REVIEWS:
“…a high-octane collision of trippy, philosophical sci-fi and intense, cosmic Lovecraftian horror. Think of the Marvel show What If…but dial the weirdness up by a factor of ten.”
– 5/5, Mari N, Goodreads/Fable.com
“…the ending is absolutely beautiful and haunting… I am not normally an emotional reader, but the final chapters *may* have made me unexpectedly tear up.”
– 5 /5 Ali Levine, Netgalley
“With gorgeous writing and such developed world-building, this was a wonderful story that absolutely broke my heart. Highly recommended.”
4/5 Brooke G., Netgalley
“This book was fantastic. The imagery was stunning. The short stories are fractured pieces of a larger tale which examines humanity from an outsider’s point of view. Pushing the limits of what humans can physically and psychologically withstand while showing empathy and caring can possibly save us all. Humankind is worth saving, worth remembering- even after everything turns to dust.”
5/5 Marguerite Jacques, Goodreads
“…blends cosmic horror and emotional insight, all set against the backdrop of a city that refuses to let go of its secrets. If you enjoy dark, imaginative fiction that makes you question time, love, and identity, this novel will linger with you.”
4/5, Stephanie Melucci – Netgalley
“Four Doorways will spin your around and upend your perspective more than once. All while forcing your to gaze ever forward at the abyss that awaits, beyond space, beyond reality, at the end of time.”
– Books for Decaying Millenials – Instagram / Goodreads
“It’s weird, wonderful, mind boggling, genre bending, and has so much heart!”
– 5/5 Jen Reads Horror, Instagram
“This is perfect for people that like weird sci-fi books that grasp you from the moment you start reading.”
– 4/5 Alex Cordova, The Storygraph
“…a novel diversion for genre readers looking for something a bit outside the usual “weird tales” fare that still delivers the requisite claws, fangs, and tentacles. An eccentric alien-invasion yarn of unusual scope and ambition.”
– Kirkus Reviews
THE FULL KIRKUS REVIEW:
The Kirkus Verdict: GET IT!
A Cuban orphan is mentored by a benevolent space-and-time-travelling robot to oppose an invasion of Earth by ravenous, monstrous entities in Harrigan’s SF novel.
Portals (or “doorways”) are appearing on Earth. On the other side of some of them await fiendishly hungry, shape-shifting horrors that possess cunning and intelligence, making them an extinction-level threat (“They always look like things we fear, predatory archetypes like reptiles, spiders, and others, but twisted, misshapen. They are also big, very strong, and hard to kill”). Tom Lafitte (taking his surname from the legendary pirate-hero of New Orleans, Jean Lafitte) is a Cuban native, introduced as a terrified orphan fleeing a 1909 campaign against nonwhites in the island’s hinterlands. He finds a surprising guardian and mentor in “Pan,” a cloaked figure ultimately revealed to be a personable humanoid robot. Pan, with infinite patience, tutors the peasant lad in science fundamentals and the network of enigmatic doorways, several of which he is tasked to close with early versions of EMP bombs. An increasingly careworn and battle-scarred Tom returns to the central story thread at intervals; other chapters follow the travails of additional survivors, automatons who outlast the human race, and even the monsters themselves. The nontraditional narrative skips over a great deal of scientific exposition (and millennia of evolution) and get straight to business, some of which is very violent and gruesome (in the “splatterpunk” mode). There are also flirtations with Lovecraftian demon-worship, Voudon/Santeria spirituality, and the meaning of sentience (or, for that matter, existence), alongside cameo appearances by two children’s-book favorites, The Velveteen Rabbit and The Wind in the Willows. If those sound like curious ingredients for a bloodthirsty SF/horror story gumbo…they are, but they constitute a novel diversion for genre readers looking for something a bit outside the usual “weird tales” fare that still delivers the requisite claws, fangs, and tentacles.
An eccentric alien-invasion yarn of unusual scope and ambition.
