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Orion and the Door of Echoes
Return to the stars in Book 2 of the Orion Rising series!
After a year at the Stellar Academy and a devastating trip to the soothsaying Sibyls in the mind-swirling Nebula, thirteen-year-old Orion Kim is confident he now knows who he is—or does he?
When his return to the three worlds in the stars leads to violent emotional outbursts that leave him confused and unable to trust his own mind or body, Orion turns for answers to the people who have always helped him. This time, though, his mentors dodge his requests, holding secrets close and treating Orion like he is an odd, mythological relic rather than a confused teenager in need of guidance. When even Orion’s friends seem afraid of what he’s becoming, it’s a mysterious memory-filled Door that may be the only way for him to reclaim not just his life, but his soul, too.
But the Door may hold secrets of its own…
After a year at the Stellar Academy and a devastating trip to the soothsaying Sibyls in the mind-swirling Nebula, thirteen-year-old Orion Kim is confident he now knows who he is—or does he?
When his return to the three worlds in the stars leads to violent emotional outbursts that leave him confused and unable to trust his own mind or body, Orion turns for answers to the people who have always helped him. This time, though, his mentors dodge his requests, holding secrets close and treating Orion like he is an odd, mythological relic rather than a confused teenager in need of guidance. When even Orion’s friends seem afraid of what he’s becoming, it’s a mysterious memory-filled Door that may be the only way for him to reclaim not just his life, but his soul, too.
But the Door may hold secrets of its own…
- GenresMiddle GradeFantasy
296 pages, Kindle Edition
Published June 24, 2025
4 people are currently reading
19 people want to read
About the author
K.B. Hoyle
16 books261 followersK. B. Hoyle’s love of good stories began when she stepped through a wardrobe at age six, and she never looked back. She is the multiple award-winning Young Adult author of THE GATEWAY CHRONICLES fantasy series, THE BREEDER CYCLE dystopian series, The Fairytale Collection, and more.
In addition to her many novels, K. B. Hoyle is the co-founder and CEO of Owl's Nest Publishers, an independent press specializing in books that capture the imagination of adolescents. She is also a sought-after voice in the areas of storytelling and culture, and she has contributed articles and essays to a variety of publications. Her speaking resume includes keynote addresses, leading writing workshops, and international experience as a featured panelist at the 2013 Sydney Writers' Festival.
K. B. Hoyle stays busy at her home in Wisconsin on a winding creek with her husband, their four sons, and the variety of wildlife that frequent their land.
For more information on K. B. Hoyle, visit her website at kbhoyle.com or find her around social media at @kbhoyle.author on Instagram, Facebook, and Threads. Email her at author@kbhoyle.com.
In addition to her many novels, K. B. Hoyle is the co-founder and CEO of Owl's Nest Publishers, an independent press specializing in books that capture the imagination of adolescents. She is also a sought-after voice in the areas of storytelling and culture, and she has contributed articles and essays to a variety of publications. Her speaking resume includes keynote addresses, leading writing workshops, and international experience as a featured panelist at the 2013 Sydney Writers' Festival.
K. B. Hoyle stays busy at her home in Wisconsin on a winding creek with her husband, their four sons, and the variety of wildlife that frequent their land.
For more information on K. B. Hoyle, visit her website at kbhoyle.com or find her around social media at @kbhoyle.author on Instagram, Facebook, and Threads. Email her at author@kbhoyle.com.
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
August 1, 2025
Another amazing book by KB Hoyle! 🎉
I didn’t think it was possible but this second book in the series is even better than the first! Orion and the Door of Echoes is so exciting, so suspenseful and so very well written. The pacing and character development continues to be just amazing, which makes it so easy for the reader. This actually isn’t always the case with middle grade books which can sometimes be hard to follow or confusing, but Hoyle’s writing is excellent and intentional and purposeful.
There are so many fun reveals and plot twists in this story. So many questions are answered and yet so many more to be discovered. I love the trio of Orion, Aurora and Apollo so much. I am for them 💯 and can’t wait to see their relationships continue to grow.
Highly recommend this series for 10 years old and up and as a family read aloud. There are four more books planned! 👏 How will we survive the wait?
I didn’t think it was possible but this second book in the series is even better than the first! Orion and the Door of Echoes is so exciting, so suspenseful and so very well written. The pacing and character development continues to be just amazing, which makes it so easy for the reader. This actually isn’t always the case with middle grade books which can sometimes be hard to follow or confusing, but Hoyle’s writing is excellent and intentional and purposeful.
