About the Book
Title: The Saint of Bright Doors
Author: Vajra Chandrasekera
Genre: Urban Fantasy/Sci-Fi
Pages: 356
Edition Read: Kindle eBook
Dates Read: September 5 – 15, 2025
Blurb: 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 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.
Review
This is one of the most unusual books I’ve ever read. I found this book through the GoodReads Acclaimed Titles challenge, where we had to pick a book from this list of recent award-winning fiction. I had never heard of this book or this author, but it was available to read for free on Kindle Unlimited, so I decided to give it a go. While I appreciate that this was beautifully written, it wasn’t quite for me.
First, the really good stuff. The world building was amazing. It was very visual and beautiful to experience. It really felt like walking down the streets of Luriat, both the shiny fancy parts and the seedy underbelly. I also really enjoyed the main character. Fetter is a very exciting character, trying to overcome his destiny while still remaining wholly himself. That said, I at times had a very hard time following the story. Some of it was meandering, almost stream of consciousness, with scenes coming out of nowhere. As always, I maintain that this may have just been my brain not computing, but I would get very confused for a while and then pick up the threads again later when other things came together. It made the pacing feel very disjointed, but again, that may have just been me.
According to other reviews on GoodReads, this is a retelling of an event in Buddhist history or mythology. I don’t know anything about Buddhism, but having that knowledge would have probably made the story richer. Still, as I said, this was clearly a very good book, but didn’t connect with me.
GoodReads rating: 3 stars
Categories: Books I've Read
Life With No Plot 
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