Reviewed by Stephen K.
TITLE: Through the Last Door
SERIES: Sacred Guardian #1
AUTHOR: J.A. Jaken
NARRATOR: Dan Calley
PUBLISHER: J.A. Jaken Audible
LENGTH: 13 hrs and 38 mins
RELEASE DATE: Apr 27, 2021
BLURB:
When Kaori Sansa’s father dies, he is forced to return home to claim the throne as the rightful heir of the country of Kazure. In the aftermath of his father’s death, he learns that the country he loves is riddled with corruption and is hovering on the brink of war. Will he be able to hold the kingdom together despite the odds that are stacked against it and, somehow, unlock the buried powers of Shinja, the Sacred Beast of Kazure?
REVIEW:
This epic offers a whole new fantasy world to explore. And this time we don’t follow a peasant or even a minor noble. Here the main character Kaori is the scion of the royal family. This epic initially had the feel of Dune, but as many reviewers have said… with a Shogunate Japanese aspect. That Japanese feel is muted quite a bit when read & voiced by Dan Calley in his variety of regionally English accents.
As a young and unproven sovereign, Kaori resolves to visit the outlying provinces of his new realm and assure the border lords that he understands and appreciates their interests. Accompanied by several of his friends and bodyguards, this trip soon becomes more than he expected.
To call this a slow-burn is a colossal understatement. It’s sixteen chapters (5+ hours of audio-book) before the phrase “relationships between men” is even spoken, and over 30 chapters before we get past a simple snogging. To be sure, there is a slow burning M/M relationship at the heart of this saga, but it’s not expressed primarily in the bedroom. Though rest assured it is finally achieved.
The world building here is superb, and woven into the tale seamlessly, seldom interrupting the present time action. Kaori, the main character, seems hopelessly naive and trusting at times, and yet it’s probably that quality that has surrounded him with such a supportive cadre of supporting characters. Yes, there ARE a few villains, but most of the main character’s trust is not misplaced.
Note: There are plot elements that deal with child slavery and some may find this harrowing, but its not outside the norm for this style of sword and sorcery style fantasy tale.
Dan Calley does his usual, capable job with both the narration and giving voice to the various characters in the tale. There were a few British pronunciations that seemed jarring to my fully American ear, but that is easily made up for with the wonderful voice acting for all of the main characters and supporting cast.
I’m not sure if he was even aware of it at the time, but the Calley does manage to pick somewhat annoying, weaselly voice characterizations for the real villains. That gave an odd sort of foreshadowing to the tale.
At 13+ hours this is one of the longest audio-books I’ve listened to, and one of the first where I noticed the Audible Cloud reader hang up while “buffering” from time to time. I’m not sure if it’s common in longer books, but simply closing the audible reader and reopening it seemed to consistently solve the problems.
Knowing the nature of this tale, I think it would make an ideal road book for a long drive. I’ll be sure to bring this (or possibly the sequel if it’s been released on audio-book by then) along on my next long road trip.
RATING: 
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