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369th out of 1,558 books
—
10,542 voters
The Golden Key
by
Melanie Rawn,
Jennifer Roberson, Kate Elliott (Goodreads Author)
In the duchy of Tira Virte fine art is prized above all things, both for its beauty and as a binding legal record of everything from marriages and births to treaties and inheritances. And although the Grand Duke is aware that there is more to the paintings of certain limners than meets the eye, not even he knows just how extraordinary the art of the Grijalva family truly i...more
Paperback, 800 pages
Published
August 1st 1997
by DAW
(first published 1996)
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Think Game of Thrones, but with more subtlety, nuance and detail. The authors create a world reminiscent of 18th century Spain with combined elements of politics, royalty, and artistry.
Where GoT has actually very little magical fantasy, the Golden Key infuses magic into the artwork of court painters. Paintings are used as formal documentation for marriages, treaties etc.
The story begins with a young painter who burns with an all consuming passion to paint and be the best painter. His actions ec...more
Where GoT has actually very little magical fantasy, the Golden Key infuses magic into the artwork of court painters. Paintings are used as formal documentation for marriages, treaties etc.
The story begins with a young painter who burns with an all consuming passion to paint and be the best painter. His actions ec...more
I'm going to take a moment here to talk about the authors and cover artist.
Melanie Rawn has written numerous books since 1988 and been nominated for the Locus Award on three occasions. The rumor is that a prequel to The Golden Key is coming up later this year, the title? The Diviner. Jennifer Roberson has been publishing since 1984. She has multiple stand alone books as well as series and is still releasing books. Kate Elliott has been publishing since 1988 under her Kate Elliott name and also u...more
Melanie Rawn has written numerous books since 1988 and been nominated for the Locus Award on three occasions. The rumor is that a prequel to The Golden Key is coming up later this year, the title? The Diviner. Jennifer Roberson has been publishing since 1984. She has multiple stand alone books as well as series and is still releasing books. Kate Elliott has been publishing since 1988 under her Kate Elliott name and also u...more
This review originally appeared at sfsite.com in 1997.
GOLDEN WORDS
It isn't true a picture is worth a thousand words. Melanie Rawn, Jennifer Roberson, and Kate Elliott grace their novel The Golden Key with far more than a mere thousand per picture. And these are words well worth the read. This book is a fantasy novel about art. Or is it a generational saga? Actually, it is an alternate universe story. Then again, maybe it is science fiction. Or should that be science fantasy? To define it within...more
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 their 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...more
An intricate, multi-generational epic, set in a fictional country that resembles Spain in many ways (though I think much of the language comes from Portuguese), this book is simply phenomenal. The villain of the piece is complex, and he genuinely believes that he can use dark and murderous magic to further worthwhile aims (though that may just be rationalization). He is a portrait of obsession, of a person who thinks that he is the best there ever was or will be, but fails to see that he might b...more
I finished The Golden Key, after more than a month. It's the not fault of the book that it took me so long (although it is almost 900 pages and spans 400 years). Because there were days-long periods of time between readings, I don't know if my perceptions are that accurate. But I thought I could "feel" the differences in the sections that were written by each of the authors (Melanie Rawn, Jennifer Roberson, and Kate Elliott). The middle section of the book was my favorite, and, to me, it seemed...more
Recommended by my other half, not something I would have picked up, but I really enjoyed this book. It felt like 3 books, but as this has 3 writers I assume it pretty much is.
Really clever main narrative. The intro was a little confusing, but makes more sense once you've read the rest of the book!
Really picks up speed after the first few chapters and by half way through I didn't want to put it down!
It's very hard to say more without giving too much off the book away!
Really clever main narrative. The intro was a little confusing, but makes more sense once you've read the rest of the book!
Really picks up speed after the first few chapters and by half way through I didn't want to put it down!
It's very hard to say more without giving too much off the book away!
