestselling author of Alice and Lost Boys A young woman in the early 1900s embarks on a fantastical journey of self-discovery after finding a mysterious book in this captivating and lyrical novel. In a sprawling mansion filled with peculiar treasures, January Scaller is a curiosity herself. As the ward of the wealthy Mr. Locke, she feels little different from the artifacts that decorate the halls: carefully maintained, largely ignored, and utterly out of place. Then she finds a strange book. A book that carries the scent of other worlds, and tells a tale of secret doors, of love, adventure, and danger. Each page turn reveals impossible truths about the world and January discovers a story increasingly entwined with her own. Lush and richly imagined, a tale of impossible journeys, unforgettable love, and the enduring power of stories await in Alix E. Harrow's spellbinding debut--step inside and discover its magic. Praise for The Ten Thousand Doors of January: "One for the favorites shelf... Here is a book to make you happy when you gently close it. Here you will find wonder and questions and an unceasingly gorgeous love of words which compasses even the shape a letter makes against a page."―NPR Books "Devastatingly good, a sharp, delicate nested tale of worlds within worlds, stories within stories, and the realm-cracking power of words."―Melissa Albert, New York Times bestselling author "A love letter to imagination, adventure, the written word, and the power of many kinds of love."―Kirkus Reviews A Los Angeles Times bestseller Finalist for the 2020 Hugo, Nebula, Locus, and World Fantasy Awards. For more from Alix E. Harrow, check out The Once and Future Witches.
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Readers say *The Ten Thousand Doors of January* features lyrical prose and a gentle, storytelling feel that echoes a story within a story. They agree ...
Amazing, engrossing and Original
This is a story of 2 stories. The story of a girl named January, who mother is dead, whose father is absent and who is slowly being stifled by the rules for behavior in the early 20th century. Her foster father, Mr. Locke, has worked tirelessly in her father’s absence to raise January to be a proper young lady, even if she’s not totally white. Being white makes a difference, since it means that even though her father obtains objects of wonder in far-off places, he’s not allowed membership in the Archeological Society he works for. This is a monograph treatise on Doors, magical portals that bridge worlds, and a love story of Ade and Yule who met when he stepped through one. The barn with the Door is bought and destroyed and Ade sets off to find another Door that she might pass through to elsewhere, the Land of Written, where Yule lives. This monograph becomes a beacon of hope, of strength for January when life’s cruelty comes knocking on her door.
I love this book. The author’s use of description, the fully-conceived characters and plot, the ways that her world echoes our own, this book has put the author on my must-purchase list. I find myself wondering who is closing the Doors today, and how I might help throw them open again so that magic and change can flow back in. But perhaps the events of 2020 are a sign that magic and change have finally burst through into our world again, that if we just look hard enough, we might find our own Door, too.
Highly recommend the audiobook as well.
This one didn't really work for me. I loved the prose: Harrow's writing is beautiful. But I found the pacing to be a real challenge, with quite a lengthy setup over the first 3/5 of the novel. I also didn't love the narrative structure jumping between POVs (which is not something that usually bothers me, I just didn't enjoy the way it was done here). Most of the characters also felt to me like complete bystanders in their own stories, and while I appreciate that this was sometimes quite deliberately done, it also gave the book a passivity that I didn't gel with. Picks up toward the end and has some awesome ideas, but not my favorite.
thenextgoodbook.com
The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alex E. Harrow
371 pages
What’s it about?
January Scaller is often left alone at Locke House while her father journeys the world looking for treasures. Mr. Locke (her father's employer) treats January kindly, but she finds herself restless and she misses her father. She longs for a more adventurous life. January is expected to "behave" and she finds her escape in books. When a special book appears that tells the story of secret doors and hidden worlds, she wants to know more.
What did it make me think about?
This is a story about words- more succinctly it is a story about the power of words. The stories we read are doors into other worlds, often worlds we are unfamiliar with. "Words and their meanings have weight in the world of matter, shaping and reshaping realities through a most ancient alchemy."
Should I read it?
Even though I found this book really inconsistent- there is still so much to like about it. It is a fantasy story written for readers. The book kept me engrossed at times, and uninterested at other times. All in all, there is way more to like than dislike in this book. I think this story would lend itself to a good discussion.
Quote-
"Doors, he told her, are change, and change is a dangerous necessity. Doors are revolutions and upheavals, uncertainties and mysteries, axis points around which entire worlds can be turned. They are the beginnings and endings of every true story, the passages between that lead to adventures and madness and -here he smiled- even love. Without doors the worlds would grow stagnant, calcified, story less."
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The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alex E. Harrow
371 pages
What’s it about?
January Scaller is often left alone at Locke House while her father journeys the world looking for treasures. Mr. Locke (her father's employer) treats January kindly, but she finds herself restless and she misses her father. She longs for a more adventurous life. January is expected to "behave" and she finds her escape in books. When a special book appears that tells the story of secret doors and hidden worlds, she wants to know more.
What did it make me think about?
This is a story about words- more succinctly it is a story about the power of words. The stories we read are doors into other worlds, often worlds we are unfamiliar with. "Words and their meanings have weight in the world of matter, shaping and reshaping realities through a most ancient alchemy."
Should I read it?
Even though I found this book really inconsistent- there is still so much to like about it. It is a fantasy story written for readers. The book kept me engrossed at times, and uninterested at other times. All in all, there is way more to like than dislike in this book. I think this story would lend itself to a good discussion.
Quote-
"Doors, he told her, are change, and change is a dangerous necessity. Doors are revolutions and upheavals, uncertainties and mysteries, axis points around which entire worlds can be turned. They are the beginnings and endings of every true story, the passages between that lead to adventures and madness and -here he smiled- even love. Without doors the worlds would grow stagnant, calcified, story less."
If you liked this try-
The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab
Boy, Snow, Bird by Helen Oyeymii
Circe by Madeline Miller
The Buried Giant by Kazoo Ishiguro
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