Books with an alchemy theme.

GOLLUM

GOLLUM

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I have started to develop a strong interest lately in wanting to read books revolving around alchemy, either non-fiction as it were or else predominantly fantasy books with this theme.

Other than some of O'Briens stories and Issac Newton : The Last Sorcerer, a book I have ordered in to read in 2006 I haven't read much at all about this subject and would like members to recommend something to me. There's probably one or two other books I've read but my memory may need some jogging all the same.

Thanking you...:D
 
The Green Lion Trilogy by Teresa Edgerton (someone to whom I have been extremely close for many years, so be warned that I am most definitely biased in making the recommendation). The three books in the series are Child of Saturn, The Moon in Hiding, and The Work of the Sun. The setting is medieval and Celtic, and the tone is much brighter than most of the books you like, but the author has woven alchemical symbolism and alchemical references throughout.

Unfortunately, the books are OP, but they sometimes have them used (at very reasonable prices) at Amazon.com. There are also a number of reviews there, so you can get a better idea about the books, and whether you might like them or not. (But don't read the Willow and Jasmine reviews, because, bless her heart, in her enthusiasm she pretty much gives the whole plot away.)

Edit: I just checked, they do have them at Amazon. As I know you speak German, you could even buy a very pretty omnibus edition in that language, except that that one might be harder to come by.
 
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Master of the Five Magics by ... hmm! Who was it by? Hang on a minute, no I don't have it here. Can't remember who wrote it, but I'll go have a look. I've got it - Lyndon Hardy. The first of the disciplines studied by the main protagonist in this book was alchemy. There was a sequel called Secret of the Sixth Magic, which was quite fun too, as I remember. These were quite a light read given their length. Hope this helps.
 
Ian McCleod's "The Light Ages" is a good read, set in a kind of industrial revolution era Britain with an alchemy theme...
 
Neal Stephenson's Baroque Cycle deals with the same time period as the Isaac Newton book you mentioned. A good read too - intellectual and fun at the same time (which is usually really hard to do).
 
Kirsten Bishop's The Etched City uses an uderlying alchemical theme and imagery - refer to Cheryl Morgon's review at Emcit.com for an explanation. It's also a very very good novel.

You'll come across much alchemical matter in Umberto Eco's novels, except for the latest one. Eco is both more accurate and less taken-in than many other authors who have used such elements.

The House of Doctor Dee by Peter Ackroyd is an excellent novel that goes into some detail about John Dee, often called 'the last alchemist'.

I cannot think of any specific non-fiction work on alchemy to recommend, however most overviews of western Occultism do touch on the topic. Colin Wilson's The Occult is an emminently readable, wide-ranging starting point. Wilson, be warned, has a definite agenda to push, but his research is thorough and his bibliography can serve as a great pointer to more specialised works on any subject you want to dig further into.
 
Thnaks everyone for the recommendations so far.

JP, I've had my eye on Etched City for a little while now as it appears to have had some recent and quite postiive reviews by members who seem to have more or less similar tastes in literature to myself, another to add to the 2006 pile...
 
I didn't read your original question carefully enough and failed to notice that you were asking for non-fiction alchemy sources as well as fiction, Gollum.

I actually own a number of books on the subject, although all of them were purchased more than twenty years ago and I can't say if any of them are currently available or in print. If you want the titles, however, I'll be glad to provide them.

However, I've come across some translations of original sources online. There are several in the Esoteric section over at blackmask.com, as well as scattered elsewhere about the site. None of them are identified as alchemical texts, but to anyone fairly familiar with the subject the authors and titles speak for themselves.

Maybe I'll run over there and poke around a bit and see if I can make a list of some of those I noticed.
 
Here are some of the things I found at blackmask:

Corpus Hermeticum

An Open Entrance to the Closed Palace of the King by an Anonymous Sage and Lover of the Truth -- 1645 (you've got to love the pen-name!)

Les Noces Chimques de Christian Rosencreutz (but only useful if you read French)

The Emerald Tablet Multiple Translations (I printed this up a while ago, from the Ultimate Library, and it includes notes and comparisons of the various versions)

The Golden Chain of Homer Anton Josef Kirchweger

The Secret Book of Artephius

The Twelve Keys of Basil Valentine

I've intentionally left out some things from the 19th and early 20th century, when occultists began using the terms "alchemy" and "hermeticism" far too loosely.

Also, which I should have mentioned before but it slipped my mind: there are period alchemy texts at sacred-texts.com. You will find some overlap with blackmask, but given the choice of the same work at both places blackmask has the advantage of being easy to print up.


And finally, while Googling some names just now I came across this fabulous site:

http://www.levity.com/alchemy/texts.html
 
Thanks a lot everyone I think I've got more than enough to keep me going now.

Great link Kelpie!...:)
 
Remembering that you asked about books with an alchemy theme, Gollum, I hunted up this thread. (I see that my previous responses were written in the days of my incognito, when I had to be rather coy about my own books. A pity I can't go back and edit those messages now.)

I usually only read one book at a time, and I was already reading and enjoying Kathy Wentworth's This Fair Land, but when The Alchemist's Daughter by Eileen Kernaghan came in the mail I was able to hold out for less than a day before starting it.

It's definitely YA in terms of plot and characters, and a fairly young YA at that, but even after a few chapters it's obvious that Kernaghan's knowledge of alchemy is far from superficial. She doesn't just throw around a few names like Flamel and Paracelsus, she has some understanding of the principles. I'd love to see what she could do with this theme in a novel meant for adult readers.
 
Is Eileen Kernaghan a US author then? I'm afraid I've not heard of her. Sounds promising though, just another to add to that groaning pile of books for 2006...:)
 
She's Canadian, Gollum. Her books seem to win all sorts of awards in Canada, but the YA ones don't appear to have made it into the hands of publishers on this side of the border.

Rosemary started a thread about Kernaghan here:
http://www.chronicles-network.com/forum/9890-eileen-kernaghan.html

Which is where I found out about The Alchemist's Daughter, and also about another book, The Snow Queen, which I have on order.
 
The Wraethu are hermaphrodites then? I've been meaning to check out that series for a while, but never got around to it.
 
Why did I never think to mention The Poison Master by Liz Williams in this thread? The main character is an alchemist, a descendent of Dr. Dee -- although her alchemical methods seem to bear more resemblence to Native American shamanism than to renaissance hermeticism.

But there are also a lot of cabalistic references, and a science-fictional explanation for Dee and Kelley's conversations with angels.
 
I recommend *A Vision of Light* and *Chasing the Green Lion* by Judith Merkle Riley, medieval historicals about the adventures of Margaret of Shaftesbury. Well-written characters, interesting story and good research.

One of Riley's later books *The Master of All Desires*, also has elements of alchemy and is really a historical fantasy. I think anyone who likes Judith Tarr or Gillian Bradshaw will enjoy Judith Merkle Riley immensely.
 
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