The Door Within

This is the story of Aidan, a rather emotional 15-year-old boy who finds some old scrolls in his grandfather's basement that lead him to The Realm, a fantastical land of knights, unicorns, and dragons. I spent much of the book with a nagging sense of deja vu. About halfway through I realized that this story was more or less The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe sans talking animals. It was all there: the Other Land discovered by a child but disbelieved by all their elders except for the old man who owned the house; the semi-medieval setting; and the heavy Christian allegory, without which the story doesn't make a whole lot of sense (if you don't recognize King Eliam as Jesus right away, you'll spend much of the book wondering how he can show more be responsible for so many things he's not present for). And despite its thickness, it also is unquestionably a children's book. The characters are simple, the action is straightforward, and there are even potential vocabulary words in italics (portcullis, gauntlet, etc.). However, I'm looking at it through adult eyes. I'm sure this would be a very enjoyable book for a child, and it is in fact quite reminiscent of some of my favorite books from my youth. The description is very detailed without dragging, most of the characters are charmingly written, and the story is fun. I'm curious to see how the rest of the trilogy plays out. show less

I got this book quite a while ago when I was looking for some good middle grade fantasy adventure to read and saw the very high reviews for this trilogy. This was not a book for me. For those who aren’t aware (as I was not) Batson is a Christian author who publishes books with strong Christian themes to them. In general I don’t have issue with that but this book was incredibly poorly written and written at a very basic reading level (short sentences and simple words). It’s like it was written for small children but then deals with the subject of war, evil, and faith. It’s too violent for small children and too simply written for middle grade readers.

When I started the book I thought it was okay. There’s some creative ideas in show more here but in general it’s a pretty basic and overdone story for the fantasy genre. The plot was this...unhappy boy finds a way into a fantasy world where he becomes a great knight and saves the day. Then suddenly finds himself back home but is a better person for his adventures. Yawn….read that plot a million times before.

The difference is that in the magical world of Alleble Aiden becomes a Knight to the one true King (do you smell religion here?). The one true King will provide for his followers in times of need even though he has no clear form. He also values kindness over violence and if you (for example) lay down your sword in front of an enemy instead of attack them everything will go your way because the one true King is all knowing and sees you and helps you. There is a lot of preachiness about faith in the one true power throughout the book which always bothers me because it allows characters to fall back on The King and his power rather than allow them to empower themselves.

Okay preachiness aside let’s talk Aiden’s character for a second. Aiden is an incredibly whiny and selfish middle aged child. His parents move to help take care of his ailing Grandpa and all he can do is whine and complain. Yes, kids complain but in general if raised properly kids are also smart, helpful, and caring...they are not one dimensional people. I don’t know how Aiden’s parents managed to raise such a selfish brat, but my 10 year old son is a lot more understanding and helpful than Aiden ever is. In fact most kids I have dealt with are.

Okay next the story. When Aiden gets to Alleble he is immediately in trouble only to be saved by cute fuzzy creatures and a dragon; I was down with that, it’s a fun start to the story. Then he ends up joining with the King’s Knights and starts his training as a knight because The King knows Aiden is destined for great things. Within a week Aiden (who is described as overweight, out of shape and lazy earlier in the book) is able to best some of the grown-up knights with his sword skill. Ummm….what? That makes no sense. Way to show kids that you can be lazy slobs and then if The King believes in you you suddenly become a kick-butt hero...I guess it is a fantasy.

The story pretty much goes downhill from there. There is a woman knight named Gwenne, who of course is the only knight to be kidnapped and in need of rescue after her womanly tenderness gets her caught by the enemy while rescuing a child. She was the only woman character in the whole book. Definitely no good female role models here….

Overall this was an absolutely awful book. From the overly simplistic jerky writing and the predictable plot to the preachy tones and poor excuse for a hero. Faith is overly preached and there are no good adult or female role models. It was a awful struggle me to finish this very basic easy-to-read book. This is awful. I would recommend staying far away from this book.

If you are looking for an amazing middle grade fantasy check out the Harry Potter series, the Percy Jackson series, the Ranger’s Apprentice series, the Unwanteds series, the Map to Everywhere series, the Wings of Fire series, the Saavy series, the Magesterium series, or any number of wonderful Middle Grade fantasy series out there. show less

A bit Eragon-ish in its lack of originality, but really not bad. Has the advantage over Eragon in that we're trying to get a serious moral across instead of just telling a fairy tale. Some of the characters and scenes are unapologetically taken from the New Testament, but others have more subtlety.

