What do you think?
Rate this book
The Door: A Kalaraak Chronicles Novella
"Most people don't have a curse on their front door."
Qi Picolas does -- and the unsuspecting adventurers she's hired will need more than just their magical talents to break it. But when the curse forces them all to confront their deepest fears, they might wish they'd never knocked.
Set in the world of The Kalaraak Chronicles, The Door is a fast-paced and whimsical tale about overcoming insecurities, thinking outside the box, and learning to lean on others for support. A prequel-era tale sprinkled with Arcane lore and easter eggs that hint at the big picture of the series.
Qi Picolas does -- and the unsuspecting adventurers she's hired will need more than just their magical talents to break it. But when the curse forces them all to confront their deepest fears, they might wish they'd never knocked.
Set in the world of The Kalaraak Chronicles, The Door is a fast-paced and whimsical tale about overcoming insecurities, thinking outside the box, and learning to lean on others for support. A prequel-era tale sprinkled with Arcane lore and easter eggs that hint at the big picture of the series.
- GenresFantasy
103 pages, Kindle Edition
Published September 30, 2025
13 people want to read
About the author
Louise Holland
2 books52 followersLouise Holland is a voracious reader, writer and lover of all things fantasy. Her debut novel, Spark of the Divine (The Kalaraak Chronicles, #1), is the first of a planned trilogy in the Kalaraak Chronicles cosmere.
She has played Dungeons & Dragons for many years and uses her table’s adventures as inspiration for her works, although she tries to keep the shopping chapters to a minimum.
She currently lives in Adelaide, Australia, where she spends most of her time wearing an obscene amount of pink, playing (heavily modded) Baldur's Gate 3, and listening to a completely normal amount of Taylor Swift.
She has played Dungeons & Dragons for many years and uses her table’s adventures as inspiration for her works, although she tries to keep the shopping chapters to a minimum.
She currently lives in Adelaide, Australia, where she spends most of her time wearing an obscene amount of pink, playing (heavily modded) Baldur's Gate 3, and listening to a completely normal amount of Taylor Swift.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
August 15, 2025
To me, there is truly no better feeling than when you open a book and instantly feel like you’ve come home, which is exactly what happened to me when I started reading The Door. No, this standalone prequel novella does not feature any of my precious chaos babes from Spark of the Divine, but it certainly has all the epicness, magic, charm, and heart that made me fall in love with this series, and Holland’s writing in general, in the first place.
"It is a brave adventurer indeed that chooses to find a way through - and in doing so, may find that the door itself was never the obstacle."
Now, the classic DnD vibes that lie at the core of this series still shine bright as ever in this novella, but whereas Spark of the Divine is more of a good ol’ epic quest adventure, The Door has a more intimate scope and academic tone as we follow Qi Picolas, a scholar of Arcane magic, who hires two adventurers to break a seemingly unbreakable curse on her peculiar front door. What could go wrong, right?
Holland really took some risks with this novella, and I love it all the more for it. I mean, we get three completely new POV characters, then there’s quite a bit of unfamiliar lore and magical terminology thrown at you in a short amount of time, and on top of that the storytelling also has a bit of a mixed media aspect with epistolary bits and research notes from Qi. But as chaotic and ambitious as all that may sound, Holland’s incredible storytelling magic somehow just makes it work so well.
"Perhaps the key to humanity's salvation is something more mundane: empathy. All they need is a reason to open the door – or to burn it down altogether."
I really loved both scholar Qi and the dynamic duo of Trick and Lucky, and even though I didn't connect to them as much as the characters in SotD, I think it’s beyond impressive to me how much personality, emotional complexity and personal growth was packed into so few pages. Holland just strikes the perfect balance between the whimsical wonder and tragic darkness, with themes of grief, family, sacrifice, empathy, oppression, and love being woven beautifully into this exciting thrillride of a fantasy romp. Oh and speaking of love, this is by no means a romance story, but the mature and well-established relationship between Trick and Lucky absolutely lit my heart on fire and had me feeling all the feels (and in so few pages at that, HOW?!?!).
