Friday Friyay: 'The Saint of Bright Doors' by Vajra Chandrasekera

Happy Friday! Another insane week for me, but at least this weekend I have the Bollywood dance performance and then after that things should relax a little, as in, I'll get a few hours a week back to myself. And then in two weeks time the semester is over and then I can actually kind of breathe again. Because of how busy I've been I'm also running behind on my reading schedule for this month yet. But I did also enjoy diving into The Saint of Bright Doors by Vajra Chandrasekera a lot and wanted to spend as much time there as possible.

The Saint of Bright Doors sets the high drama of divine revolutionaries and transcendent cults against the mundane struggles of modern life, resulting in a novel that is revelatory and resonant.

Fetter was raised to kill, honed as a knife to cut down his sainted father. This gave him plenty to talk about in therapy.

He walked among invisible powers: devils and anti-gods that mock the mortal form. He learned a lethal catechism, lost his shadow, and gained a habit for secrecy. After a blood-soaked childhood, Fetter escaped his rural hometown for the big city, and fell into a broader world where divine destinies are a dime a dozen.

Everything in Luriat is more than it seems. Group therapy is recruitment for a revolutionary cadre. Junk email hints at the arrival of a god. Every door is laden with potential, and once closed may never open again. The city is scattered with Bright Doors, looming portals through which a cold wind blows. In this unknowable metropolis, Fetter will discover what kind of man he is, and his discovery will rewrite the world.

Book Beginnings is at home on Rose City Reader, hosted by Gilion Dumas, and Friday 56 at Freda's Voice, hosted by Freda. I'll also be joining the Book Blogger Hop, hosted by Billy over at Ramblings of a Coffee Addicted Writer. All quotes are taken from an ARC and may be different in the published book.

BB:

'The moment Fetter is born, Mother-of-Glory pins his shadow to the earth with a large brass nail and tears it from him. This is his first memory, the seed of many hours of therapy to come.' 1%

I was honestly gripped by this novel the moment I saw the cover, but it was this opening which really drew me in and kept me tied to my seat. I loved the mythological, heroic, epic vibe from the start. This was one of the rare instances where I only read one book, rather than have two or three going at the same time. I was IN and I'm kinda sad I've finished it now...

F56: 

'This is the end, he thinks. If I do what I'm thinking of doing, this is the end of XX.' 56%

I XX'ed out the name there, not cause it's necessarily a major spoiler but still. This moment was definitely where something shifted in the narrative, where suddenly the action and tension ramped up. It lost none of its mythological depth, however.

Also, the BB is from the Prologue, which is why it's in third person, but the rest of it is in first person.

BBH:

This week's question was suggested by Billy himself:

What are your thoughts on "happily ever after" endings?

Oooh, good question! I guess it kind of depends on the genre I'm reading? 

If it's a romance, I'm usually reading it for the happy ever after, in the sense that part of my expectations when beginning the book is that the happy ever after is what we're working towards, that it's the main end goal. When I read Sci-Fi or Fantasy, however, I've lately mostly been hoping for something a little different. Like, I'd still like to see my characters as happy as possible, usually, but I don't really want the "cliché" happy ever afters, if that makes sense? A happy ending, yes, but one that is also defined by the things they've experienced, been through, etc., one that doesn't necessarily involve the typical love, relationship, kids, etc. A happy ending can also mean the gentle release of death, weirdly enough. For example, for me, the ending of The Hunger Games isn't a happy ever after, but it is a happy ending. Katniss and Peeta are still scarred by their experiences, they still need their coping mechanisms, etc., but they have found something of happiness. I guess that's what I want.

That's it for me this week! What do you think of The Saint of Bright Doors? And what are your thoughts on happy ever afters?