cover image THE ROSE OF THE WORLD: Book Three of Fool's Gold

THE ROSE OF THE WORLD: Book Three of Fool's Gold

Jude Fisher, . . DAW, $23.95 (592pp) ISBN 978-0-7564-0187-0

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)