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A review by gavinsteyn
Alchemist's Door by Lisa Goldstein
5.0
A beautiful novel. To me the characters felt like people of their time, not 21st century people in 16th century dress.
The two major characters, Dr. Dee and R. Judah Loew, are very well drawn. I liked that, even at the end, they can't really see eye-to-eye on a number of things, including the very thorny problem (at the time) of the treatment of illegitimate children, especially under Jewish law.
Even though the plot itself is completely fantastical, about maneuvers to find and kill one of the 36 righteous people that keep the world intact, and involving demons, the golem, and so on, most of the story has relatively low-key magic, when there's magic at all. One character makes herself look old, Dr. Dee breaks a window with magic, that sort of thing.
The two major characters, Dr. Dee and R. Judah Loew, are very well drawn. I liked that, even at the end, they can't really see eye-to-eye on a number of things, including the very thorny problem (at the time) of the treatment of illegitimate children, especially under Jewish law.
Even though the plot itself is completely fantastical, about maneuvers to find and kill one of the 36 righteous people that keep the world intact, and involving demons, the golem, and so on, most of the story has relatively low-key magic, when there's magic at all. One character makes herself look old, Dr. Dee breaks a window with magic, that sort of thing.