The Door in the Dragon’s Throat
The Door in the Dragon’s Throat by Frank Peretti
Synopsis:
When teenagers Jay and Lila Cooper and their archaeologist father travel to Nepur, an uninviting land of deserts and danger, they must search to uncover the truth behind an ancient legend. Locals claim that inside a dark cavern called the Dragon’s Throat is a forbidden Door that brings certain death to anyone who tries to open it. Armed with the knowledge that God is more powerful than any legend or curse, Jay and Lila plunge down into the Dragon’s Throat, determined to find out what awaits them on the other side of the Door. This daring tale will have you on the edge of your seat.
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Review
A friend of mine described this book as “what if Indiana Jones had kids”. Sold!
This is Peretti in writing, tone, and subject matter through and through. There’s a good story here although the conversations are a little stilted in a “Christianese” way. But, boy, does this book move quick! There’s almost no time wasted in atmosphere building or any kind of fat. You get an exposition dump right at the beginning in both plot and characters and you’re off and running – almost literally.
The best part of this story is the characters’ focus. What’s interesting is that in a modern story the kids would be a central character and the parent would be off somewhere or knocked out or need rescuing. What’s good about this is that you have the father as almost the main character and he introduces us to his two children who we do get to follow. The children aren’t annoying or bickering characters nor are they naive, sheltered kids who always do the right thing and covered in so much sugar that it’s gross. They take part in the action and problem-solving to a high degree of competence alongside their father.
With the fast-moving plot comes some hiccups in getting across what’s fully happening or missing out in explanations. Where the team is in the main of the story is a spot where no one has ever returned – but we don’t really know specifics of what happened since no one has breached the door. Nor did I have a full understanding of the shaking ground or what mind’s eye of the space looked like. For an 80’s YA book maybe this was to be expected but it could have utilized a half dozen pages in helping convey those things.
Peretti hasn’t always been the best at realistic dialogue and some of that is here. However, it isn’t so cheesy that it takes you out of the story or makes you roll your eyes at the characters. The ending is great and in Peretti’s wheelhouse of “of course, that’s what it is” style. And that was fun to read again from him.
Overall, a fun little YA novel that I’ll check out the next in the series.
Final Grade
B
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