"Love strong enough to survive an event like this is a magic more powerful than any Arcane or Divine."
Then add to that all the exciting lore revelations and tantalizing teases at the grander scope of this series, which makes The Door just an absolute treat for both new and existing fans of The Kalaraak Chronicles. I devoured this in a single sitting, and it somehow left me both utterly satisfied but then also made me even more excited for than I already was for all that's yet to come in the upcoming instalments in this series (which I didn't think was even possible). What a gem!
Thank you to the author for providing me with an eARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own. The Door is scheduled for release on September 30th, 2025.
"It is a brave adventurer indeed that chooses to find a way through - and in doing so, may find that the door itself was never the obstacle."
Now, the classic DnD vibes that lie at the core of this series still shine bright as ever in this novella, but whereas Spark of the Divine is more of a good ol’ epic quest adventure, The Door has a more intimate scope and academic tone as we follow Qi Picolas, a scholar of Arcane magic, who hires two adventurers to break a seemingly unbreakable curse on her peculiar front door. What could go wrong, right?
Holland really took some risks with this novella, and I love it all the more for it. I mean, we get three completely new POV characters, then there’s quite a bit of unfamiliar lore and magical terminology thrown at you in a short amount of time, and on top of that the storytelling also has a bit of a mixed media aspect with epistolary bits and research notes from Qi. But as chaotic and ambitious as all that may sound, Holland’s incredible storytelling magic somehow just makes it work so well.
"Perhaps the key to humanity's salvation is something more mundane: empathy. All they need is a reason to open the door – or to burn it down altogether."
I really loved both scholar Qi and the dynamic duo of Trick and Lucky, and even though I didn't connect to them as much as the characters in SotD, I think it’s beyond impressive to me how much personality, emotional complexity and personal growth was packed into so few pages. Holland just strikes the perfect balance between the whimsical wonder and tragic darkness, with themes of grief, family, sacrifice, empathy, oppression, and love being woven beautifully into this exciting thrillride of a fantasy romp. Oh and speaking of love, this is by no means a romance story, but the mature and well-established relationship between Trick and Lucky absolutely lit my heart on fire and had me feeling all the feels (and in so few pages at that, HOW?!?!).
"Love strong enough to survive an event like this is a magic more powerful than any Arcane or Divine."
Then add to that all the exciting lore revelations and tantalizing teases at the grander scope of this series, which makes The Door just an absolute treat for both new and existing fans of The Kalaraak Chronicles. I devoured this in a single sitting, and it somehow left me both utterly satisfied but then also made me even more excited for than I already was for all that's yet to come in the upcoming instalments in this series (which I didn't think was even possible). What a gem!
Thank you to the author for providing me with an eARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own. The Door is scheduled for release on September 30th, 2025.
November 9, 2025
Words cannot describe how eagerly when I saw this I downloaded it and read it. I feel quite ashamed that I didn’t realise that this was all but this is already out. This was coming home. Anyone who knows me knows that I have been banging on about spark of the divine to everyone and everyone. I even managed to get a book club to read it this at its core was of course stereotypical D&D we all know nothing that our players face is gonna be worse than a door and then we had trick and lucky I’m always going to fall for people who are unsure of their beliefs their loves and their needs because just like a door jumping and opening it is always the hardest. And now I go back to waiting very patiently book 2.
August 2, 2025
I have been pining for a return to Kalaraak from the moment I finished Spark of the Divine, and I’m so lucky this beautiful novella has done the trick! I fell in love with the characters instantly, it’s truly a skill to build that much character depth in such a short book. I laughed, I screamed, I cried. How did I become so invested in a series of events surrounding a door? Another exceptional piece of writing from Holland that has made me even more excited for the next installment in the Kalaraak Chronicles!
August 5, 2025
Even the best D&D players know: sometimes, your greatest foe isn’t a monster… it’s a door. And who would've guessed that sticky situation could make such a fantastic story?
When I saw that Louise Holland was offering ARCs for The Door, a novella set in the same world as her Kalaraak Chronicles series, I practically bit her hand off. If you haven’t read her debut Spark of the Divine (based on a D&D campaign and absolutely delightful), consider this your sign.
