Heart of Gold: A Novel [Paperback]

Sharon Shinn (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 3, 2000

From the award-winning author of the Samaria Trilogy comes a classic Romeo and Juliet romance set on a world far from our own...

A scientist by nature, Nolan used his rational powers of observation to question the privileges he was born to enjoy--and the people he was raised to despise. A rebel at heart, Katrini followed her fiercest passions in the struggle to overthrow a legacy of hate--one that had poisoned her family for generations...

On a planet divide between rich and poor, strong and weak, intellect and feeling, only one thing could bring these two opposites together. A strictly forbidden desire. For justice. For equality. And for each other.

Praise for Sharon Shinn's novels:

"The most promising and original writer of fantasy to come along since Robin McKinley."-- Peter S. Beagle

"Provocative...I was truly, deeply delighted."-- Anne McCaffrey

"Shinn deftly combines mystery, high-tech SF, and romance with a layering of fantasy in a fresh and innovative tale full of surprising turns of plot."-- Library Journal

"Sure command of characterization and vividly imagined settings."-- Booklist

"Ms. Shinn knows full well the power of appealing characterization and uses it most skillfully to reflect her ingeniously piquant imagination."-- Romantic Times

"Ms. Shinn takes a traditional romance and wraps it in a fantasy... rousing."-- The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Science fiction fans, don't be fooled by the cover suggesting a regency romance. Readers of Sharon Shinn's Archangel series will recall how she can craft an interesting, well-paced story that blends romance and science fiction.

In the world of Heart of Gold, two major races vie for dominance: the matriarchal indigo and the patriarchal gulden. For centuries they have lived separate lives, but times are changing. More young indigo men attend college before marrying, more young people are moving to the city and meeting others of different races, and strict Apartheid-type laws have been lifted. Kit is a high caste indigo woman who was raised in the gulden society by her eccentric, anthropologist father. Nolan is an indigo man who's been allowed to pursue advanced science studies and work at the esteemed Biolab for a few years. He's developed two drugs that have saved gulden lives from fatal diseases, although his accomplishments aren't appreciated by his family. Nolan, Kit, and their companions are dragged into a flash point political situation, complicated by Kit's love for a young gulden leader who may or may not be responsible for recent terrorist acts.

For romance readers, Heart of Gold may provide an introduction to science fiction elements such as social speculation, gender, and technological innovation. For science fiction readers, it provides a fast-moving tale that addresses topics relevant to our time: race, ethnicity, gender, discrimination, family ties, and that ubiquitous truth: "The heart has its reasons which reason knows nothing of." --Bonnie Bouman

From Publishers Weekly

Though Shinn's earlier Archangel received considerable praise, this flimsy attempt at crossing romance with SF in an imaginary society that reverses customary gender roles results in a hybrid as sterile and ungainly as a mule. Downright mulish (when not irritatingly mawkish) is Shinn's heroine, Kitrini Candachi, of the blue-skinned indigo matriarchal aristocracy that dominates part of Shinn's ill-defined alien planet. Kit stubbornly loves Jex, the imprisoned terrorist son of king Chay Zanlan, ruler of the planet's lordly male chauvinist "gulden" (or golden-hued) race. Shinn's third race, the albinos, silently do most of the menial labor, conveniently freeing Kit and Nolan Adelpho, a sensitive blueskin scientist, to trade angsty episodes of self-doubt and recrimination. Jex's love-'em-and-leave-'em attitude hurls Kit into interminable fits of weeping that seriously impede Shinn's attempt to draw her as a feminist reformer able to cure both major races of the errors of their traditional ways. Unceremoniously dumped by Jex, Kit falls into Nolan's arms while he foils ludicrously villainous attempts by blue and gold leaders to kill off each other's population with race-specific, bioengineered plagues. Blobs of fuzzy sociopolitical preaching clot what little narrative nudges Shinn's two story lines along, while her characters, indigo and gulden alike, seem equally cardboardy--and downright colorless despite their hues. (Apr.)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 359 pages
• Publisher: Ace Trade; 1st edition (April 3, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0441006914
• ISBN-13: 978-0441006915
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.8 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (34 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,275,966 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Sharon Shinn is a journalist who works for a trade magazine. Her first novel, The Shapechanger's Wife, was selected by Locus as the best first fantasy novel of 1995. She has won the William C. Crawford Award for Outstanding New Fantasy Writer, and was twice nominated for the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer. A graduate of Northwestern University, she has lived in the Midwest most of her life.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good, but certainly not Great, June 2, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Heart of Gold: A Novel (Paperback)

