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Diane Duane
Diane Duane (born May 18, 1952) is an American science fiction and fantasy author, long based in Ireland. Her works include the Young Wizards young adult fantasy series and the Rihannsu Star Trek novels.
The door into fire
- Pages
- 304
- Published
- 1979
- Language
- English
Synopsis
Herewiss s'Hearn, Prince of Brightwood, is the first man in a thousand years born with enough of the blue Fire of Power to focus it — the deep magic that runs through the Middle Kingdoms, and the very thing most likely to kill him. The only two men who ever focused it before died doing so, more than a millennium ago, and Herewiss has found no way to master it that doesn't risk the same end.
When Freelorn, the exiled and rightful ruler of Arlen, is captured while trying to retake his throne, Herewiss puts aside years of careful discipline for a desperate search through a house that stands outside time, its doors opening onto other places and other centuries. He isn't alone: Sunspark, a fire elemental bound to him in a human shape it barely tolerates, and Segnbora, a swordswoman whose own untrained gift has already cost her control she can't get back, both have their own stakes in what waits beyond the doors.
The Door into Fire opens The Tale of the Five, Diane Duane's Middle Kingdoms series, where love between people of any gender is unremarkable and an interventionist Goddess shapes mortal lives more directly than most of them ever realize. First published in 1979, it earned Duane back-to-back nominations for the Astounding (then John W. Campbell) Award for Best New Writer.
Genres
Characters
HerewissProtagonist
Prince of Brightwood and the first man born with the power of the Fire in a thousand years, though he lacks a focus strong enough to use it safely.
FreelornSupporting
The exiled, rightful ruler of Arlen and Herewiss's lover; his capture while trying to reclaim his throne sets the quest in motion.
SunsparkSupporting
A fire elemental bound to Herewiss in a human shape it barely tolerates, more curious about mortal concepts like death than about being controlled.
SegnboraSupporting
A swordswoman whose own untrained gift for the Fire has already cost her control she cannot get back, and who joins Herewiss's search through the doors.
HasaiCameo
A dragon whose mind and memory become intertwined with Segnbora's over the course of the story.
Frequently asked questions
Is The Door Into Fire the first book in a series?
This novel is the initial entry in the Tale of the Five series, introducing the primary characters and the overarching magical system that develops throughout subsequent books.
Is The Door into Fire connected to Diane Duane's Young Wizards series?
Only by a small in-universe nod, not a shared story. In Diane Duane's Young Wizards books, one of the wizardry manuals Nita Callahan uses is credited to "Hearnssen" — an echo of Herewiss s'Hearn's name from The Tale of the Five. Beyond that reference, the two series have separate characters, magic systems and settings.