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The Tale of the Five
The Tale of the Five
Series · 6 books · 1979-2025
By
Diane Duane
Books in series
#1
The Door Into Fire
1979
Herewiss, Prince of the Brightwood, is the only man in centuries to possess the Power of the Flame, but he cannot use or control it, not even to help his dearest friend, Freelorn, the exiled Prince of Arlen. But Herewiss does have a talent for sorcery, and, aided by the enigmatic creature Sunspark, he is able to rout the armies besieging Freelorn. Now Herewiss faces a devastating choice. With or without the Power, he knows his time is running out. Shall he join Freelorn in his fight to regain his kingdom? Or shall he seek out the ancient castle where doors lead to other worlds, worlds Sunspark has hinted at, perhaps even the door that would teach him to control the Power...
#2
The Door Into Shadow
1984
As the eternal malice of the Shadow rises once more to threaten Creation with destructions, Freelorn the exiled prince of Arlen stands with four others to confront this looming apocalypse. Reissue.
#3
The Door into Sunset
1992
Only Freelorn, the banished Prince of Arlen, can rescue the dying land of Arlen from the usurper king and the evil that threatens it, by rediscovering a missing ritual, lost at the time of Freelorn's father's murder. Reprint.
#3.1
The Levin-Gad
2023
In this 20,000-word novelette set in the main character through-line of the Door Into... novels, the first man in a thousand years to bear the Blue Flame of Power, Herewiss s'Hearn, is now happily married to King Freelorn of Arlen, their lover Segnbora tai-Enraesi, the fire elemental Sunspark and the dragon Hasai. But he tells none of them why (at a most delicate moment) he must undertake a clandestine mission to the city of Darthis. His reasons are secret: his intentions desperate. So why does Herewiss wind up spending his whole visit in a tavern? Only the Stuck Pig's indefatigable bouncer, Iras, can learn the reason why... and finds herself caught up in a kind of tavern brawl that no one's ever imagined. "The Levin-Gad" is the first of five novelettes to be published during 2018, spanning the years between Book 3 of the Tale of the Five, The Door Into Sunset, and the forthcoming The Door Into Starlight.
#3.2
The Landlady
2019
In this 75,000-word novel set in the main character through-line of the Door Into... series, sorceress and swordswoman Segnbora tai-Enraesi—last scion of one of the Forty Noble Houses of Darthen and hero of the great War against the Shadow—is forced to come to grips with the one part of her life she's successfully avoided for more than a decade: her day job. Segnbora's been preoccupied with the demands of motherhood and the continuing business of supporting her husbands King Freelorn of Arlen and Herewiss Hearn's son in consolidating Freelorn's hold on the Arlene throne. But now her liege-lady and lover Eftgan of Darthen calls on Segnbora to take up her rightful role as Head of House tai-Enraesi and begin restoring her diminished Household to its proper position among the Forty. Reviving the fortunes of a House sunk into decline over two lifetimes will be difficult work, Segnbora knows. But she doesn't suspect how difficult until, while visiting her lands in Darthen's rural north, she discovers that one Holding of House tai-Enraesi conceals a danger unexpected enough to challenge even a companion of Dragons and a wielder of the blue Fire of Power... The Landlady is the second of five novelettes and short novels being published during 2018-2019, spanning the years between Book 3 of the Tale of the Five, The Door Into Sunset, and the forthcoming The Door Into Starlight.
#4
The Door Into Starlight
2025
The finale volume of the
The Tale of the Five
series. The first draft is currently being written.
Author
Diane Duane
Author · 73 books