Jun 12, 2007
Shelby
rated it
5 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
Fantasy/Romance/History Lovers or EVERYONE
Shelves:
alltimefavorites
I re-read this book recently and was amazed at the skill the three authors (who are all, in book at least, three of the best fantasy genre writers EVER) blend their styles to create one seamless story that spans generations of the Gifted Grijalva family. I believe Sario Grijalva is one of my favorite villains in any book I have ever read because he is so complex, not quite evil, very sympathetic but arrogant which lends to the saying "Pride goeth before the fall." He does horrible things...I mea...more
Jun 04, 2007
Dena Landon
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
People who like richly detailed fantasy
I have to confess, this was one of those large fantasy tomes that sat on my bookshelf for about two years before I finally got around to reading it. But once I started it I couldn't put it down.
The books takes place in a richly drawn world clearly based on the city-states of Renaissance Italy. It follows the fortunes of a family of painters, the Grijalva's, who are struggling to recover from a horrible plague. In this world, paintings are legal documents, commemorating marriages, births, wills,...more
The books takes place in a richly drawn world clearly based on the city-states of Renaissance Italy. It follows the fortunes of a family of painters, the Grijalva's, who are struggling to recover from a horrible plague. In this world, paintings are legal documents, commemorating marriages, births, wills,...more
I understood this book a lot better the second time around. I'm still not sure how I feel about it... at times it fills me with dread, and some of it I thought was written poorly. They could have done more with the story, but at the same time, I can't imagine it any other way. One thing I do know, is that whatever author that wrote part 3 is my least favorite of the three authors.
I loved Sario Grijalva, and I hated Sario Grijalva. I couldn't help but root for him, and be proud of him, but at th...more
I loved Sario Grijalva, and I hated Sario Grijalva. I couldn't help but root for him, and be proud of him, but at th...more
I watched the movie Dorian Grey recently which diminished my liking for this book a lot. The parallels are rather blinding.
Having said that, when I did read this oh-so-many years ago now, I found the premise interesting but eventually I ended up skipping whole chapters towards the end.
Something about the ending was very memorable to me and is probably the part I enjoyed the most.
Having said that, when I did read this oh-so-many years ago now, I found the premise interesting but eventually I ended up skipping whole chapters towards the end.
Something about the ending was very memorable to me and is probably the part I enjoyed the most.
This is a big book and probably longer than it needed to be. That said this original fantasy story is far less derivative than most stories that use a middle ages backdrop as their template. It's setting owes more to Renaissance Italy than to the English & French histories that usually appear in fantasy. The use of extremely talented artists whose painting are effectively the treaties and other documents of society creates a competitive class of artists who will do anything to be the best of...more
So I read this a number of years ago and liked it enough that I remembered it and wanted to read it again. Older and wiser now, it doesn't impress me as once it might have.
I like how it's all vying for political power in a fantastical historical Portugal type of place. But I don't love any of the characters and I'm not totally savoring the world. The main character really gets into his magical painting stuff, and learns and develops and becomes more ruthless, but it doesn't feel like a training...more
I like how it's all vying for political power in a fantastical historical Portugal type of place. But I don't love any of the characters and I'm not totally savoring the world. The main character really gets into his magical painting stuff, and learns and develops and becomes more ruthless, but it doesn't feel like a training...more
I bought this book because I enjoy Melanie Rawn's writing. The story is about a family of painters who hide their hidden talents-that of being mage artists. They're a strange lot with secrets galore. They've worked for centuries for the local dukes. The painters have many enemies who would rejoice in their downfall and there are constant political battles between the different factions.
A renegade dwells among the painters-one without morals or ethics. He’s a man who'll stop at nothing to further...more
A renegade dwells among the painters-one without morals or ethics. He’s a man who'll stop at nothing to further...more
I wish I liked this more. Maybe it was the jet lag, maybe I just wasn't ready for this. Got it from a friend who knew I needed material to read on the plane. Did not finish--I gave up after a few chapters and left it in my seat pocket when I deplaned--hopefully someone else will like it more than I did.
This book took me forever to read but only because its about 900 pgs long and I don't have near enough time to read nowadays. It was a pretty great novel written by three leading women scifi writers. If you've enjoyed the Song of Fire and Ice series by Martin you'll like this one. Different families, magic, art (magic AND art together), backstabbing, foridden love and political machinations make for a great tale. Highly recommend but only if you have the time!
I really struggled with this book. I really wanted to like it, but it was pretty much a slog, especially early. I only gave this three stars because I like these authors so much. I found myself putting the book down when I had an opportunity to read which is one of my tests for how much I like a book. Kind of like the opposite of 'I couldn't put it down'. This was an 'I couldn't keep reading it'.
