‘A unique concept in adventure fiction: three novels, each book starts at the same point but the story changes depending on which door you go through’
I think of ‘doors’ and I conjure Aldous Huxley and his perceptions. I hear Jim Morrison breaking on through to the other side but now I’ll add to those images Markus Heitz’s adventure trilogy comprising Colony, Twilight and Fields of Blood, collectively known as - Doors.
It’s like a Magic Faraway Tree, almost, for grownups although Enid Blyton might shudder at some of the language and violence. The closest comparison I can think of is Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone’s role playing books which offered the reader choices of a kind but whereas the roots of those books were firmly in video games and the choices were within the one book this trilogy has a more literary feel and offers the reader a choice of books! But I think many readers will be reminded of role playing games at some point in the reading of these books.
It’s a mixture of fantasy, historical fiction, adventure, thriller and mystery with an almost cinematic feel to the various scenarios and situations. In fact one character alludes to Raiders of the Lost Ark and from that point on the reader almost expects Indian Jones to pop out from somewhere because it’s an ‘anything can happen’ kinda gig!
For me it was a unique read. The first hundred pages of each book are the same! I can’t recall any other series that employs that device. So, effectively, if you read it once you can skip it for the other two books. But, cleverly, it allows any reader to pick up any of the books and get a ‘whole’ story as it were.
But things are never quite as they seem. I read all three books back to back and the thing that struck me was that you only get the full story if you do read all three books. But you could just read one and get a rollicking good yarn without feeling any kind of detriment whatsoever or even realising that by reading the others you get a complete picture. It’s very clever and unique and completely consistent with the maze like, labyrinth like plot and landscape of the books. What is even more astounding is that all three are to be published simultaneously. I’m sure that there are anoraks and statisticians out there who could reel off other occasions where this has occurred but for me it’s a first!!
Door ? Colony
‘When his beloved only daughter goes missing, millionaire entrepreneur Walter van Dam calls in a team of experts - including free-climbers, a geologist, a parapsychologist, even a medium - to find her . . . for Anna-Lena has disappeared somewhere within a mysterious cave system under the old house the family abandoned years ago. But the rescuers are not the only people on her trail - and there are dangers in the underground labyrinth that no one could ever have foreseen.
In a gigantic cavern the team come across a number of strange doors, three of them marked with enigmatic symbols. Anna-Lena must be behind one of them - but time is running out and they need to choose, quickly. Anna-Lena is no longer the only person at risk.
They little expect door ? to take them back to the 1940s - but this is not the 1940s they know. In this timeline, Nazi Germany capitulated early, the US has taken control of Europe and is threatening the Russian-led Resistance with a nuclear strike. If the team is to rescue Anna-Lena - and survive themselves - they will have to stop this madness - at all costs!’
I guess from the blurb you can see where the Raiders of the Lost Ark thing comes in! What follows is an explosive genre fusion, tour de force as our ‘experts’ bring their various ‘skills’ to the table on their quest. It’s full of twists and intrigues with a fast paced narrative that allows the reader to become immersed in these disparate characters. And I’ll not give anything else away!
Door X Twilight
‘When his beloved only daughter goes missing, millionaire entrepreneur Walter van Dam calls in a team of experts - including free-climbers, a geologist, a parapsychologist, even a medium - to find her . . . for Anna-Lena has disappeared somewhere within a mysterious cave system under the old house the family abandoned years ago. But the rescuers are not the only people on her trail - and there are dangers in the underground labyrinth that no one could ever have foreseen.
In a gigantic cavern the team come across a number of strange doors, three of them marked with enigmatic symbols. Anna-Lena must be behind one of them - but time is running out and they need to choose, quickly. Anna-Lena is no longer the only person at risk.
The team knew their mission would be perilous - but how do you defeat your own demons? Trapped in their own nightmares, their only hope of escape is DOOR X, which leads to a threatening vision of the future . . .’
Not deja vu, it’s the same beginning as the first book! But there’s a note for you to skip it if you’ve read either of the other books. The pace, style and characterisations are sustained. And we go hurtling off on another action packed adventure. The unexpected occurs. More is divulged about our group of experts but that only applies if you’ve read book one! The exposition remains very clever. The author has covered the eventuality of readers who maybe only read one of the books and those who read all three. Again I’m unwilling to say much more than that about what actually happens but it's riveting stuff and not for the faint hearted!
Door ! Field of Blood
‘When his beloved only daughter goes missing, millionaire entrepreneur Walter van Dam calls in a team of experts - including free-climbers, a geologist, a parapsychologist, even a medium - to find her . . . for Anna-Lena has disappeared somewhere within a mysterious cave system under the old house the family abandoned years ago. But the rescuers are not the only people on her trail - and there are dangers in the underground labyrinth that no one could ever have foreseen.
In a gigantic cavern the team come across a number of strange doors, three of them marked with enigmatic symbols. Anna-Lena must be behind one of them - but time is running out and they need to choose, quickly. Anna-Lena is no longer the only person at risk.
Who could have imagined that the portal marked with ! would take the rescuers into a different time completely: it is now the early Middle Ages - and they are about to find themselves in the middle of a world-changing battle . . .’
This final tale sees our intrepid troupe floundering in mediaeval Germany and you begin to see that if there are any points to be made in these books it is the old ‘sliding doors’ chestnut. One moment, one decision, can define the course of history. For those who’ve stuck with all three books the rewards are rich; more detail on the previous escapades of the group and shall I just say there is more to all of them than meets the eye. Secrets a plenty. For those who are only reading this one book it’s a ‘histfic’ adventure in the style of the previous books, plenty of action and intrigue, detailed research complementing the authenticity.
Each book has a unique adventure but the umbrella plot covers all three books. Read them all and you get the bigger picture, read one and you get a complete enough picture because maybe you haven’t realised there’s so much more!! The books all have a visual feel to them. I often felt I was in a computer game scenario required to make the right choice; select the correct artefact or make the right decision to progress. And in common with gaming it’s entertaining reading.
Much credit must go to the translator, Charlie Homewood, who has done a sterling job of rending the German into the English vernacular without losing the essence of the original.
I realised as I proof read this that I’ve use the word “unique“ many times. That should tell you something!
My thanks to Ella Patel and Jo Fetcher Book for gifting me all three parts of the trilogy.
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