While it was not all I was hoping for, I started reading it and couldn't put it down. Literally got sucked into the pages, so to speak. I thought it was a cute story, very preposterous, indeed, but a fun read that was well worth the time put into it. I have other books by Lisa Goldstein (walking the labyrinth, the red magician), but this was my first experience with this author. Won't be my last, either!Would I recommend it? Hmmm...that's a toughie. If you want a good supernatural-ish/fantasy yarn, yes. If you're looking for something deeper, no. If you have to have everything believeable in your reading, then don't pick this one up. My advice: if you are looking for a fun way to spend a few hours, this would be a good choice. The story moves fast (in part because it is a little silly), and it will fulfill your non-serious entertainment quotient for the day.A brief look at what's inside (no spoilers)John Dee as you may or may not know, was an astrologist to Queen Elizabeth I, and was a practitioner of the hermetic arts (alchemy if you must). As our story opens, we find Dr. Dee, his family and his bizarre companion, one Edward Kelley, who may or may not have been a necromancer, going off to Poland, where Dr. Dee has been invited by Prince Laski. They had to leave England, it seems, because Kelley & Dee have called a demon into existence and it is tormenting Dr. Dee. His reasoning is that if he goes across water, the demon, who supposedly cannot follow, will remain behind and his life will vastly improve. He is urged on by Kelley, who predicts all types of dire things that will happen to Dee, his home and his family, so off the entourage goes. For a time, all is well, but Dee makes an incredible discovery while he's in Prague. A) the demon is still there, and B) that Prague is somehow the cosmic center of the universe and that there is a door that links the earth and the other plane that is demon riddled. In the meantime, Rabbi Judah Loew has been tasked with finding the 36th righteous man, who according to legend, keep evil at bay. None of these men (of the 36) know that they have this identity until they are on their death bed, and to maintain balance, any one of them dying must name an heir before he dies. The 36th man must be identified in order to be protected, because if he ceases to exist, the world will not only end but will actually start again and will be malleable to whoever can reshape it. Dee and Loew meet and together they take on the task of finding this 36th man. Dee's travels take him many places, none the least of which is Transylvania at the court of King Istvan (Stephen), whose cousin Erzebet Bathory (the heroine of Codrescu's novel "Blood Countess").While Goldstein's message of "the union of opposites" rings through here, as does the true purpose of alchemy, it is as I said a little silly all around. I thought she portrayed Dr. Dee as a kind of bumbler, but it was fun. I'll definitely read more books by this author.
This is the real story of John Dee's trip to Cracow and Prague in the 1580s. Dee and his collaborator Edward Kelley are fleeing a demon whose attention they have attracted in their experiments in angel magic. Initially, they travel with Prince Laski, for whom the angels that only Kelley can see have prophesied that he will be king of Poland. When events do not proceed with the speed that Laski had hope for, and it becomes clear that the demon is still with them, Dee finds it desirable to move his family to Prague, and Kelley again accompanies them. Gradually, Dee realizes that Kelley is more interested in the wealth theoretically available from alchemy (if he can create a philosopher's stone and turn base metal into gold) than in higher knowledge. Even more gradually, he realizes that his wife Jane is right--Kelley is not his friend, and is not to be trusted.While in Prague, Dee and Kelley are summoned to an audience with Rudolf II, and meets his very first Jew, Rabbi Loew, who has also been summoned for an audience. Dee quickly finds himself in deeper water than he ever imagined, as Rudolf wants both favorable prophecies from the angels, and the wealth that Kelley claims he's on the very point of being able to produce, and further meetings with Loew as well as some of the other seekers of occult knowledge who have gathered in Prague reveal that Dee's demon is merely a symptom of a far greater problem, one that endangers the whole world. There is a door between dimensions, and the door is has swung wide open. If the demons reaching through the door can find one crucial thing and accomplish one crucial task, they can remake this world according to their needs. Dee and Loew, sometimes barely able to communicate across the divide of their beliefs, experience, and prejudices, need to work together to close the door forever.Most enjoyable.
What do You think about The Alchemist's Door (2003)?
Interesting historical fantasy featuring Dr. John Dee, the Rabbi Loew ben Bezalel and the latter's golem. I liked Goldstein's writing style and thought the book was full of interesting ideas. It reminded me a bit of Melissa Scott and Lisa Barnett's "Armor of Light" and to a lesser extent, Burgess' 'A Dead Man in Deptford." Where is fell short for me was that the character never really came alive for me, particularly the villains. There's also a rather simplistic drive-by reference to sexual assault and recovery as experienced by one character that I found distracting and unbelievable. Given the number of plot elements that the author works in, this feels like it should have been a much longer book.That said, there's a lot of interesting detail about the time period, alchemical and Kabbalistic practices, and I liked the notion that she has multiple functioning types of magic in the same world.
—Catherine
Eh, it was alright. The writing wasn't exactly top notch, which couple by the underdeveloped plot gave me a few eye rolling moments. The historical tie ins felt like they were done by Wiki'ing a few people and their related pages, fairly shallow. It never helps when I find the main character insipid and irritating either, and the character of Dee was pretty much just a narrow minded dickbag who never wised up. This was particularly annoying in relation to women, most of all the character of Magdalena, who was clearly his superior in every way and his head was too far up his own ass to understand that. There were continued hints that maybe he'd broaden his worldview, but they were repetitious and never went anywhere, which just made them irritating - foreshadowing without a payoff is lame. A lot of his prejudices were probably historically appropriate to have, but if historical accuracy of world view is the aim, the hints and him changing his views become inappropriate.All in all, probably fine as light reading to pass the time on say, a long flight, for those who aren't into the Nicholas Sparks style light reading, but don't expect much.
—Mara
What a waste of time. At least I only bought it for a dollar at a library bookstore. I enjoyed one of her previous novels, but that was many years ago, so maybe my taste has matured.This novel had a good premise, but the plot was thin and the threats against the main characters were flimsy and not very threatening at all.The timeline is confusing, with the main character moving from city to city, for reasons that were vague and uninteresting.Don't bother with this one. I'm amazed that I actually finished it, but I kept expecting something grander to happen. It didn't. Blah.
—Laura