Portal Fantasy
Portal Fantasy is just what is sounds like, stories about every day people who go through portals to fantastic lands of adventure. The problem with these stories is that they also crossover genres. Here at Mr. Book-Stash we have collected the best traditional Portal Fantasy we could find for your perusal and are always looking for more to read!
The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis
Amazon: 4.7/5
Goodreads: 4.2/5
Authors Website
Amazon Description: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe is the second book (its the second now but it was actually published first and I believe should be read first as well) in C. S. Lewis’s The Chronicles of Narnia, a series that has become part of the canon of classic literature, drawing readers of all ages into a magical land with unforgettable characters for over fifty years.
Four adventurers step through a wardrobe door and into the land of Narnia, a land enslaved by the power of the White Witch. But when almost all hope is lost, the return of the Great Lion, Aslan, signals a great change . . . and a great sacrifice.
Opinion: A classic tale, the Drew children’s adventures beyond the wardrobe are legendary and have spurred many an imagination on a rainy Saturday or a sleepy Sunday afternoon. There are several different editions floating around and I will always treasure the omnibus edition my grandma got me on my birthday when i was younger. It was a great gift and one I have used again and again.
Sword of the Bright Lady (World of PRIME Book 1) by M.C. Planck
Amazon: 4.3/5
Goodreads: 4.2/5
Authors Website
Amazon Description: Christopher Sinclair goes out for a walk on a mild Arizona evening and never comes back. He stumbles into a freezing winter under an impossible night sky, where magic is real — but bought at a terrible price.
A misplaced act of decency lands him in a brawl with an arrogant nobleman and puts him under a death sentence. In desperation he agrees to be drafted into an eternal war, serving as a priest of the Bright Lady, Goddess of Healing. But when Marcius, god of war, offers the only hope of a way home to his wife, Christopher pledges to him instead, plunging the church into turmoil and setting him on a path of violence and notoriety.
To win enough power to open a path home, this mild-mannered mechanical engineer must survive duelists, assassins, and the never-ending threat of monsters, with only his makeshift technology to compete with swords and magic.
But the gods and demons have other plans. Christopher’s fate will save the world… or destroy it.
Opinion: This story has a gamelit feel as the people of this new world of PRIME use a substance found in the heads if living creatures to become more powerful. I really liked this combination of portal fiction and a gaming mechanic to become more powerful. Throw in the fact that the main character is a war priest and you open up the story for some interesting shenanigans. The universe Planck has made is great!
Every Heart a Doorway (Wayward Children) by Seanan McGuire
Amazon: 4.2/5
Goodreads: 4.87/5
Authors Website
Amazon Description: Eleanor West’s Home for Wayward Children
No Solicitations
No Visitors
No Quests
Children have always disappeared under the right conditions; slipping through the shadows under a bed or at the back of a wardrobe, tumbling down rabbit holes and into old wells, and emerging somewhere… else.
But magical lands have little need for used-up miracle children.
Nancy tumbled once, but now she’s back. The things she’s experienced… they change a person. The children under Miss West’s care understand all too well. And each of them is seeking a way back to their own fantasy world.
But Nancy’s arrival marks a change at the Home. There’s a darkness just around each corner, and when tragedy strikes, it’s up to Nancy and her new-found schoolmates to get to the heart of things.
No matter the cost.
Opinion: I really enjoy Seanan McGuire writing and she pulls out all the tops for the story she weaves between the covers of this book. There is a reason it won the Hugo, Nebula, and Locus awards among others. Go find out why.
A Darker Shade of Magic (Darker Shades, Book 1) by V.E. Schwab
Amazon: 4.4/5
Goodreads: 4.08/5
Authors Website
Amazon Description: Kell is one of the last Antari—magicians with a rare, coveted ability to travel between parallel Londons; Red, Grey, White, and, once upon a time, Black.
Kell was raised in Arnes—Red London—and officially serves the Maresh Empire as an ambassador, traveling between the frequent bloody regime changes in White London and the court of George III in the dullest of Londons, the one without any magic left to see.
Unofficially, Kell is a smuggler, servicing people willing to pay for even the smallest glimpses of a world they’ll never see. It’s a defiant hobby with dangerous consequences, which Kell is now seeing firsthand.
After an exchange goes awry, Kell escapes to Grey London and runs into Delilah Bard, a cut-purse with lofty aspirations. She first robs him, then saves him from a deadly enemy, and finally forces Kell to spirit her to another world for a proper adventure.
Now perilous magic is afoot, and treachery lurks at every turn. To save all of the worlds, they’ll first need to stay alive.
Opinion: This book was pretty interesting and Schwab has invented a pretty unique storyline of 4 Londons that exists and the special people that are the only ones able to travel between them. For myself this was kind of an “eh” book. I thought the world and a couple of the characters were pretty interesting but the plot didn’t draw me in as much as I would have hoped. It was decent all around and if you are looking for something to read on a Saturday afternoon this is worth a look.
Daughter of Smoke & Bone (Daughter of Smoke & Bone Book #1) by Laini Taylor
Amazon: 4.5/5
Goodreads: 4.02/5
Authors Website
Amazon Description: Around the world, black handprints are appearing on doorways, scorched there by winged strangers who have crept through a slit in the sky.
In a dark and dusty shop, a devil’s supply of human teeth grown dangerously low.
And in the tangled lanes of Prague, a young art student is about to be caught up in a brutal otherwordly war.
Meet Karou. She fills her sketchbooks with monsters that may or may not be real; she’s prone to disappearing on mysterious “errands”; she speaks many languages–not all of them human; and her bright blue hair actually grows out of her head that color. Who is she? That is the question that haunts her, and she’s about to find out.
When one of the strangers–beautiful, haunted Akiva–fixes his fire-colored eyes on her in an alley in Marrakesh, the result is blood and starlight, secrets unveiled, and a star-crossed love whose roots drink deep of a violent past. But will Karou live to regret learning the truth about herself?
Opinion: Much like A Darker Shade of Magic I have mixed feelings about this book. I very much like the main character and the world that Laini Taylor has built around her. It’s just the romance that bugs me sometimes. I am not one to read pure romance novels, so this skirts the line for me. The drama of it all just bugs me sometimes. That being said there is an interesting story and characters here so that helps me digest the romance.