Sorcerer-painters frolic in a pseudo-Renaissance Italian city-state. The three authors split the book into three sections, and I liked each section about as much as I like each author. The first section felt repetitious and redundant; the second section combined candy-colored central characters with the wonderfully Machiavellian maneuverings of the villainous protagonist; and the third section was good but marred by wrapping up all the threads introduced in the first two sections. All together, it was...eh. ( )

You know what? I give up.

The first section is terrible. It's boring and it is so goddamned repetitive. 300 pages could be condensed to half that.

I got a bit into the second section. Much better written (in that I don't get the same three plot points every twenty pages), but I was still bored.

And I have many other books I could read and hate and be done with in the same amount of time.

To the DNF pile! ( )

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. ( )

Recommended by Carolyn at Chris Shuda's wedding, November 2017

An old favourite of mine, which puts art and painters at the heart of a complex, sprawling novel - a blend of fantasy, family saga and Gothic horror. With its compelling antihero (the kind you secretly cheer on) and its vivid evocation of a fictional world influenced by Spain and Italy, it's enjoyable and absorbing. It is also long (more than 1,000 pages in my edition) and you may find towards the end that you, like me, begin to think that the editors could have been a little more ruthless - but everything goes towards building the fabric of the world. The presence of three authors doesn't affect the book too much because it is structurally divided into three parts and they take one each. Personally I love the first section, setting the scene and bringing the characters to life in sumptuous rich language - laying the foundations of a story which crosses four hundred years, fuelled by ambition, jealousy and the desire to create a perfect painting. Recommended as an alternative to the usual sword-and-sorcery style of fantasy.

For a longer review, please visit my blog: http://theidlewoman.blogspot.co.uk/2012/08/the-golden-key-melanie-rawn.html ( )