I found section 1 of the book the worst of the three and section 2 the best.
As a final comment, I am...more
I found section 1 of the book the worst of the three and section 2 the best.
As a final comment, I am...more
This is something of a comfort read for me. Though the structure (and I suspect the three writers involved as well) leave something to be desired in terms of plot smoothness and continuity, I find the premise and setting engaging enough to make up for a fair bit of plot jumpiness.
I read this way back in the late 90s and found it absolutely fascinating. Hope to reread it some day when there's more time:) Definitely a must for fantasy fans and possibly quite appealing for historical fiction fans too. It has that kind of feel to it.
This was a book I tried to get into multiple times, and had trouble with. I ended up setting it aside for years before I picked it up again. That time I didn't have trouble getting into it... and I found it amazing.
Definitely a good read, in the end! :)
Definitely a good read, in the end! :)
I love the worldbuilding in this book. The occasional bits of created language are just close enough to Spanish that anyone should be able to recognize what the characters are saying in the context of the conversation, rather than needing it spelled out by the authors (and happily, they don't seem to find it necessary to provide blatant translations, except occasionally). The mythos behind the painters is rich and well thought-out, and it is interesting to see how it is intertwined with the poli...more
This was a great story and wonderful plot that just wasn't executed as well as it should have been. The characters were well done, and the handling of the time frame (centuries over the course of the plot) was very nicely done, but the writing always felt a bit stilted and prevented the easy reading of her other books.
The Golden Key is one of the most original sci-fi/fantasy books that I've read in a long time. Painting pictures in lieu of written documents to record marriages, etc. is cool... throw in the idea that painting with blood and other fluids binds the people to the paintings/event like a contract is really cool. Sprinkle some language, religion, politics, etc. in and it makes for a great read. I highly recommend it. In fact, it's been awhile. Maybe I need to read it again...
Another old favourite that I pull out. I love the world that these authors created - it's so detailed and complete and the story itself is chilling. The switch between authors is almost seamless and its high fantasy at it's best.
Totally not my usual style of book, and was given to me as a gift, but I ended up being captivated by this book. It is a mix of forbidden Art magic and politics of this world over time, told from the point of view of the villain.
This was an intricately crafted book. I have a new appreciation for the art of painting. I really want to wander a museum or two to view pieces by the masters. To see nuances I couldn't see before. I'm afraid that I will be disappointed after reading the descriptions in this book.
An intriguing read.
An intriguing read.
Oct 03, 2010
♥Xeni♥
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
art and historical fiction aficionados
This is a wonderfully long and intense novel which follows one country through centuries in the perspective of a painter. I loved how Melanie Rawn used a "flawed", i.e. corrupted, main character to tell her story from. It definitely was a wonderful change from most stories (where the main character needs to defeat that bad guy). It does, though, lead the reader to sympathize with the main character a bit more than you would usually with the villain.
I still love reading this novel, even after man...more
I still love reading this novel, even after man...more
Three authors came together to create a story with originality and complex depth. As a lover of art, I was particularly captivated with a story that intertwined art with magic.
By far my favourite Melanie Rawn novel.
Originally a 'stand-alone' work, her prequel 'The Diviner' is pretty close to being as good as 'The Golden Key'.
Originally a 'stand-alone' work, her prequel 'The Diviner' is pretty close to being as good as 'The Golden Key'.
This book was a great collaberation! The idea of making magic out of art was unique. A great ride with some twists along the way.
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Melanie Rawn received a BA in history from Scripps College and worked as a teacher and editor before becoming a writer.
She has been nominated for a Locus award on three separate occasions: in 1989 for Dragon Prince (in the first novel category), in 1994 for Skybowl (in the fantasy novel category), and again in 1995 for Ruins of Ambrai (in the fantasy novel category).
More about Melanie Rawn...
She has been nominated for a Locus award on three separate occasions: in 1989 for Dragon Prince (in the first novel category), in 1994 for Skybowl (in the fantasy novel category), and again in 1995 for Ruins of Ambrai (in the fantasy novel category).
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Sep 09, 2010 01:05pm