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Scientist, mathematician, and court astrologer to Queen Elizabeth I, John Dee is also one of the sixteenth-century's most renowned alchemists, driven by a passion to fathom the elemental secrets of the cosmos. But when his reckless assistant, Edward Kelley, succeeds in using a crystal sphere to summon angels, Dee is catapulted into an awesome struggle that may extinguish the light of reason forever. One of the spirits invoked is a cunning demon who takes possession of Dee's young daughter, Katherine, and shows Dee a frightening vision of his own future. Terrified by what has been foretold, Dee abruptly decides to close his house in London and flee to Europe with his long-suffering wife, Jane, and their two young children. Their desperate flight brings them at last to the city of Prague--a center of culture, knowledge, and learning, both sacred and profane, a gateway between the Eastern and Western worlds, and also, it is whispered, a door between our world and the world of the spirits. There, in the city's ancient streets, Dee encounters the mystic Rabbi Judah Loew, who enlists his aid in the creation of a Golem--a man fashioned from the clay--to defend the city's Jewish Quarter from persecution. And he asks Dee's help to avert a impending crisis that threatens to engulf the world. For ancient legends say that the fate of the world rests on shoulders of thirty-six righteous men. And if one of those righteous men dies before his time, the world will end and dark spirits willremake it in their own image.… (more)
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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.
I could not put the book down.
This is the second book I've read by Lisa Goldstein and I have to say she may become one of my favorite authors.
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.