The Alchemist's Door (Hardcover)

~ Lisa Goldstein (Author) "TELL ME AGAIN," JANE DEE SAID..." (more)
Key Phrases: scrying glass, Rabbi Loew, Doctor Dee, Jewish Quarter (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The legend of the golem, an increasingly popular piece of Jewish folklore, and an obscure portion of medieval history come to intriguing life in this supernatural thriller from American Book Award-winner Goldstein (The Red Magician; Dark Cities Underground). Ambitious 16th-century (real-life) English alchemist John Dee and his associate, Edward Kelley, summon spirits to learn the nature of the world, but are unprepared when a demon answers their spells instead and threatens Dee's family. Hoping to escape, Dee and his family travel with Kelley to Prague, where they plan to ask the patronage of eccentric King Rudolf. In Prague, Dee meets Rabbi Judah Loew, who seek to learn the identity of Jewish legend's 36 righteous men, whose very existence protects the world from being remade by evil. Unfortunately, influenced by Kelley, Rudolf thinks that if he can find those righteous men and kill them, he will be able to remake the world to his own specifications. After escaping Rudolf's prison, Dee and Loew build a man of clay, a golem, to protect Prague's Jewish quarter from the king's soldiers, only to find once again that summoned powers can be hard to handle safely. In order to defeat evil, both men will first have to weigh their own magical abilities and realize that the power to create is merely the other side of the power to destroy. Although Goldstein's story has a tendency to meander all over the map, diluting her strong message about the cost of power and pride, Dee and Loew's search for truth makes for a telling morality tale.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

In the last years of the 16th century, Dr. John Dee, astrologer and alchemist to Elizabeth I, leaves England for the furthest reaches of Europe, in hopes of escaping a conjured demon intent on destroying his life and career. In Prague, Dee meets with the esteemed Rabbi Loew. Despite their differences in religion and social class, the two men embark on a mystical quest for the last righteous man, knowing that if they fail, the world will fall under the sway of darkness. The author of The Red Magician and Dark Cities Underground spins a luminous tale of a meeting that never was but might have been. Meticulous research, pristine storytelling, and Goldstein's genuine affection for her characters make this historical fantasy a priority purchase for most libraries.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Tor Books; 1st edition (August 3, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0765301504
• ISBN-13: 978-0765301505
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.5 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #2,366,181 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Bad history, mediocre fantasy..., August 9, 2003

By	L. J. Efron "L. J. E." - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

While trying to weave a believable story the author added a whole bunch of historical figures some of which were completely redundant (Erzsebet). I will not even go to all the little weird historical "info" the author shoved into the story (rather than "woven"), such as Dee's introduction to Coffee and to Tea. I wont dare to ask if the author really believes that a man who worked in Queen Elizabeth's palace for many years was not familiar at all with these drinks...

Both the character of Dee and of Rabbi Loew were described in a very unreliable manner. Does the author truly believe that Rabbi Loew, a genius of his time, spoke only German, Czech and Hebrew? In Goldstein's world the Maharal (as Loew is commonly known) does not speak nor understand Latin and his scholarly knowledge is quite limited even though the historical figure was a renaissance man. Dee on the other hand looses complete contact with his historical figure, as he is portrayed almost as a Harry Potter minus the wand, striding about with incantations for opening doors and breaking windows.

Instead of feeling drawn into an authentic world of the Occult and complicated ceremonial magic one witnesses Dee's Harry-Potter-like incantations, which really ruin any chance of taking the book seriously. Loew too talks about magic as if it is something completely ordinary without any kind of reference to the problems arising in Jewish culture around these issues. Loew's magic is considered Kabbalah, but what about Dee's? How can Loew wander around with his spell casting Harry-Potter friend without any referral to the source of his powers? When Loew does speak of magic, as in the last scene in which he describes the surge of magic around the emperor, he does so as if he is a Dungeons & Dragons character and not like he is any type of historical or even fictitious Rabbi. In one scene Dee actually offers to teach Loew a certain incantation (?!).

Adding the Golem to the story wasn't really necessary, but even if the author decides otherwise I'd expect her to research enough to know that the Golem, as donated by his very name in Hebrew, *cannot* speak. All of the legends, regarding the Maharal's artificial man, talk of his inability to talk as his trademark. Indeed the book mentions that the Golem has the soul of an animal... this is exactly why he is not supposed to speak according to the inner logic of the story.

The novel's ending and "grand finale", is the point when we find out the identity of the 36th righteous man (I wont go into what the author did to this Jewish Legend), This "finale" is extremely predictable, which is annoying cause one expects some sort of surprise after reading through this Mambo-Jumbo and gets none.

Last but not least, the book skims over months at a time with one sentence, a book such as the Bible can afford being this brief, a novel such as this cannot. It has to give some description that will make the passage of events this quickly believable. Many of the descriptions are lacking and almost none of the characters feel rounded.

Summary: The book feels like a sketch, as other reviewers wrote. The characters are unbelievable even for a fantasy novel. When one writes a fantastic novel and chooses to do so basing it roughly on historical figures, one has to research to make the story succeed. I found that the history was not remotely realistic and the fantasy also failed to take off because of the supposed historical scenery.
Stretching the truth is ok in such as book and I really didn't care about magic playing an active part in the story (heck that's the genres whole point) but why make it so ridiculous. Harry Potter is readable because it doesn't take itself seriously and it isn't set in an historical environment, this book makes too many mistakes in my opinion.

10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Ho-Hum, November 18, 2002

By	Richard Wells (Seattle, WA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

"The Alchemist's Door," takes what should be an exciting story and through the lack of detail that brings prose to life end up rather ho-hum. It's a story of alchemy, Kabbala, demon possession, shape-shifters, vampires, and the attributes of a "just man," told as a search-mystery; with locations various - Prague, London, Translyvania - but with little but the story to pull the reader into the magic that is, supposedly, all about. Not only are action and locale left sketchy, but characters are somewhat vague as well. Though we're given broad outlines no one but Magdelana, a horribly abused young woman desirous of knowledge, appealed on an emotional level. I was left with the impression this novel was written a bit too quickly, and the author's decision to sacrifice detail showed either a lack of research, or a lack of interest. I was looking for a good read in the fantasy genre, but got a sketch instead.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars powerful morality tale, August 17, 2002

By	Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews (#1 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

In 1582, Dr. John Dee and Edward Kelley communicate with angels that the latter exclusively sees in the ball of crystal. Though John thought he speaks with God or those close to God, a demon intercepts his thirst for knowledge of God's great plan by threatening John's family especially by possessing little Katherine. John accompanied by his family seeks help in Prague where King Rudolf of the Holy Roman Empire has summoned all the mystics for the mad ruler wants to kill one of the thirty six Righteous Men so that the world is remade in His Highness' image.

In Prague, John meets mystic Rabbi Judah Loew. They join forces to create the Golem to keep the "Thirty-Six" safe for if one of these Righteous Men is slain, legend says the world ends. Controlling the Golom is no easy matter either and then there is the question of what to do with the tempting but forbidden fruit of an ALCHEMIST'S DOOR opened between humanity and the other side.

The prime theme of THE ALCHEMIST'S DOOR is a powerful morality tale focusing on the pride of power leading to excesses and abuses. The story line is at its strongest when the reader follows a historical ethics trail. The occasional well-written sidebars provide insight into Elizabethan era Prague, but also abate the puissant primary plot. Still this fantasy novel is a strong book that uses real sixtieth century persona to entertain while warning the audience on the corruption of power that seems so timely.

Harriet Klausner