Eon’s Door by J.G. McKenney

Summary from Smashwords: Eon’s Door should not be open.

Two thousand years after three clans flee the world of humans through Eon’s Door to find sanctuary in a realm called Erla, a prophecy left to them by the ancient race that created the tree portal is coming true. A trusted sage has stolen the portal’s key and is using the awesome power that separated the worlds to tear apart the very soul of Nature. The key must be taken back and Eon’s Door closed—before it’s too late.

Hope lies with a “child of doubt” from the world the clans left behind and the courageous young Erlan who’s been sent to find him. Together they must retrieve the key and close Eon’s Door. It won’t be easy. Abominations of beasts and trees stand between them and their goal. Even worse, the sage knows the prophecy and is waiting for them.             

Eon’s Door begins in the true spirit of epic fantasy with pages of world maps, character lists and descriptions. The story follows a myriad of characters and their role in finding the portal key that joins their old world with the new, both in current day and several millennia ago. It has a captivating storyline with a lovely surprise at the end; 4.5 stars out of 5.

There is a lot of adventure in this book, with many battles, and I enjoyed how the story diverged from the typical with much of the warfare taking place between animals (and trees) instead of people. It had a Lord of the Rings type feel regarding the key (that has gone missing) and the sage who stole it; the key corrupts him to do evil and calls to him. The multiple clans and main characters from each kept the action going and provided a lot of history. I particularly liked the part of the story told through Miann as he relives his father’s memories from 2000 years ago when his father and company were on a quest to flee the world of humans; a story that parallels his own.

The writing is solid and detailed and the author keeps up a good level of conflict, however I found it a little slow in the last half of the book. The story may have benefited from some of the more superfluous smaller conflicts/description being taken out. However, I feel I should stress this is a matter of personal taste; the author creates compelling storylines, I just thought there were a few too many.

On a side note, I would have liked more explanation initially when Amor sends Miann on his quest to the Old World—just a page or so. Miann seems confused as to what is going on and as a reader I wanted a bit more history at this point.

Eon’s Door has a great focus on respect for nature and the author creates wonderful imagery with his words.  The author also makes great use of Bobby (from their old world, our current world) and there are many amusing instances of Bobby educating his quest-mates: telling them about books (they are aghast because that requires killing trees), the magic of his flashlight. It was also nice how Bobby compared his current adventure with one of his favorite books back home.
 

Though I thought I had predicted the ending of Eon’s Door, I was pleasantly surprised in the end and developed a new appreciation for the hero. Overall, beautiful imagery, a lovely ending, and a great read.

  
Amazon (2.99)
Paperback (8.63)
Smashwords (2.99)