(2 votes, average: 4.50 out of 5)

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By evoking Earth Spirits beneath an ancient stone circle, demonic powers are bestowed upon the evil Lord Folds who enslaves the soul of England. Mr. Tonks, Mandy the barmaid, and Martin, a student, join forces to defeat the tyrant. Our hero must journey into the darkness and chaos of the Otherworld to save his love. Will Barstowe University be forever corrupted and destroyed by the corporate menace? You will weep at this tale of thrilling magic, multiple dimensions and romance-mostly with laughter.

Doorway Into Darkness certainly shows off Gordon Strong's writing skills and command of the language. He writes easily and well in a way that can be brilliantly witty and funny. The plot has less magic involved that you might expect in my view and is very British in its setting of English academia. It is apparent that Gordon has some strong opinions regarding the British University system and it is this that forms a central theme within the plot.

An evil and thoroughly capitalist Lord hatches a plot to take over the British Universities promising a for profit and more American version of tertiary education. For some reason, and to be honest I couldn't quite figure out why, he decides to utilize magic to make this happen via the powers of an ancient stone circle.

The bits of the book that deal with other dimensions are excellent and the narrative regarding the politics and goings on at the University which is the center of the plot are also very good. as I say above, its how the two interlink that I thought was somewhat weak. In the end though, Gordon can write and do it magically.(less)