The Golden Key (Hardcover)

In the duchy of Tira Virte works of art are not only valued for their beauty, but are used in lieu of written legal documents for treaties, wills, marriages, etc. One family of painters, the Grijalvas, have the secret of using magic to alter the reality that they depict in their paintings. The Gifted Limners (all male, with one exception) who have this power use their own body fluids to activate the spells, so they age and die very quickly, and are sterile. The Grijalvas also have to endure popular prejudice and religious discrimination because are descendants of Tza'ab bandits who raped Tira Virtean noblewomen. As well, they have to put up with the machinations of their rival family, the Serranos. Still, the Gifted Limners use their skills to bring peace and prosperity to Tira Virte and to support the rule of the do'Verrada ducal family. Then one young Limner, Sario Grijalva, obsessed with finding out how the magic works after seeing another family member disciplined by it, learns secrets hidden even from the leaders of the Grijalva family from an ancient Tza'ab mystic, whom he murders. Using his extraordinary artistic talent and his new powers he not only imprisons his adored cousin Saavedra in a portrait in a fit of jealous rage, but also steals the bodies of the most talented Gifted Limners of the next 360 years. Despite his powers, he is constrained by both his need to keep his identities secret and by the quirks of fate. Over this time Sario also tries to use his talents to control Tira Virtean politics. First he becomes involved in the marital warfare between a saintly Duchess and her husband, who remains loyal to his mistress (not coincidentally, the mother of a brilliant Limner whose body Sario wants to steal), and then attempts to thwart a democratic revolution by painting a dead princess back to life. After all this time, will a prodigiously talented but magically un-Gifted young painter be able to finally thwart Sario's schemes and free Saavedra?

Rawn, Roberson and Elliott create not only a large cast of unforgettable characters and an extraordinarily intelligent and perhaps unique magic system (based on floral symbolism), but an entirely believable society rich in detail from the grand sweep of history to the subtleties of everyday living. In particular, the role of religion (both Tira Virtean and Tza'ab) is superbly handled. Most important of all in a book about art, their descriptions of the paintings are so rich and detailed one can almost see them and their creation. Furthermore, the story is so seamless one would never know that there are three different authors if one didn't look at the cover. Speaking of the cover, Michael Whelan's work here is marvelous - and the picture of Sario is a self-portait of Whelan! The only problem is that in the first book a few too many points are beaten into our heads, such as the fact that the Grijalva painting guide 'The Folio' and the Tza'ab holy book 'Kita'ab' are one and the same. Also, one or two of the pseudo-Spanish expressions are a bit overused. Despite this, the 900 pages just flew by, and I actually wanted more.

If in addition to fantasy you have any interest in art or Mediterranean culture, or just want to read something that isn't the billionth Tolkien clone, 'The Golden Key' is more than worth your while. It's an amazing piece of world-building where the characters' lives - and their creations - will stay with you a long time.

The Golden Key is rather unique in the fantasy realm in that it doesn't follow the "local boy turns out to be the hero that the world needs and goes on a quest" storyline. I must admit that on my first reading, I struggled through the first few pages of descriptions of paintings, almost skipping over them in my hurry to get on with the story. However, these preliminary descriptions are integral to setting the scene for the story which follows.

It didn't take long before I was enthralled with the world of Tira Verte and its cast of characters. This has to be one of my favourite fantasy books and one I would highly recommend to anyone -- especially those are looking for something a little different. Absolutely brilliant.

This art-centered world, of course, requires artists. This novel follows the rising and falling fortunes of one family of artists, the Grijalvas, who are almost indisputably the best artists in Tirra Virte. However, they are also decimated by a past plague, feared for their reputed sorcery, and shunned for carrying the blood of foreign rapists in their veins. A young Grijalva boy wants nothing so much as to be acknowledged "Gifted", an heir to the Grijalvas' genetic talents, but the art and magic come with a terrible price.

WARNING: possible SPOILERS

The book is divided into three sections, taking place in three different time periods. The sections are different enough in tone and style that I suspect each author wrote a section mostly by herself, with little collaboration except in world-building. However, I'm not familiar enough with the authors to guess who wrote what.

The first section is my personal favorite because of its brooding and menacing mood. Two Grijalva children, the male Sario and the female Saavedra, witness a terrible punishment meted out by the family elders, and come to realize what Grijalva power really means. The two grow to adulthood--Sario becoming an acclaimed artist and lusting for more and more power, and Saavedra's skills ignored because she is a woman. When Saavedra finds love outside the family, passion and jealousy erupt, and a terrible magic is performed upon her...

The second section is more of a romance, featuring a beautiful, naive, and Generically Nice princess who marries into Tirra Verteian nobility, only to be cruelly rejected in favor of her husband's Grijalva mistress. Princess Mechella does her best to make a happy life for herself despite all of this. I do like the fact that she eventually grew a spine, but I don't like the fact that the "happy ending" to this second story took place with absolutely no action by Mechella. She never even knew half of what was going on. Sigh...

The third section is a story of liberty. The lower classes of Tirra Virte are in revolt. At the same time a young Grijalva woman, groomed to be a compliant daughter and an acquiescent royal mistress, sets out to make her life and art her own. And it is she who notices something strange about the portrait of Saavedra which hangs in the palace. I liked this section, though it seems a little rushed, what with trying to cram the third story and the loose ends from the other two into what is probably the shortest of the three.

I truly enjoyed this book, though it left a few loose ends hanging. I want to know more about the Tza'ab, the Nerro Lingua, and how Saavedra managed to be born Gifted. I REALLY want to know more about what happened when Eleyna's brother scratched the painting containing Eleyna's blood! It's not often I reach the end of a 900 page book crying out for more.