The Book of Gold by Ruth Frances Long Review

A desperate thief. A magical book. And a heist for the ages.
 

There's only one thing notorious thief Lyta loves more than a big her little brother, Kit. But when Kit is arrested for producing seditious pamphlets, he stands to lose not only his printing press, but possibly his life.
 

In exchange for her brother's freedom, Lyta strikes a daring bargain with the king -she will steal the infamous Book of a mysterious manuscript reputed to be hiding vast magical power within.
 

It's just the kind of challenge Lyta relishes, but she didn't bargain for a secretive scholar, her brother's interference, or the return of handsome and brooding Captain Sylvian Chant, once her lover and partner in crime, now an incorruptible royal bodyguard...

A heist set for a mysterious magical book, a power struggle between state and church, a tense reunion between ex-partners, and legendary beings trapped and abandoned by the God of Thieves, Ruth Frances Long’s The Book of Gold has a lot of interesting concepts to say the least. The start of the Feral Gods trilogy, this book has a lot of narrative content fitted into a sub three-hundred-and-fifty-page book that is part fantasy, part 16th century historical fiction adventure. Though the story has a variety of plotlines that lay the groundwork for the series to expand on, at its core it’s a tense and strained second-chance romance between individuals standing on different sides of the law and state, all in pursuit of otherworldly power. Action and relationship oriented, the Book of Gold is a competently crafted book that despite a sense of mismanaged focus, is still a fun and light entertaining fantasy read.

At first glance, the Book of Gold appears to be a simplistic rogue x knight trope applied to a fantasy heist storyline. The book has all the elements one would expect such as an unorthodox assembled ragtag heist team, economic disparity between the nobility and the common people, a magical treasure of unknown power, and hidden agendas behind scheme. The expected heist ingredients are all there, but interestingly they feel less inspired compared to the historical fiction concepts that appear to be the true focus of the story. Set in 16th century Amberes (also known as Antwerp in modern day Belgium), the story is a fantasy-inspired twist on the censorship of the printing press as well as the heavy influx of trading resources and new economic wealth mirroring Antwerp’s real historic golden age. The book’s historical fiction elements are solid, in a sense almost acting like an alternate history of the Flemish region had magic and religion been in play. Amberes as a time and place feels immersive, lived-in, and the architecture plus waterways a visual highlight. The gods, the book, and their connection to Amberes’s history are great.

While the book’s central heist and second chance romance were the main plot elements heavily marketed and pushed, interestingly I found both to be less interesting than the contextual bigger picture and story involved. Apart from the Alvarez siblings, all the main characters have a shared childhood and past relationships prior to their separations following a botched plan many years ago. Each taking a different path for survival following their split, I found the book to be most interesting when it reflected on their differences; Lyta chaotically individualistic, Kit seeking lawful change, and Sylvian finding a path forward through the royal enlistment draft. While briefly touched upon during the story’s introduction and seen in snapshot scenes when Lyta prays to God of Thievery in dire moments, the story’s element of powerful and entrapped gods is also an interesting concept that provides majority of the book’s fantasy content that often feels underutilized or sparse given the genre.

Generally fast-paced and entertaining, I found the Book of Gold to sometimes struggle with juggling its different narrative pieces and torn between what it wants the story to be about. Like some other reviews have mentioned, I personally found the heist itself to be one of the less notable and interesting arcs of the book despite it being the main event for the first two thirds of the book. While consistently paced, it felt like so much of the book’s length was devoted to planning and executing the heist, to the point where the extensive lead-up overhyped the main event. The aftermath of the heist is also where most of the heavy fantasy elements of the book come into play, leading to rather haphazard world-building and magic mechanics thrown around in an effort to close out the story quickly. Having read Long’s author’s note/acknowledgement section, it’s clear that the storylines involving the book itself, Kit’s printing press, and Amberes’s political conflicts were the inspiration for the book which probably should’ve been the primary focus, not the heist to obtain the book (likely a marketing/publishing decision for a popular hook). The narrative material following the heist in general is good, but is simply too rushed, coming off as a bit messy and chaotic in execution.

Aside from the infiltration and political movements revolving around the book, the other main draw of the Book of Gold is supposed to be the romance. However, like the heist, the character romance felt like a misplaced focus as it often seemed to slow the pace of the story. Between the strong beginning and the heist itself, I felt like the story kind of stagnated once the heist team was assembled. Character-based tangents involving Lyta and Sylvian’s history and her search for her lost husband Ranulf unfortunately felt less compelling to me than the series’ larger world-building, conflicts of different political powers, and backstory involving the God of Thievery. Minor spoilers aside, the Book of Gold actually features more than one romantic couple. While the second couple is more unexpected given its lack of mention in the book’s synopsis, its surprising inclusion and relationship dynamics over the course of the book feel better placed and varied. While Lyta and Sylvian’s shared history and relationship conflict are far from being poor, it was the least distinctive and interesting element of the book for me. Particularly with the book’s out of left field plot twist involving the God of Love’s ring and Sylvian’s role in King Francisco’s court, there was a lot of great potential for uncomfortable yet interesting material to cover that was simply glossed over, Sylvian himself even commentating on the lack of discussion following the reveal. Notably, although the character romance is a big part of this book, the Book of Gold is not a romantasy book but a fantasy romance one. While this book doesn’t fall into the common romantasy tropes or throw around unnecessary spice, it also doesn’t feel like it balances its romance and fantasy elements particularly well either, at least when it comes to Lyta and Sylvian (the other couple’s romance is tied to the fantasy elements far better).

Easy to read and set around a unique time period and region not often featured in historical fantasy books, the Book of Gold is a fun and above average read. Featuring a great variety of narrative elements heightened by generally good plotting and writing, by all accounts this book should’ve been a resounding success on paper. In actuality though, the commitment and focus on Lyta’s heist for the titular book and romance in the face of opposing factors feel like the book inadvertently shoots itself in the foot by not focusing on the story’s more imaginative and unique material, the romance in particular affecting the pacing. For a series called The Feral Gods, the gods’ involvement in the story were limited and very late in the story. My experience reading this book felt a lot like when I read Makana Yamamoto’s Hammajang Luck earlier this year, except the opposite way around where that book’s heist felt far more successful compared to everything else happening around it. Fortunately, although I found the ending arc of the Book of Gold to be rather chaotic and messy, I did like the direction the series appeared to be going which bodes well for Long’s upcoming The Lore of Silver due to come out later this month (I already have the matching Goldsboro Edition of it pre-ordered). While this wasn’t necessarily a favorite fantasy read per se, it was still a pretty good time and I’m looking forward to seeing where the series goes from here!