The Door follows a researcher who hires two adventurers to break a curse and, well… open a very stubborn door. It’s a deceptively simple setup, but what Louise manages to pack into under 100 pages is honestly incredible. This novella is rich with emotional depth, sharp character work and a story that hooks you far more than you’d expect from such a focused premise.
It’s sweet, clever, and surprisingly moving, all wrapped up in under an hour(ish) read. Whether you’ve already fallen in love with Kalaraak or want a bite-sized introduction to Louise’s writing, The Door is a perfect choice.
When I saw that Louise Holland was offering ARCs for The Door, a novella set in the same world as her Kalaraak Chronicles series, I practically bit her hand off. If you haven’t read her debut Spark of the Divine (based on a D&D campaign and absolutely delightful), consider this your sign.
The Door follows a researcher who hires two adventurers to break a curse and, well… open a very stubborn door. It’s a deceptively simple setup, but what Louise manages to pack into under 100 pages is honestly incredible. This novella is rich with emotional depth, sharp character work and a story that hooks you far more than you’d expect from such a focused premise.
It’s sweet, clever, and surprisingly moving, all wrapped up in under an hour(ish) read. Whether you’ve already fallen in love with Kalaraak or want a bite-sized introduction to Louise’s writing, The Door is a perfect choice.
August 31, 2025
Years ago, when Louise's husband Matt was first experimenting with homebrew encounters in D&D's TTRPG setting, I remember one session in which we were to infiltrate a temple...
...we never made it past The Door.
Inspired not by that event, but by every encounter which never pans out as the DM expects; every problem that only a circumambulation of solutions can resolve; every shin-high hurdle that takes an entire 4 hour session to overcome, 'The Door' captures the experience of role-playing games at its most fundamental level.
Those who have read Spark of the Divine will be familiar with some of the terms, and the way that the Divine, the Arcane, and the Mundane are the fundamental properties of Kalaraak's world. 'The Door' is a novella which glances to high concepts while staying street-level.
I hope to see Tricky and Lucky pop up in other standalone short stores and novellas.
...we never made it past The Door.
Inspired not by that event, but by every encounter which never pans out as the DM expects; every problem that only a circumambulation of solutions can resolve; every shin-high hurdle that takes an entire 4 hour session to overcome, 'The Door' captures the experience of role-playing games at its most fundamental level.
Those who have read Spark of the Divine will be familiar with some of the terms, and the way that the Divine, the Arcane, and the Mundane are the fundamental properties of Kalaraak's world. 'The Door' is a novella which glances to high concepts while staying street-level.
I hope to see Tricky and Lucky pop up in other standalone short stores and novellas.
August 2, 2025
It was absolutely refreshing to step back into this world - like reuniting with an old childhood friend.
This was sweet, this was emotional, this was hopeful. How does Louise manage to wring all these emotions out of me in 100pgs 😂 Lucky was 🫶🏻 she reminds me of a friend who’s just that bubbly, upbeat type. Plus the growth in these 3 characters in this short span?? Ridiculous. Not me over here like YOU CAN DO IT!!
Can’t wait for more!
This was sweet, this was emotional, this was hopeful. How does Louise manage to wring all these emotions out of me in 100pgs 😂 Lucky was 🫶🏻 she reminds me of a friend who’s just that bubbly, upbeat type. Plus the growth in these 3 characters in this short span?? Ridiculous. Not me over here like YOU CAN DO IT!!
Can’t wait for more!
July 28, 2025
I was lucky enough to receive this as an ARC! It was super sweet, funny, and emotional. The premise was a great nod to a classic D&D trope, but with characters that were super interesting and loveable.
August 11, 2025
'Love strong enough to survive an event like this is a magic more powerful than any Arcane or Divine.'
Who knew that an object like a door can become a large obstacle for some, but an answer to a hidden secret to a family legacy.
Who knew that an object like a door can become a large obstacle for some, but an answer to a hidden secret to a family legacy.
July 29, 2025
Wow that was fun. Beautiful writing style and just a joy to read.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews