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Keys to Paradise #1
The Flame Key
The Trans War is over and Giles Grimsgate has lost everything. In his grief he wanders, aimlessly searching for a reason to go on. His search ends and begins in Klepht...with a golden key; the key to the legendary Gates of Paradise and the promise of total fulfillment.
There is another key and Giles must join forces with the thief Kaja and Petia, a beautiful Trans cat-woman to search for the mythical Gates. With the keys the Gates are simple to find, but five keys are needed to gain the treasure beyond.
Giles and his questionable company set off on a quest to find the third key...somewhere on the southern continent a mad sorceress plots to conquer the world and plunge it into flaming madness...there they must seek The Flame Key.
There is another key and Giles must join forces with the thief Kaja and Petia, a beautiful Trans cat-woman to search for the mythical Gates. With the keys the Gates are simple to find, but five keys are needed to gain the treasure beyond.
Giles and his questionable company set off on a quest to find the third key...somewhere on the southern continent a mad sorceress plots to conquer the world and plunge it into flaming madness...there they must seek The Flame Key.
- GenresFantasy
186 pages, Paperback
First published April 1, 1987
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
April 27, 2013
Book 1 of the 'Keys of Paradise Trilogy'.
More epic fantasy so recommended if that's your thing.
More epic fantasy so recommended if that's your thing.
October 3, 2024
A quick read, a simple read, and ultimately unsatisfying read.
July 23, 2010
It failed to spark with me. The story spends too much time in what feels like preamble--gathering the protagonists together and resolving some of their predicaments--before sending them off on the main quest of the title. By that time I had lost interest.
In a genre overloaded with Grand Quests To Save Life As We Know It, it was refreshing to see a story whose protagonists are out for the money or the adventure. And further, one where the end goal of the quest is right at hand, but not usable until they acquire the requisite Plot Knickknacks (the subject of later books). This is eminently more reasonable a structure than the usual: accumulate Knickknacks and then find their target.
There was some foreshadowing of larger threats and hidden antagonists behind the scenes, and I'm vaguely curious about the nature of the Gate of Paradise itself (which might as well have a second sign dangling from it: "Beware of Low-Hanging Plot Twist!") but not enough to either finish this book or seek out the sequels.
In a genre overloaded with Grand Quests To Save Life As We Know It, it was refreshing to see a story whose protagonists are out for the money or the adventure. And further, one where the end goal of the quest is right at hand, but not usable until they acquire the requisite Plot Knickknacks (the subject of later books). This is eminently more reasonable a structure than the usual: accumulate Knickknacks and then find their target.
There was some foreshadowing of larger threats and hidden antagonists behind the scenes, and I'm vaguely curious about the nature of the Gate of Paradise itself (which might as well have a second sign dangling from it: "Beware of Low-Hanging Plot Twist!") but not enough to either finish this book or seek out the sequels.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews