The Door into Shadow (Epic Tales of the Five ; V. 2) [Paperback]

Diane Duane (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1984 | Series: Epic Tales of the Five ; V. 2 (Book 2)

As the eternal malice of the Shadow rises once more to threaten Creation with destructions, Freelorn the exiled prince of Arlen stands with four others to confront this looming apocalypse. Reissue.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 298 pages
• Publisher: St Martins Pr (May 1984)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312941102
• ISBN-13: 978-0312941109
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 6 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,428,160 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Diane Duane was born in New York City -- a descendant of New York's first mayor -- and worked there as a psychiatric nurse before leaving the profession for the only one she loved better, the business of writing. Since the publication of her first novel in 1981, she's written fifty more, not to mention numerous short stories, comics, computer games and screenplays for TV and film, and has picked up the occasional award here and there. (She has also worked with Star Trek in more media than anyone else alive.)

Right now she's probably best known for her "Young Wizards" series of young adult fantasy novels, featuring the New York-based wizards Kit Rodriguez and Nita Callahan -- in business for twenty-five years now, their most recent adventure being described in the ninth YW novel, "A Wizard of Mars" (just released in paperback).

DD shares a two hundred-year-old cottage in the Wicklow Mountains of Ireland with her husband, the Belfast-born novelist and screenwriter Peter Morwood, a laid-back white cat named Goodman, and various overworked computers... an odd but congenial environment for the staging of epic battles between good and evil and the leisurely pursuit of total galactic domination. (And a lot of ethnic cooking: her own favorite foods come from the cuisines of central Europe and the Mediterranean.) In her spare time she gardens (weeding, mostly), studies German and Italian, listens to shortwave and satellite radio, and dabbles in astronomy, computer graphics, iaido, amateur cartography, and desktop publishing ... while also trying to figure out how to make more spare time.

Her favorite color is blue, her favorite food is a weird kind of Swiss scrambled-potato dish called maluns, she was born in a Year of the Dragon, and her sign is "Runway 24 Left, Hold For Clearance."

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Worthy Sequel, December 3, 2000

By 

Amanda M. Hayes (Indianapolis, IN) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Door Into Shadow: The Tale of the Five #2 (Mass Market Paperback)

This is one of the very few sequels I would say honestly surpasses the original. _Door Into Shadow_ takes the ideas introduced in _Door Into Fire_, and brings them further into the light: Segnbora d'Welcaen tai-Enraesi is the protagonist, and through her eyes, the reader will meet the Queen who cheated death, face the darker side of spirituality... and make the acquaintance of a Dragon who could change one's perspective on that mythical species forever. Wonderfully thought-provoking, _Door Into Shadow_ doesn't flinch away from any issues, instead facing them head-on and taking us along for the ride. It would be worth reading for the chance to meet Hasai (and see what becomes of Herewiss & Co.) alone; add in the songs, the legends, the magic, the tragedies, and the joys, and it becomes a literary jewel beyond price. Buy it if you can find it!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Greatest sequel I ever read!!!!, November 19, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: The Door Into Shadow: The Tale of the Five #2 (Mass Market Paperback)

Normally I try to stay away from sequels to books because they usually aren't as good as the first ones. However, the prequel to this book left me wanting more and I decided to go out and get this one from the library.

The way Diane makes all the characters come alive is incredible, especially with Hasai, since he was already dead and she makes them seem so real.

How could they have taken this series our of print??!!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars slow, June 29, 2005

By 

Furio (Genova - Italy) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Door into Shadow (Epic Tales of the Five ; V. 2) (Paperback)

Everything I wrote in my review of the Door into Fire (pls. see) can be repeated for the second part of this most atypical fantasy serial.

Its main strength lies in the fascinating world created by Ms Duane, its main charm in the detailed depiction of characters who think much more than they act.

In this second part the author seems to concentrate on Segnbora, a multilayered, faceted woman very different from the usual she-warrior; Ms Duane uses her to let us into a much deeper insight of her personal phylosophy (weltanschauung) and manages to keep the reader's interest high.

On the other hand she neglects all the others, even the lovely Sunspark, whose wit was one of the main asset of the first part. The loss is painful, especially because the "others" were so endearing in the first volume. As a consequence every time Segnbora is not involved the story becomes slow, sometimes it even drags.

Hardly an excusable mistake considering the years Ms Duane allowed herself to write the three volumes (the fourth is at the time still unpublished).