Review: The Ten Thousand Doors of January

The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I read this book as part of voting for the Hugo Awards this year. This book was in fifth place on my ballot after "No Award". A 4-star review reflects my experience with this book.

This is the tale of a young January Scaller. Born into our Earth. Born into our Universe. Born into a universe of multi-verses; each accessible through doors that exist at the point where the distance between two universes is narrowed. People can travel between universes just be walking through a door.

This is the tale of January's father, who traveled through a door as a boy to meet her mother. This is the tale of January's mother; an adventurist spirit who upon meeting that young boy decides to find her way to him through another such door. Spoiler - she finds a way through via a different door, and thus we have January.

The premise of the book was so intriguing that I was looking forward to reading it. I figured there would be lots of doors and lots of worlds to explore. Nope. I think you can count the interdimensional doors that characters actually visit within the story on one hand. You might need one or two other fingers. There are a few more that are mentioned "off-screen". Most of the exploration, such as it is, occurs here in our world.

The antagonist of the book leads a small group of explorers who are systematically destroying the doors. They are also strategically investing in companies that exploit natural resources around the world. The anti-colonialism message is unmistakable.

The conceit of the book is that the exchange of people from different universes that the doors provide actually fosters human progress. Therefore the doors should remain open. The antagonist is shutting them down to shut down progress and consolidate power on this Earth.

There is a strong element of identity politics within the book. All of the white people, especially the men, are remarkably intolerant and greedy. All of the non-white people are tolerant and nice. This arrangement has not yet been seen on our Earth. I can't speak to other multi-verses.

While I enjoyed this book, it contains a single, fundamental flaw. The antagonist came through such a door himself. As he is presented as a source of intolerance and greed, then intolerance and greed must exist in other multi-verses. If the source of trouble on our Earth came through an interdimensional door, then perhaps it is useful to know who/what is coming through those doors to ensure that the harmful stuff doesn't make it through?

The logical inconsistency creates a plot hole that makes this work one that I would not consider for one of the most significant genre awards.

Reading this book put me in the mind of a quote by author Jim Butcher: "Never preach harder than you can entertain." When the sub-text supersedes the text, an author has shifted from story-telling to preaching. Butcher's aphorism applies here.

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My reviews of all of the 2020 Hugo finalists for best novel are here.