Door Within (The)
by Wayne Thomas Batson
Published by Tommy Nelson
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cover to order
at Amazon.com
Reviewed by Barb Radmore
"Adventures are
funny things.
They may creep out of holes,
Appear down a seldom
Trodden path,
Fall out of a tree, or even
Arrive in an envelope,
But they always start
the same way.
Adventure always
begins with
the unexpected..."
And so begins the journey through The Door Within.
Aidan Thomas is not a happy boy. He is forced to move with his parents across the country to take care of his grandfather who is confined to a wheelchair. Small, round and shy, he doesn't make friends easily. It is summertime and as far as he can tell there are no other kids in the neighborhood anyways.
One day, completely bored, he decides to explore his least favorite space, the basement. There he finds the three scrolls that tell the story of the land of Alleble and its fight against the evil Paragor. He excitedly tells his parents of his discovery but they dismiss his story as pure imagination. His support comes from an unexpected source, his grandfather who tells him that the key to the land of Alleble is to believe. And deep inside himself, Aidan finds the power that unlocks the door between worlds.
Suddenly Aidan is thrust into a fantastic world of castles, dragons and kings. He is chosen to be the twelfth knight to join those chosen to help safe Alleble from the wickedness of Paragor. With the help of his fellow knights, including the beautiful Gwenne, and creatures such as flying dragons and the monstrous but appealing Falon, he finds his own courage, skill and valor.
The author is a middle-school teacher who set out to write an engaging, high interest novel that would appeal to his students. He says, "One of the coolest things about The Door Within is that it was written with the constant feedback of my middle-school students.
Armchair Interviews says: This is a rocking adventure story with all the style elements that keep the reader eagerly reading to the next chapter, then the next and the next. The Door Within will keep many youth, and their parents, up way passed their bedtimes.