A Magic Door and A Lost Kingdom of Peace A Collection of Tales edition by HD Hunter Donahue Johnson Literature Fiction eBooks
Download As PDF : A Magic Door and A Lost Kingdom of Peace A Collection of Tales edition by HD Hunter Donahue Johnson Literature Fiction eBooks 
“Obsessed by a fairy tale, we spend our lives searching for a magic door and a lost kingdom of peace.” So the quote goes by American playwright Eugene O’Neill. Author H.D. Hunter uses this idea of a fairy tale obsession and a fruitless search to readers on a fantastic yet familiar journey. A Magic Door and A Lost Kingdom of Peace is the first full-length book by Hunter. A collection of ten short stories, each has unique characters and scenarios that are essentially brief tales of the bildungsroman genre. The stories combine coming-of-age, social justice, the black experience, relationships, social commentary, and fairy-tales together to create a colorful work with powerful Aesopic morals that leaves the reader looking for pages to turn. The twist is, however, that today’s world is not so “black and white” as in Aesop’s time. Each story gives realistic insight into how young adults handle the situations that vex and disturb them the most, giving the reader characters and scenarios they can identify with, and an illuminated path to walk down should they encounter any such situation in the future. Hunter draws inspiration from classic Greek texts, the short stories of Edgar Allan Poe, the Grimm Brothers fairy tales, and The House On Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros.
A Magic Door and A Lost Kingdom of Peace A Collection of Tales edition by HD Hunter Donahue Johnson Literature Fiction eBooks
I purchased A Magic Door and A Lost Kingdom of Peace on Kindle pretty much as soon as I could with the intention of reading it immediately. I rarely waste time diving into a new book when I get one in my hand but this time was different. First, the book was written by a very old and dear friend of mine so I didn’t want to rush it. But if I’m really being honest, I paused after reading the first chapter – Southern District. In this chapter, I was reminded of someone very close to me; a dreamer who lives for the realities of his thoughts more than our version of “reality”. This allows him to be creative and insightful in a way that is sometimes overlooked and underappreciated. The final few lines of Southern District instantly became too heavy and too real for me. I knew at that point I had to put the book down and return to it when I could devote the time worthy of HD Hunter’s words. And unsurprisingly, I was not disappointed in my wait.On the surface, none of these stories relate to me. I’ve never been a lucid dreamer. I’ve never walked through a forest at night. I’ve never done a life-or-death obstacle course or seen someone I know physically beat by the police. I’ve never been responsible for the breakup of two friends. I’ve never been in a focus group nor have I cheated on my significant other. But I’ve lived through the mindsets of both the hero and the villain of each story. And on some level I think that’s the point here. Hunter was clever enough to be able to blend fantasy and reality in such a way that made it hard to distinguish my reactions between the two. It was incredible how I was able to sympathize with the victim in one line but then the villain in the following paragraph. All the sentiments behind each story resonated as equally whether it was a talking cat or the wife of a crackhead or a jealous brother. Hunter used fantasy to highlight reality and did it masterfully! Hatari Forest and Gridlock both illustrate that your setting has the potential to bring out the worst in you whether it be fear, dishonesty, or something more sordid. Real Monsters and Atlantis 4 touched on the sometimes unrecognized emotional impact surrounding police brutality and the pressures of living in a money-driven society, respectively. You ever feel that if God/fate/the universe didn’t intervene in a situation, it could have been much worse? Big Redd Writing ‘Hood can speak on that. Hunter took the supernatural and made it natural. But the best part was that in the midst of the fantasy, he would briefly ground you with poignant gems of reality in a way that seamlessly intertwined the two. It was almost as if he pressed pause on the story playing out in my imagination to help me decipher my reality. I was reminded that each day has its own version of happiness while sympathizing with a serial philanderer. I related to the idea that sometimes the hardest breakups don’t even involve you while taking sides with the best friend who finally wanted to do the right thing for the wrong reasons. The human experience is as grayscale as we think the fact that Hunter had the aptitude to use fantasy to demonstrate that was nothing short of impressive.
I’m glad I set this book aside to read when I had nothing but time. I was able to stop after every chapter and give myself room to reflect on the story itself, my reactions to the story, and how I believed the story would have continued. It was almost poetic when I got to HD Hunter’s afterword and read: “My stories are short because the art is less about what I have to say, and more about what the reader is capable of imagining.” His words only confirmed my suspicion that he knew exactly what he was doing when he wrote this book. I’ve finally received my hard copy and this will be the third time I’m reading A Magic Door. Fantasy may not be your preferences and fables may not be your cup of tea, but this novel transcends genre. Whether you are a realist or a dreamer living your own reality, you have a home in A Magic Door and a Lost Kingdom of Peace.
