If you stick with it you will be pleasantly surprised

books:

	• The Golden Key (Daw Book Collectors) Melanie Rawn, Jennifer Roberson, ... DAW, 2000 - 902 pages average customer review:based on 42 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Vivid strong fantasy set in a magical Iberia

The Golden Key is a fantasy novel set in a Iberian flavored fantasy world, written by Melanie Rawn, Jennifer Roberson and Kate Elliott.

The Golden Key's universe and magic revolves around the use of art as a tool for communication, political power, and it turns out, arcane power as well. The novel is episodic, starting with the rise to power and the discovery of real power by a brilliant artist, Sario Grijalva of Tira Verte. The Grijalvas, after a tragedy years ago, have fallen from grace, power and are pitied, if not feared, by the population at large. Despite their talents with art, being a Grijalva is not an easy or particularly desirable life.

Sario, however, has ambition. This ambition leads him to the lair of a Tza'ab (stand in for Berbers or North Africans) living in the heart of the city. His secret power, combined with Sario's knowledge, leads Sario to discoveries to allow him to live in a serial fashion in other people's bodies...and to also imprison Saavendra, the cousin that he loves, in a portrait...

The novel then leapfrogs over the next centuries, as Sario's machinations in his various lives lead to a rise to power for the Grijalvas, even as political and other developments slowly change Tira Virte in ways that even Sario cannot predict and control.

Thus, in a 900 page novel, we really get a complete fantasy series, with a variety of characters strung out along the history of Tira Virte, with Sario and the portrait of Saavendra as the hooks that keep the story together. Add in the intriguing magic system (which any player in Amber would think of ideas for Trumps thereby), great characterization, and vivid writing, and mix well.

This could have been envisioned as an interminable fantasy series, but as one volume, the writing is crisp and rarely if ever flags. The three writers collaborate and write together seamlesly. The novel was a finalist for the World Fantasy Award, and after reading it, I have to wonder, just what novel managed to beat it for that prize.

I recommend it to epic fantasy fans unreservedly.

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If you stick with it you will be pleasantly surprised

Being a big fan of Melanie Rawn, I really wanted to read more of her writing. The beggining of this book dragged in places as they got the characters into place but after the story takes off(after the first act/time period), you will not be able to put the book down! Historical fiction plus sci/fi/fantasy gives readers a fun, suspenseful and intriguing story. You will not be disappointed

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Great new origional Fantasy

I have been hooked since the "Dragon Prince" series. I found this one didn't quite live up to the steaminess of the Prince, but the newness of the concept more than makes up for it.

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A Different Sort of Fantasy

I won't rehash the plot of this excellent novel; discovering that, afterall, is half the fun. This novel is an excellent character-driven novel; a collaboration of three well-known fantasy authors. The book is broken into three parts, each seperated by several decades, allowing for each of the three authors to focus on thoer own part. This would seem to make the whole thing disjointed but not so. There are some slight differences in style among the three parts but these differences only lead to a different, appropriate focus for the section and the characters that reside there. Overall, it blends together seemlessly and the characters are woven together extremely well.

Some novels annoy me when they use "foreign" words regularly throught the text. I hate it when I have to constantly check the appendix for a glossary of terms. So I was worried when I saw the glossary included in this novel, depicting all of the "Spanish/Italian" words. But when I read the novel, I found I didn't need it. The words are easily comprehended in the context of the sentences and become part of the overall ambiance of the story.

Overall, this book, though fairly lengthy, is a fascinating piece, highly worthy of your time to read. The authors do a marvelous job with the setting and characters and the plot is driven by the characters themselves as opposed to events outside their control. If you like political intrigue, court/religious politics, revenge, etc. as well as a a truly unique magic system, then don't let this one pass you by.

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Rich, unusual historical fantasy

I was attracted to this book by Melanie Rawn's involvement, having enjoyed her Dragon Prince/Dragon Star trilogies a great deal for their dry wit, excellent characterisation and compelling plotting. I had only a vague idea of what it was about before I started reading - but once I did, I was completely entranced.
The multi-generational novel is set in a world with a strong feel of Renaissance or early modern Spain. While never leaning too much on its real-world counterpart, the inspiration permeates all levels, immeasurably enriching the book. It is glimpsed most obviously in the characters' names, fashions and the oaths that pepper their speech. More subtly, it infuses the religious practices, behaviour (there is a strong emphasis on family honour and female modesty), and recent history - the novel opens a little after a long war with a religiously-inclined nomadic people, an obvious but not overstated parallel with the Moors.

The central conceit of the novel lies in the social and administrative role of portraiture in the state of Tira Verte, where it is used to record everything from marriage contracts to wills to treaties between nations. Those whose paintings are most highly valued enjoy considerable political and personal influence, and their style becomes something to imitate by those who follow them. A few, in secret, are able to wield more than mere influence with their brushes.

The story follows the fortunes of two noble families, and the consequences of one rashly destructive act (try to ignore the synopsis on the back of the book, which gives this act away), through several generations. Throughout, not only the story but also the world progress naturally and fascinatingly, as artistic fashions change and the society develops and diversifies. It is told in three parts, with each author taking one generation of characters - respectively: Roberson, Rawn, and Elliot. Melanie Rawn's section is the stand-out, but all three are highly accomplished pieces of writing, gripping and fluent as they tackle themes as varied as the relationship between art and artist, the moral responsibility of power, and the position of women in a highly-regulated society.

Highly recommended.

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reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9

Life imitates Art--literally--when every stroke of a painter's brush changes the fabric of reality....

"Original in concept and superior in execution."-- Booklist

"Fresh and intelligent...sheer brilliance."-- Flint Journal

"A rich and entertaining tapestry...."-- Knoxville News Sentinel

"We are held spellbound...mesmerizing."-- Romantic Times

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