"I think people came here for the same reason we came here," Dorian says. "ln search of something. Even if we didn't know what it was. Something more. Something to wonder at. Someplace to belong. We're here to wander through other peoples stories, searching for our own."

On the surface, if there is a surface, this is the story of Zachary Ezra Rawlins, a game theorist post-grad with a penchant for literature, who is trying to solve the mystery of a tale written out of time and a door connected to another realm. Within the mystery, he discovers that lines have been drawn, sides taken, and very real peril introduced. Once you scratch that surface, though, you find that this is a love story wrapped in a myth wrapped in faith wrapped in folklore wrapped in mystery wrapped in another love story. Or maybe the same love story, but in another form.

Sometimes, my soul falls in love with a book before my mind catches up. My mind is, in fact, still catching up on this one. There were parts I decidedly didn't like (bees and initiations and tearing talons). And some I'm still not sure I understand. But then — the amazing kaleidescopic story! The searching, striving, wandering, surrendering, struggling, ephemeral, foundational, timeless story that swept me up and along. This won't be everyone's cup of tea, but I loved it.