If I Pay Thee Not in Gold (1993)

I haven't read much Piers Anthony. This book was a great read with some awkwardly amusing magic and the consequences of using that magic. It was not more memorable than that but I would probably read it again if I was bored and looking for some Drama/comedy/ very light romance. ( )

This was a good book and I really enjoyed it. Enough to recommend it to a very good friend of mine. The characters are engaging and the world in which they live is very intriguing. I just haven't seen very many books set in a world that belongs almost exclusively, if not truly exclusively, to women.

I would definitely recommend this book, especially to young women. I'd caution that there is gender-specific slavery, discrimination, reversed gender roles, nudity and sex in the book. The book also heavily considers themes such as outcasts, working to better your situation in life, forbidden love, and the corruption of power.

Another thing that I'd caution in this book is that it's by two authors. Usually, I don't find it a problem when an author decides to collaborate with another and co-author a book. However, in this case I think it seems a detriment to the book. I've never read a co-authored book that made it so strikingly glaring that it was co-authored. About halfway through the book there's a very, very noticeable change. All of the characters change, their personalities are different, the way they interact with and view each other is different, their goals seem to even change. It's as if one of the authors wrote the first half of the book by themselves and then had the second author write the second half of the book nearly blind so that the characters are in the right situations and have the right names and backgrounds, but are still somehow transformed into completely different characters.

It was so striking, in fact, that it completely broke my suspension of disbelief, confused me quite a bit, and then made it difficult for me to get that suspension of disbelief back. I don't think I ever really quite managed to. This is the main reason I've given the book three stars instead of five.

There are demons and other non-human creatures in this book, in case that's something that may make or break the book for you. I will also say that one specific demon that we meet early on plays a significant role in the book and to the heroine as well as to the villain.

It's a good and intriguing book, but definitely not without its faults. I still think it's worth a read and it remains one of my favorite books (especially the first half). ( )

The Piers Anthony bad-touch is strong in this one, but I love the title! ( )

The premise of the book is that women are in charge and men are their slaves. This state of events has come about because women have magical power. The story follows a group questing for a crystal shard that when retrieved will change the balance of power in the city as the magic will go to a different unknown group. This is a great set-up but has little follow through in the novel. Instead the story becomes bogged down in a rather ridiculous subplot involving a sex-changing demon and the original quest is abandoned. ( )

Intriguing setup, disappointing follow-through. ( )