 |
| Buy from Amazon! |
Series: Children of the Bard (Book 3)
Genre: YA Fantasy
Publisher: Living Ink Books (February 17, 2014)
Page Count: 359 pages
What I liked: The book starts with a bang that instantly draws you in as our characters are forced by the wicked Tamiel to travel across the apocalyptic United States in search of six doors containing six keys to unlock the seventh door. If you are a long-standing, Mr. Davis fan, you’ve probably suspected this book has many parallels to the Circles of Seven and it does. The characters even state it. Though this book is very action packed with plain crashes and looming nuclear warfare and venomous demons, I love how much character growth is in it.
Matt struggles with his hatred for his foster Darcy, a conflict foreshadowed through out the previous books of the series, and his romance with Listener is welcome. Lauren seems the most human as she goes on her journey despite her impending doom. Abaddon’s characteristic alliterations are a neat quirk. I love how sweet Jared is with his wife Mariel and how Darcy grows throughout the story. I liked that my ultimate favorite character Sapphira was in it much more.
 |
| If you’ve read the other books of the series, you’ll be thinking this the whole time. |
The bad guy’s plans are original and they’re formidable and creepy foes. We also have two bad guy parties: the main villains Tamiel and Arramos then Semiramis and Mardon which shakes up the dynamics.
As characteristic with Mr. Davis the prose is lovely and the writing flows. And his use of words like “frenetic” is always welcome to word lovers like myself.
The journey here is the most strenuous even most than the last book. Bonnie’s faith is even shaken due to the trials. Many dilemmas are given through the story that strain the characters’ faiths and really bring out who they are. The author brings up different branches of sin through each door which acts as an eye opener. I won’t spoil them because that’s part of the fun.
The end is bittersweet, but it ends well. No disappointment there.
 |
| This basically sums the ending up. |
There are so many themes in this book it’s hard to pick just one, but I’ll highlight the one that spoke the most to me.
“She did terrible things to you [Matt], but you will never reconcile with someone you choose to hate. Hatred is a cancer that will devour you. It consumes its victims like a raging fire. No one can be saved who harbors hatred in his heart, not Darcy, not Semiramis, not you.” Bonnie, The Seventh Door by Bryan Davis.
Hatred is a strong thing. It’s the opposite of love and as love can cause great good, hatred can cause great evil. I feel like in much of the media today hatred is often painted as fine as long as the hatred is toward evil people. Though we should hate sin, we shouldn’t hate anyone even if they did horrible wrong to you. That is the struggle Matt has to deal with and one I myself have also.
What I didn’t like: I enjoyed this book for the majority, but I had a problem with Darcy, a prostitute saying, “You fool!” It seemed out of character.
Content Cautions: This is one of the darkest of this author’s books so take in account there is material not found in many of his other books. I would rate all of this at about PG-13 except for one sequence which may be R.
Darcy almost swears and the bird is implied to be given some to some of the characters. Homosexuality and marijuana use is mentioned. A sequence where skeletons hand over their glowing hearts to Arramos is chilling. Characters break into a sex trafficking camp and one of the characters is a prostitute. Details about both of these are mentioned at times though not in great detail.
The most disturbing sequence was a part at an abortion clinic. Premature babies are shown in trash bags or trash cans and it bothered me a lot. I had to take a brief break from the book before continuing. Perhaps this is because I’m very sensitive to this particular topic, but it is something to keep in mind.
Despite the one graphic sequence this is my favorite of the Children of the Bard series. It has the most personal tension coupled with a lot of outside conflict. The anticipation of the next doors drive you to keep turning pages. I give this book four stars!
About the Author:
Bryan Davis is the author of the following young adult fantasy series: Dragons in our Midst, Oracles of Fire, Echoes from the Edge, and Dragons of Starlight. He also wrote I Know Why the Angels dance, a contemporary novel for adults.
After laboring as a computer geek for 20 years, Bryan followed a dream to become an author. He began by writing a story to motivate his seven children to gain some excitement about writing, and that story grew into a novel. After spending the next eight years learning the craft and enduring more than 200 rejections from publishers and agents, he broke through with his best-selling series Dragons in our Midst. He is now a full-time author and lives with his wife, Susie, and their children in western Tennessee.
You can find him on Facebook, Twitter, Goodreads and his website! I also have an interview with him I had on the blog!
Check out the reviews for the other books of the series:
Children of the Bard Book 1: Song of the Ovulum
Children of the Bard Book 2: From the Mouth of Elijah
I’ve reviewed several other books by this author:
Dragons of Starlight Book 3: Diviner
Dragons of Starlight Book 4: Liberator
Tales of Starlight Book 1: Masters & Slayers
Tales of Starlight Book 2: The Third Starlighter
Tales of Starlight Book 3: Exodus Rising
Reapers
