The Tale of the Five Omnibus

The Tale of the Five #1-3 omnibus

by Diane Duane

All three of Diane Duane's classic "Middle Kingdoms" novels together in one volume for the first time. The Omnibus contains The Door into Fire, The Door into Shadow, and The Door into Sunset, all in the author's preferred versions, updated and revised from the previous print editions for this omnibus.

Genres: Fantasy, Polyamory, Ebooks, Adventure, Queer, High Fantasy, Dragons

Nook

First published September 27, 2010

About the author

Diane Duane has been a writer of science fiction, fantasy, TV and film for more than forty years.

Besides the 1980's creation of the Young Wizards fantasy series for which she's best known, the "Middle Kingdoms" epic fantasy series, and numerous stand-alone fantasy or science fiction novels, her career has included extensive work in the Star Trek TM universe, and many scripts for live-action and animated TV series on both sides of the Atlantic, as well as work in comics and computer games. She has spent a fair amount of time on the New York Times Bestseller List, and has picked up various awards and award nominations here and there.

She lives in County Wicklow, in Ireland, with her husband of more than thirty years, the screenwriter and novelist Peter Morwood.

Her favorite color is blue, her favorite food is a weird kind of Swiss scrambled-potato dish called maluns, she was born in a Year of the Dragon, and her sign is "Runway 24 Left, Hold For Clearance."

(From her official website)

Reviews

[kvon · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this series back in the 90s, and still remember a lot of it. I love the worldbuilding here, from the history of the dragons who came to this earth, and deities, and the structure of magic, and the magical swords. Characters grow and love and re-examine their relationships. It's a land of strong woman, no monogamy, elemental forces, kings and queens who are responsible to their land. I remember Eftgan hammering out her crown, and the house in the wastes, the mdeihei, the structures of magic, the last stand on the mountain ridge. Ms Duane noted difficulty writing the last book because she has grown so much as a writer the past few decades, but that raw enthusiasm fills the pages.

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this on a list of influential fantasy books on Twitter. The first book was written in the late 70s so I wasn't sure how much I'd like it but I'm so glad I decided to give it a try! Interesting magic and political systems and great characters. I especially enjoyed Herewiss and Freelorn and how their relationship evolved as they grew. I think I read that there were supposed to be more than 3 books but the 3rd book could be an ending as well so if there aren't you won't feel as though you are left hanging.

[Lindsay · Rating 5 out of 5]

I greatly enjoyed this book -these books. Duane's descriptions of the working of magic are ...well, magical! Good characters. Engaging plot. I especially loved the fire horse. And the dragons! I did have to get comfortable with entities being in several states at once - e.g. dead, interior & exterior.

[Sol · Rating 1 out of 5]

Boring plot, flat characters and tedious writing.