Enter The Door Within.Īidan Thomas is miserable. With the fate of two worlds hanging in the balance, Aidan faces Paragory, the eternal enemy with unfathomable power.There is an unseen world of good and evil where nightmares are fought and hope is reborn. No longer confined to the realm of his imagination, Aidan embarks on an adventure where he discovers a long-fought war between good and evil.

Bur when he begins having nightmares and eerie events occur around his neighborhood, Aidan finds himself drawn to his grandfather’s basement-where he discovers three ancient scrolls and a mysterious invitation to another world. The quiet but imaginative Aidan is struggling with the prospect of attending a new school and fitting in with a new group of friends. Within two weeks, Aidan’s life is completely uprooted as his parents move the family across the country to care for his ailing grandfather. There is an unseen world of good and evil where nightmares are fought and hope is reborn. They need stories that can capture their imagination, characters they can root for, and hopefully something that touches their soul all of which I think this book delivers. Young readers easily overlook flaws and allow the good qualities to bob to the surface and be the only thing they see.

But let’s keep in mind that this is the first book Wayne Thomas Batson ever published and middle grade readers are abundantly forgiving in the areas of writing craft. Like those two books, the writing of The Door Within isn’t great. I could most accurately compare the quality of this book to either The Tower of Geburah by John White or the first book in the Vikings Quest series, Raiders from the Sea by Lois Walfrid Johnson. I love books that remind me of the unseen reality-the spiritual reality, the reality as defined by the Bible-and inspire me to think in such a way that has the big picture and God in focus. That and the fantasy kept me in the book through its slow parts. This is a classic good-verses-evil set up and I personally never tire of it. I wish it were that easy to distinguish in real life! I recommend books because their good qualities are worth reading a whole book to mine up and enjoy, and this one provides plenty of opportunities for good discussions and good inspiration for biblical thinking. A cool fantasy characteristic is in the other world you know who serves the true King and who serves the enemy by the color of their eyes. I enjoyed the encouraging phrase repeated throughout the book, “never alone,” and found myself thinking the phrase as I went through my days. The beginning was slow, but it picked up and I loved the last 3/4 of the book-it has some emotional punch! This book is heavy on the allegory with little to no veiling of the Christian symmetry. Genre: Christian Allegory, Christian Fantasy

The Door Within by Wayne Thomas Batson