There are so many fun reveals and plot twists in this story. So many questions are answered and yet so many more to be discovered. I love the trio of Orion, Aurora and Apollo so much. I am for them 💯 and can’t wait to see their relationships continue to grow.
Highly recommend this series for 10 years old and up and as a family read aloud. There are four more books planned! 👏 How will we survive the wait?
June 2, 2025
I'm still stunned by what I just read!
Orion and the Door of Echoes starts with an onslaught of new information, plot twists, and jaw-dropping surprises, and doesn't let up until the very last page.
I really liked Orion and the Starborn, but Door of Echoes is on an entirely different level. The whole experience was amazing, the kind of experience I hope for with every book I read.
If you love a good adventure, some mythology, a found family plot, and action, give this series a try!
This is easily one of my favorite books of 2025.
Orion and the Door of Echoes publishes 6/24/25. As always, thanks to Owl's Nest Publishers for sending me an eARC to read ahead of time.
Make sure you read Orion and the Starborn before getting lost in Orion and the Door of Echoes!
Orion and the Door of Echoes starts with an onslaught of new information, plot twists, and jaw-dropping surprises, and doesn't let up until the very last page.
I really liked Orion and the Starborn, but Door of Echoes is on an entirely different level. The whole experience was amazing, the kind of experience I hope for with every book I read.
If you love a good adventure, some mythology, a found family plot, and action, give this series a try!
This is easily one of my favorite books of 2025.
Orion and the Door of Echoes publishes 6/24/25. As always, thanks to Owl's Nest Publishers for sending me an eARC to read ahead of time.
Make sure you read Orion and the Starborn before getting lost in Orion and the Door of Echoes!
January 4, 2026
Summary:Orion continues to discover more about himself and those around him, leading to more questions.
I have once again caught up with KB Hoyle's writing and read every book she has written, most of them more than once. This series I have read aloud to my 10 year old. Mostly we do reading while he is building legos or sketching and I don't do it regularly enough. When I was about half way through this second book in the series, I started reading ahead on my own and finished it in two nights of reading past midnight. I am going to be impatiently waiting on the completion of the series. (I think that Hoyle said that it was going to be six or seven books, so it will be a while before it is done.)
In the first book, we learn about Orion. He is an orphan being raised by his adopted grandmother. Until someone tries to kill him and that triggers a series of events. The discoveries about who he is unfold slowly and at the very end of this second book they are still coming. I understand the reasoning behind this slow unfolding, but I also understand why Orion the character is frustrated with the fact that things are being kept from him. Orion is not actually human. He is from another world and was smuggled to Earth to keep him safe. But the attempt on his life mean that he is no longer safe on earth. He comes to live the solar system that we identify with Orion's Belt, a series of three planets with multiple stars that have three interrelated groups of people.
Most people have powers that were given to them from the stardust that came about when a nebula exploded long ago. (This is a series that is on the line between fantasy and science fiction. The powers are presented as science, but it verges on magic.) The powers tend to be related to the planet your family is from, but there are people whose parents are from different planets who have mixed ancestry and therefore a combination of powers. Orion is one of those. He comes to live with a foster family who are protecting him and hiding his true identity, which gets revealed, in part, in the first book. There is a secondary reveal in this second book
I am not going to introduce any spoilers here. I will wait until I read the third or fourth book and reread them a time or two before I discuss spoilers. (One of the things I love most about KB Hoyle's writing is that the books are often better with a second or third reading because there is a depth to the writing that invites multiple readings.)
This is a series (at least so far) like many middle grade books that roughly covers a year per book. Orion builds friendships and those friendships help him to understand the new world he is on and who he really is. But he also is a student and in a school for kids like him, and each of the first two books is a year of school.
Like all of KB Hoyle's books, Orion and the Door of Echoes is well plotted and wonderfully written. The story keeps moving and it is engaging both for me in my mid 50s and my 10 year old son.
I posted this originally at https://bookwi.se/orion-and-the-door/
I wrote about the first book here https://bookwi.se/orion-and-the-starb...
I have once again caught up with KB Hoyle's writing and read every book she has written, most of them more than once. This series I have read aloud to my 10 year old. Mostly we do reading while he is building legos or sketching and I don't do it regularly enough. When I was about half way through this second book in the series, I started reading ahead on my own and finished it in two nights of reading past midnight. I am going to be impatiently waiting on the completion of the series. (I think that Hoyle said that it was going to be six or seven books, so it will be a while before it is done.)
