The Rose of the World, Book Three of Fool's Gold

Filled with magic and quests, war and deception, fantastic cultures and exotic landscapes, and a most dynamic heroine, the Fool's Gold trilogy concludes. The three temperamental gods that rule this world are bound under a renegade magician. In their struggle to break free, they will change their world, affecting the fates of their peoples.

The Sesame Street song "Everyone Makes Mistakes" could easily be the theme for Fisher's ponderous finale to her Fool's Gold trilogy (after Sorcery Rising and Wild Magic). Whether beguiled by magic or maddened by blood lust, or because they're just not very bright, none of the residents of the fantasy world of Elda seems capable of making a sensible decision. The goddess-like Rosa Eldi struggles to regain her memories and control her power after centuries of enslavement by Rahe the Mage. As war rages, the insane Lord Tycho Issian of Istria steals Rosa away from her husband, King Ravn of Eyra. Rahe teams with Ravn in hopes of taking Rosa for himself, but in their desperation, Rahe and Ravn ignore their better judgment and seasoned advisers with predictably disastrous results. Meanwhile, assorted other characters fight, die, are resurrected and die again, mostly due to hasty or uninformed choices. The incongruous all-is-forgiven conclusion, wherein the united deities magically enforce peace and generously re-resurrect their favorite mortals, just emphasizes the apparent moral that people are incapable of running their lives and need gods to make them behave. Only readers who already hold this belief are likely to find Fisher's preachy approach appealing. Agent, Scovil, Chichak, Galen. (Feb. 1)
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*Starred Review* Elda lived in harmony and prosperity for centuries under the gentle, compassionate guidance of its deities: the Man (Sirio), the Woman (Feya, aka the Rosa Eldi), and the Beast (Bast, or Bete). Then, 300 years ago, Rahe the Mage, the greatest sorcerer Elda had ever known, imprisoned Sirio in a volcano and spirited the Rosa Eldi and Bete to Sanctuary, his northern arctic stronghold. He erased their memories and for ages enjoyed his two greatest treasures undisturbed. Arrogance and complacency dulled him, however, and the two gods escaped, aided by the sorcerer's doltish apprentice, Virelai, who harbored ambitions of his own. During a year spent among men, the Rosa Eldi slowly recovers her memory and understanding of who she is. Her cool, unearthly beauty and enigmatic character inspires all-consuming male lust; once roused by the Rosa Eldi, men generally go temporarily mad. Tycho Issian, lord of Cantara, stops at nothing, leaving blood and destruction in his wake, as he relentlessly pursues her. As men's conflicting desires cross political boundaries, unrest and then war come to Elda. Only the fully awakened Rosa Eldi, reunited with Sirio and Bete, can stop the carnage. The nerve-wracking, intoxicating conclusion of the Fool's Gold series is the fabulous, multilayered, poetic story of a world, full of complex, painfully real, endearingly vulnerable characters, on the very brink of either enlightenment or extinction. Paula Luedtke
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