My copy has the introductory chapters as they were originally written by the author, which is a fun touch. One the one hand you can see why they were cut, but on the other they really bring out some depth in the characters. Since we're targeting a teenage reader, maybe character depth isn't all that important, but I liked it. At any rate, you would probably still need an extra hundred pages in the middle to make the main character's transition show more from geeky, chunky high-schooler to Knight Errant seem at all believable.

But not too bad a read, I thought. If you have any reading teenagers in your life that you want to give a little nudge towards Christianity, you could do a lot worse than giving them a copy of this book. show less

I have read this book many times and each time I receive something new. I feel inspired. Inspired to do something. Anything that allows other teens and kids to know the amazing power of our Father. This story is told by the main character Aidan Thomas who, after moving to Colorado, finds mysterious jars filled with scrolls in his grandfathers basement. These scrolls tell the tale of a land, the Realm, ruled by King Eliam and the downfall of his beloved knight Paragor. Paragor is jealous and envious of the love the King receives as well as his power and wisdom. Paragor tries to take over the Realm and through this act he puts into action his downfall. Aidan finishes the tale and learns that in order for him to travel to the Real he must show more have faith and believe. Once finding the door within Aidan travels to the Realm. With a small detour, Aidan ultimately ends up in the Kingdom of Alleble.
I love this book because it is all about faith, friends, and love. No matter the hardships in a kids life this book will allow them to find an answer or closure. This book helped me realize how much God loves me and that my once broken and shattered heart was now on the path to recovery. I recommend this book and this series to everyone who needs a lift in Faith or who just like a good story. show less

Wow. This book is great. Enough battles and peril to satisfy the adventure-lover, enough secrets to satisfy the mystery-lover, and enough coolness to satisfy the... well, cool-lover!

All around great. Granted, some might see it as "just another fantasy book", but it most certainly has characteristics that distinguish it from others in its genre.

For instance, there is an unlikely connection between Earth and The Realm... but I won't spoil that for you. :-D Also, there is a good dose of Biblical allegory, enough to inspire and appeal to Christian readers, yet not so much that the books would be termed "preachy" by most non-Christians. It would still be a marvelous book even without these themes.

This is also a welcome addition to the book show more world because, by almost all standards, it is clean. I have tried many other fantasy tales and been sorely disappointed by inappropriate words and references.

This book is emotional, as well. Beloved characters die, yet even in those times, there is hope...

I will mention that its main downside would be, in my opinion, the fact that there were a grammar issues that I found distracting. Nonetheless, I enjoyed the plot and characters so much that I still am giving this book all five stars.

Dragons, knights, sieges, tornadoes, mazes, traitors and lantern spiders. Find all this and more... if you choose to enter the door within.

-whisper show less

Meet Aiden Thomas: lonely, depressed, overweight and pretty much afraid of his own shadow... the perfect candidate for knighthood in a parallel universe. After being dragged halfway across America away from his only friend to look after his eccentric grandfather, Aiden isn’t happy to say the least. But when he discovers three ancient scrolls in the old man’s basement and the key to the Door Within, everything changes.

Wayne Thomas Batson has written a fantastical allegoric masterpiece. The writing is a little rough around the edges, but still pretty good for a first time author. The characters are relatable, the action is intense and the allegory is at the perfect level of subtlety. But best of all, The Door Within is just a really, show more really good story.

The Door Within is everything Christian fantasy should be... and then some. show less

The Door Within explores several important themes, including the struggle of good against evil, how an individual can make an impact with the help of the One True King, and finding hope in the knowledge that one is never alone.

Wayne Thomas Batson’s effective use of allegory makes the message clear without overpowering the story. A good amount of humor is also present throughout the novel, including Captain Valithor’s bellowed insults and Aidan’s phantom army, although it tends to be geared more toward younger readers.

Some characters are better developed than others, but overall they make the book enjoyable to read. The creativity shown in the different fantasy creatures of the Realm, as well as the various settings, also add to show more the book’s interest.

Summary: Aiden Thomas, thoroughly unhappy about moving away from his best friend, finds adventure in the appearance of ancient scrolls. These scrolls tell a story that leads him to cross over to the Mirror Realm, which he discovers is closely linked to his own world. Sent on a mission to aid the kingdom of Alleble, Aidan must find the courage to overcome some of his greatest fears. show less