In the first book, we learn about Orion. He is an orphan being raised by his adopted grandmother. Until someone tries to kill him and that triggers a series of events. The discoveries about who he is unfold slowly and at the very end of this second book they are still coming. I understand the reasoning behind this slow unfolding, but I also understand why Orion the character is frustrated with the fact that things are being kept from him. Orion is not actually human. He is from another world and was smuggled to Earth to keep him safe. But the attempt on his life mean that he is no longer safe on earth. He comes to live the solar system that we identify with Orion's Belt, a series of three planets with multiple stars that have three interrelated groups of people.
Most people have powers that were given to them from the stardust that came about when a nebula exploded long ago. (This is a series that is on the line between fantasy and science fiction. The powers are presented as science, but it verges on magic.) The powers tend to be related to the planet your family is from, but there are people whose parents are from different planets who have mixed ancestry and therefore a combination of powers. Orion is one of those. He comes to live with a foster family who are protecting him and hiding his true identity, which gets revealed, in part, in the first book. There is a secondary reveal in this second book
I am not going to introduce any spoilers here. I will wait until I read the third or fourth book and reread them a time or two before I discuss spoilers. (One of the things I love most about KB Hoyle's writing is that the books are often better with a second or third reading because there is a depth to the writing that invites multiple readings.)
This is a series (at least so far) like many middle grade books that roughly covers a year per book. Orion builds friendships and those friendships help him to understand the new world he is on and who he really is. But he also is a student and in a school for kids like him, and each of the first two books is a year of school.
Like all of KB Hoyle's books, Orion and the Door of Echoes is well plotted and wonderfully written. The story keeps moving and it is engaging both for me in my mid 50s and my 10 year old son.
I posted this originally at https://bookwi.se/orion-and-the-door/
I wrote about the first book here https://bookwi.se/orion-and-the-starb...
June 25, 2025
I received a free advance copy of this book from the publisher for review.
I really appreciate how unique this series feels. It has the hallmark elements readers love to find in middle grade stories but feels very fresh and like you’re not quite sure exactly how everything will play out. The closest comparison I can think of in premise is The Keeper of Lost Cities (although I like this series better). This second book built on the first in really strong ways and furthered the character development while also expanding the world and plot and bringing in plenty of twists.
This series would be a great option for summer reading for a wide range of ages—about 10 years old through teens and even as a full family read aloud.
I really appreciate how unique this series feels. It has the hallmark elements readers love to find in middle grade stories but feels very fresh and like you’re not quite sure exactly how everything will play out. The closest comparison I can think of in premise is The Keeper of Lost Cities (although I like this series better). This second book built on the first in really strong ways and furthered the character development while also expanding the world and plot and bringing in plenty of twists.
This series would be a great option for summer reading for a wide range of ages—about 10 years old through teens and even as a full family read aloud.
June 27, 2025
Another amazing read by KB Hoyle. This second book of the Orion series gave more answers but still left burning questions. I can’t wait for the next in the series to come out.
June 13, 2025
Read aloud to my 8 and 11 year old kids just as they were finishing 2nd and 5th grade.
This book starts with flashbacks that give so many great details and fill in the blanks for things that the reader learns right at the end of book 1. It's such a clever transition to a new school year for Orion because we get a lot of contextual information that sets up the new revelations of book 2.
My kids were hooked from the very beginning, begging for more every time my voice gave out and I had to stop reading. They made guesses throughout about the mysteries along the way, they laughed at the funny parts, gasped at the reveals, and cannot wait for more from this exciting series.
Both Orion Rising books have delivered on so many levels. As an adult, I've read them multiple times and love how solid the plotting is. So many middle grade books have things that just don't make sense, that are too coincidental, but with this series you can tell that there all the questions will have compelling and realistic answers, that while some things will be resolved in each installment, the overarching mysteries will grow and expand with each subsequent book.
For my kids, these books have captured their imaginations with a whole other world of fantasy, adventure, peril, and friendship. These are middle grade books that offer young readers an invitation to something bigger than themselves. At times the plot turns quite serious, delving into the difficulties of life with both friends and family. And while this book does ask a lot of questions like, "Am I destined to be like my parents? Can I trust my friends with hard things? Will I be ok?" it seamlessly weaves those concepts into the story.
