Oh my heckin gosh, this was a ride! Page 282 and suddenly what I thought I knew was twisted up, but that's a theme throughout-an the novel anyway - about myth-making and truth in stories (rumors, gossip) - and a bit of Granny Weatherwax's theory of narrative causality, that people are driven by the drumbeats of a story to an inevitable conclusion, even though they believe themselves to be in charge of the telling.

The writing style is musical at times, breaking out into rhythms of three or more, linked by "or", which I found to be so evocative. The setting, too, is rich urban fantasy inspired by South Asia, which sets it apart from so many others published in the US. (I hope this means we see more, from English writers or in translation, as a result of the popularity of this one.)

Two of my very favorite books are The Raven Tower (Ann Leckie) and If on a winter's night a traveler... (Calvino), so it's probably not a surprise that I love The Saint of Bright Doors and Chandrasekera's take on stories and truth. I honestly suspect I'm missing some of the symbolism and other themes, because of my deep interest in storytelling and myth-making, but they are there - not least about colonialism, race and class and the rule of law, or the power of government or even its attempts at power in the face of its own impotence.

But also, in summary, just wow, what a novel! ( )

Let's start from weird. This is dark, gritty, contains plenty of state sponsored violence and some individual violence. I think it is a discussion of the dangers of remaking the story of the past to suit the ambitions of present powers, as well as how unreliable our stories of the past are. And inaccurate, unreliable stories are very dangerous, as are people displaced in memory or disposed of in a past present. ( )

I read this book as part of my Nebula Awards finalist packet.

The Saint of Bright Doors feels like reading through a dream. It's set in a contemporary world like ours, but different, as saints fly and devils stroll and any door can become a bright door. The mood is so unique, literary and yet not. ( )

Highly touted, I did wind up being very impressed with this novel, which has a South Asian setting, and which deals with when power politics and religion take a turn for the absurd. Fetter, our protagonist, starts out as a child soldier groomed for a mission, and he ultimately does carry out that mission, but the road to that denouement is downright baroque. There is very little that I'd mark this first novel down for, though the 5/6th of the book felt a little awkward to me, as Chandrasekera pivots to how the "Perfect and Kind" (the corrupt demigod of this world) comes to their just desserts, a climax that did have a little bit of the "deus ex machina" about it. Still, I look forward to Chandrasekera's future novels. As to whether you'll like this novel, if you liked Robert Jackson Bennett's "The Divine Cities" trilogy, and are enjoying Rebecca Roanhorse's "Between Earth and Sky" trilogy, you'd probably find this story worth your time. ( )

This novel had an original and interesting premise - Fetter was raised to be an assassin, but has attempted to reject this destiny - but I just couldn't get into the story. I stuck with it, as the plot ebbed and flowed, but I never felt that compulsion to read that my favorite books ignite. I did find the final chapters, which incorporated the perspective of Fetter's shadow, to be some of my favorite in the entire book. ( )