Vajra Chandrasekera offers a wonderful vacation for readers with his first novel, The Saint of Bright Doors, a truly imaginative vision of a (mostly) modern, alternate South Asia ... An inspired and dreamy book.
Has an especially fascinating setup ... Chandrasekera builds a dizzyingly complex world, with enough ideas for 10 books, and it’s all entertaining enough that his theme — the dangers of religious extremism paired with racist totalitarianism — sneaks up on you
The lyrical, precise prose, the original, organic nature of the world building, and the complex themes of purpose, identity, and the biased, often violent, incomplete nature of history-telling will engage readers long after finishing.
Lyrical but sluggish ... The result is a meandering meditation on mind-body duality, fanaticism, and eschatology that will appeal only to fans of the most cerebral fantasies.