I read the first book aloud when my youngest was just 5, but I think the ideal age for these is 8+.
This book starts with flashbacks that give so many great details and fill in the blanks for things that the reader learns right at the end of book 1. It's such a clever transition to a new school year for Orion because we get a lot of contextual information that sets up the new revelations of book 2.
My kids were hooked from the very beginning, begging for more every time my voice gave out and I had to stop reading. They made guesses throughout about the mysteries along the way, they laughed at the funny parts, gasped at the reveals, and cannot wait for more from this exciting series.
Both Orion Rising books have delivered on so many levels. As an adult, I've read them multiple times and love how solid the plotting is. So many middle grade books have things that just don't make sense, that are too coincidental, but with this series you can tell that there all the questions will have compelling and realistic answers, that while some things will be resolved in each installment, the overarching mysteries will grow and expand with each subsequent book.
For my kids, these books have captured their imaginations with a whole other world of fantasy, adventure, peril, and friendship. These are middle grade books that offer young readers an invitation to something bigger than themselves. At times the plot turns quite serious, delving into the difficulties of life with both friends and family. And while this book does ask a lot of questions like, "Am I destined to be like my parents? Can I trust my friends with hard things? Will I be ok?" it seamlessly weaves those concepts into the story.
I read the first book aloud when my youngest was just 5, but I think the ideal age for these is 8+.
June 20, 2025
What can I even say about this book? It was everything I had hoped for in a sequel. I read Orion and the Starborn shortly after it released and my one complaint was that I had to wait for the sequel. I have similar feelings this time around!
Orion and the Door of Echoes has everything that the first book did so well - intriguing world building, characters that are so easy to love and invest in, mysteries and plot twists, beautiful writing - and takes it to the next level. I loved being back with Orion, Aurora and Apollo and watching them navigate the news they received at the end of book 1, delving deeper into the secrets of their world. There was much to be learned here, but also so many new questions raised! As soon as I finished the book, I passed it off to my daughter. She and I spent an hour talking about all of the things we loved and theorizing what might happen next. I can't wait to see how KB Hoyle resolves the series.
If you or your middle grader loves fantasy, a magical school setting, great friendships and characters with mysterious origins or powers, you need to pick up this series!
Orion and the Door of Echoes has everything that the first book did so well - intriguing world building, characters that are so easy to love and invest in, mysteries and plot twists, beautiful writing - and takes it to the next level. I loved being back with Orion, Aurora and Apollo and watching them navigate the news they received at the end of book 1, delving deeper into the secrets of their world. There was much to be learned here, but also so many new questions raised! As soon as I finished the book, I passed it off to my daughter. She and I spent an hour talking about all of the things we loved and theorizing what might happen next. I can't wait to see how KB Hoyle resolves the series.
If you or your middle grader loves fantasy, a magical school setting, great friendships and characters with mysterious origins or powers, you need to pick up this series!
October 3, 2025
Both me and my kids (ages 15, 13, and 10) are captivated by this series! We read Book 1 (Orion and the Starborn) as a family read aloud, and are doing the same with Book 2. Author K.B. Hoyle has a heart for writing “good, true, and beautiful books that are true to the adolescent experience.” That commitment shows in all her books, but I’m finding that the Orion series, in particular, connects with my teenage sons in a special way. They laugh, grunt, and nod in assent as I read—even though they’re on Earth, while Orion lives in a fictional world in a faraway galaxy. The stakes and dangers in Door of Echoes are even higher than in Book 1, but the friendships at the heart of the story continue to grow deeper, as well. Each character is unique and so well written that they feel like our friends, too. The plot twists, cliff hangers, and character arcs have us eagerly awaiting the next installment!
June 27, 2025
I have also read the first book in the series. I enjoyed this one more. I would also say it was more intense, and that could be why I enjoyed it more. The main female character was a little over-the-top emotional at times, but that’s really my only complaint. Hoyle is a favorite living author. She has good world-building and story-telling skills. And the way this ended there is clearly a third book in the works! Excellent book for those who enjoy thrilling middle grade fantasy that doesn’t venture into the LGBTQ+ agenda, and stays clean.
January 3, 2026
When will there be a book 3??!!
I loved this series. So much. I will reread. But I definitely need more of Orion and the gang! Super creative and so many worlds with histories and characteristics created!
I loved this series. So much. I will reread. But I definitely need more of Orion and the gang! Super creative and so many worlds with histories and characteristics created!
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews