The Door into Sunset (Tale of the Five) (Hardcover)

by Diane Duane (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
A prince worried about his cowardice develops strength and insight as he fights for his heritage and his people in this third volume in the series that began with The Door into Fire . Freelorn s'Ferrant seeks to claim the throne of Arlen, which has fallen under the influence of the dread Shadow, an ancient opponent of the Goddess, from whom all life flows. Aided by his lover, Herewiss, the only male in a millennium to control the Flame of Power, a form of magic and mind power, Lorn searches for the visible and spiritual emblems of office in order to wrest the crown from his usurping half-brother, Cillmod, and his Shadow-tainted adviser, Rian. Lorn's other allies include Segnbora, who solicits the support of the tradition-bound living dragons who have previously shared a world with mankind, and Eftgan d'Arienn, the queen of neighboring Darthen, who musters her forces for a rousing battle between good and evil. Duane has crafted an intelligent and exhilarating Swords and Sorcery adventure, opening up its society to unusual sexual and emotional relations between human and nonhuman beings.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
The third volume of the "Tale of the Five" series follows Freelorn and his companions on a journey toward self-enlightenment.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 383 pages
• Publisher: Tor Books; 1st edition (March 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312851847
• ISBN-13: 978-0312851842
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.4 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,551,134 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars slow, October 24, 2005

By	Furio (Genova - Italy) - See all my reviews

One should never complain about cleverness and depth, there being so little of both in our life, so I feel rather silly and wan doing so about this book.

Ms Duane has poured tons of both into the third book of her justly celebrated series, creating a charming world, similar and yet very different from our own in its basic structure. In her own Utopia the main good in life is love, a love which makes the earth bear fruits and people live and work in harmony.
This world is ruled by a supreme goddess who is nearly allmighty but not really all-knowing and she is responsible, in a way, for the extant evil too.
The one above is a rather brutal sketch of a rather refined and complex system of thought, which can compare with that of the ancient Greek philosophers in depth, scope and attitude.

Problem is, this is no philosophical treaty but a novel, and a fantasy one to that.
Characters are interesting if not always consistent and there are many very well knit passages: the overall impression unfortunately is that of some impressive tableaux vivants clumsily linked in a dull way, the plot being very slow and sometimes even dragging.

A book undoubtedly worth reading, last but not least for a social depiction where sexuality and human bonds are as free as one can conceive them, their worth established by the lovers' capabilities and understanding and not by their gender.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Third in the series, and best yet!, November 18, 1996

By A Customer

This review is from: The Door into Sunset (The Tale of the Five, Vol 3) (Paperback)

Continuing the tale of Freelorn & friends' battle against the Shadow, this book has a consistently riveting storyline, and is one of Diane Duane's best works. A must-read that is alternately exciting and insightful, and a rousingly good story besides.

5.0 out of 5 stars Boy do I feel like a dip., November 22, 2001

By A Customer

OK. Obviously she hasnt writen the rest of them yet. My ratings still a five and I reafirm every thing I wrote before. I strongly support the reader from Philo on "Starlight."