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A Magic Door and A Lost Kingdom of Peace A Collection of Tales edition by HD Hunter Donahue Johnson Literature Fiction eBooks Reviews
Very great work!
Couldn't put down the book once I started reading it. Loved it!
Poetically-Descriptive Diction and relate-ability with the characters make these short stories great reads. Big UuUuups!
This is one of the greatest children/coming-to-age books out currently. The stories are quite relatable and more realistic than any other book geared toward young adults. I'm a huge fan of the author and his work.
A fantastic first body of work by an incredibly promising young writer. The first story had me hooked from the start and left me needing to read more. Each story is unique but Hunter's unique voice and writing style bring all the works together beautifully. I cannot wait to read more of his stories!
Great stories that fuel your imagination and awaken your awareness. Each story reveals something to you as a reader and also as a person. This collection provides a perfect balance of fantasy and reality.
To the Reader(s)
This is not your typical book of fairy tales. It has imaginative and fairy tale qualities but it places you in a very realistic, day to day setting. I was not certain what to expect but not only did my expectations build, they were exceeded. This book will certainly make it to my personal library in bound as well as the current electronic format. Great read!
A note to the author
Thank you. Your works were indeed thought provoking and each story made me either reminisce, imagine or delve deeper into my not so shallow thoughts. I have a very firm belief that feeding the imagination is more than necessary to sustain in a world where some darkness is so great, the sun stands little chance of causing it to do more than shadow. I thank you for following your dreams because they could very much open the door to another following theirs.
SE
I purchased A Magic Door and A Lost Kingdom of Peace on pretty much as soon as I could with the intention of reading it immediately. I rarely waste time diving into a new book when I get one in my hand but this time was different. First, the book was written by a very old and dear friend of mine so I didn’t want to rush it. But if I’m really being honest, I paused after reading the first chapter – Southern District. In this chapter, I was reminded of someone very close to me; a dreamer who lives for the realities of his thoughts more than our version of “reality”. This allows him to be creative and insightful in a way that is sometimes overlooked and underappreciated. The final few lines of Southern District instantly became too heavy and too real for me. I knew at that point I had to put the book down and return to it when I could devote the time worthy of HD Hunter’s words. And unsurprisingly, I was not disappointed in my wait.
On the surface, none of these stories relate to me. I’ve never been a lucid dreamer. I’ve never walked through a forest at night. I’ve never done a life-or-death obstacle course or seen someone I know physically beat by the police. I’ve never been responsible for the breakup of two friends. I’ve never been in a focus group nor have I cheated on my significant other. But I’ve lived through the mindsets of both the hero and the villain of each story. And on some level I think that’s the point here. Hunter was clever enough to be able to blend fantasy and reality in such a way that made it hard to distinguish my reactions between the two. It was incredible how I was able to sympathize with the victim in one line but then the villain in the following paragraph. All the sentiments behind each story resonated as equally whether it was a talking cat or the wife of a crackhead or a jealous brother. Hunter used fantasy to highlight reality and did it masterfully! Hatari Forest and Gridlock both illustrate that your setting has the potential to bring out the worst in you whether it be fear, dishonesty, or something more sordid. Real Monsters and Atlantis 4 touched on the sometimes unrecognized emotional impact surrounding police brutality and the pressures of living in a money-driven society, respectively. You ever feel that if God/fate/the universe didn’t intervene in a situation, it could have been much worse? Big Redd Writing ‘Hood can speak on that. Hunter took the supernatural and made it natural. But the best part was that in the midst of the fantasy, he would briefly ground you with poignant gems of reality in a way that seamlessly intertwined the two. It was almost as if he pressed pause on the story playing out in my imagination to help me decipher my reality. I was reminded that each day has its own version of happiness while sympathizing with a serial philanderer. I related to the idea that sometimes the hardest breakups don’t even involve you while taking sides with the best friend who finally wanted to do the right thing for the wrong reasons. The human experience is as grayscale as we think the fact that Hunter had the aptitude to use fantasy to demonstrate that was nothing short of impressive.
I’m glad I set this book aside to read when I had nothing but time. I was able to stop after every chapter and give myself room to reflect on the story itself, my reactions to the story, and how I believed the story would have continued. It was almost poetic when I got to HD Hunter’s afterword and read “My stories are short because the art is less about what I have to say, and more about what the reader is capable of imagining.” His words only confirmed my suspicion that he knew exactly what he was doing when he wrote this book. I’ve finally received my hard copy and this will be the third time I’m reading A Magic Door. Fantasy may not be your preferences and fables may not be your cup of tea, but this novel transcends genre. Whether you are a realist or a dreamer living your own reality, you have a home in A Magic Door and a Lost Kingdom of Peace.
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