Book ID: Painters trap their subjects in paintings by using bodily fluids.

August 5, 2009 2:20 PM

IDThisBookFilter: I'm looking for a fantasy book by several authors which features a family of painters who can trap people in a painting if they mix their bodily fluids in with the paint.

The author(s) must have names in the second half of the alphabet, if I remember my library's old filing system correctly.
There's a scene where painters who make paintings as a way of recording contracts/transaction have an argument over what kind of style is most appropriate. I think there might be a girl who becomes a painter even though it's usually a man's job... (oh, the feminism of fantasy novels).

(I think the word gold or golden might be in the title, but it's a big stretch).

posted by snoogles to writing & language (3 comments total)

The Golden Key
posted by Paragon at 2:26 PM on August 5 [2 favorites]

I wouldn't swear to this, but I have a vague notion this might be "The Golden Key," which had multiple authors, but one was Melanie Rawn.
posted by Stacey at 2:27 PM on August 5

Not what you're looking for, I think, but this query reminded me of fantasist Roger Zelazny's Amber Chronicles, in which members of certain royal families have the ability to paint "trump cards" of people and places that, when concentrated upon, serve as portals directly to them. Each family member normally carries a deck of these cards on his/her person at all times, and often keeps a stash of multiple other decks in his/her quarters. Often the origin of these trumps can be recognized by the individual painter's style.
posted by limeonaire at 3:49 PM on August 5