Sharon Shinn is an excellent writer, and as such her novels are always really good reads. However, after reading the lyrical beauty of 'The Shape-Changer's Wife' and the absolute brilliance that is her 'Samaria Trilogy' ('Archangel', 'Jovah's Angel', and 'The Alleluia Files'), 'Heart of Gold' simply pales. I enjoyed reading it, but unlike the books I list above, I know I'll never re-read it.

The characters were interesting, and the racial prejudice of the indigo and gulden peoples well realized. I felt like I was reading a spy thriller or novel of intrigue, though, more than I was reading a Shinn novel. The love story seems very forced and almost tacked on. The ending of the novel just fizzles out. And it seems that Nolan and Kit, while destroying their reputations within indigo society to help the guldens, gain little personally. They help the races co-exist, preventing genocide along the way, but fail to be accepted by either society. Ultimately, what 'saves' them is the fact that Kit is highly ranked within the indigo society that she despises, and that despises her. There are no easy answers.

And just *why* Nolan falls in love with Kit isn't clear - it seems a case of pure infatuation. And why would someone as intelligent as Kit fall for the machinations of a controlling personality like Jex? He was cruel, and bigoted, and Kit followed him blindly. Why? I didn't buy it throughout the novel. I wanted to just shake her for being such an idiot!

Like eagalewski and 'a reader from Cleveland' I found this book to not be Sharon Shinn's best by any means. If it was written by another author I'd probably give it four stars, but since I know what Shinn is capable of, only three. It, sadly, does not live up to her potential. Go read 'The Samaria Trilogy' to see a better treatment of a similar theme.

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Thought provoking and spellbinding, August 24, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Heart of Gold: A Novel (Paperback)

It has been a while that I have read a book so captivating that I lost track of time while reading it. That having been said, Heart of Gold relates the story of two people discovering their independence in a world of very strict social hierarchy. Shinn offers interesting insights into the nurture vs. nature debate, and comes down very heavily on the nurture side of the argument. In the worlds of indigo and gulden -- the two main races in Heart of Gold -- your rearing defines your world. Only, both the main characters, as well as others, show how independence and strong characters are maintained even so. Heart of Gold takes a strong look at how society defines individual roles, and how individuals can become iconoclastic despite their society.

On another level, Heart of Gold explores biological warfare, and its underlying prejudices. It is a thoughtful indictment of extreme warfare in our post Cold War society -- and offered through the lens of a society that is just entering a political Cold War. Heart of Gold may be science fiction, but the issues it addresses are ones faced in our every day world.

On yet another level, this is a story of two people falling into love truly, madly, deeply. This is NOT a romance, but a true look at how emotions become involved, and how hard decisions have to made anyway. The heroes and "lovers" of the story are stronger because they have these emotions despite and including their worlds collapsing around them.

All in all, this is one of the best books I have read in years. I recommend it highly to anyone who likes thoughtful, social science fiction. This isn't about computers, robots, elves or dragons (all of which I can enjoy in there own right), but about interesting social interactions -- and how much we tend to take for granted about our own places in society. Read it -- it'll be fun and good for you.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Don't get me wrong, I love Sharon Shinn, May 18, 2000

By 

"eagalewski" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Heart of Gold: A Novel (Paperback)

If you are going to read one Sharon Shinn novel, please don't let it be this one.

Shinn hit three homeruns with her Samaria trilogy. In comparison, Heart of Gold seems suspiciously simplistic. She writes about racism and sexism without adding anything new to the conversation -- one just feels lectured to.

Indeed, to me, it seems almost as if the publisher approached her after The Alleluia Files and asked if there was anything hiding away under her bed, any old work that she could possibly dust off for them to print.

It is a perfectly good book. However, it is nowhere near the mastery Shinn demonstrates elsewhere.