Sorcery Rising (Book 1 of Fool's Gold)
Jude Fisher
DAW, 469 pages
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The first book of Jude Fisher's Fool's Gold series opens on the confusion of the Allfair, a two-week
period when the peoples of the world of Elda set aside their religious bigotries and cultural differences, and
gather to trade goods, services, and less concrete commodities: knowledge, sex, political influence.
From the northern kingdom of Eyra come young metalworker Katla Aranson of the Rockfall clan, with her father and
brothers; and Ravn Asharson, new King of Eyra, bored and frustrated and in need of a wife. From the Istrian Empire
in the south, where strict religious observance circumscribes every aspect of life, come dreamy Saro Vingo, perennially
under the shadow of his dashing, massively self-centered older brother Tanto; and Lord Tycho Issian, heavily in
debt and looking to make a lucrative marriage for his daughter, Selen. From everywhere on Elda come the Footloose,
a nomadic people who trade in many things, including small magics. And from Sanctuary, a kingdom of ice somewhere
in the far north, comes Virelai, a mage's apprentice who has stolen both his master's magic (contained within his
familiar, a black cat) and his greatest treasure: the Rosa Eldi, the Rose of the World, a woman whose slightest
glance fires men with unstoppable lust.
As all these people meet and clash and are forever altered in the tumultuous environment of the Allfair, as political
alliances are made and betrayed, as the ancient enmity between Eyra and Istria is re-kindled and the shadow of
war looms, something else, dangerously, is beginning to stir: the old magic, long banished from Elda, woken somhow
from its sleep and flooding back into the world.
Sorcery Rising is a complex novel, with a dense plot and an intricate interweaving of many different viewpoints
and storylines. It's clear, however, that it's only the opening to a much larger saga--a sort of 500-page prologue
introducing key players and concepts and shuffling them into position for the next installment, where the real
action will occur. This sort of thing isn't easy to do effectively: in the hands of a less-than-skillful writer,
it runs the risk of dropped threads and lost focus, not to mention flagging momentum and a sense of padding.
But that's not the case here. Fisher (a pseudonym for SF editor Jane Johnson) is in firm control of her material,
and the sense of a smaller story about to give birth to a bigger one is a vital part of the atmosphere of mystery
and suspense she creates. Too, it's all terrifically entertaining, with rollicking action, an exotic world vividly
grounded in earthy detail, and characters who step right off the page--especially Katla, who manages to remain
sympathetic despite her pigheadedness; Saro, whose growing disillusionment with his people's restrictive faith
is affectingly drawn; and Virelai, whose conscienceless opportunism is as understandable as it is reprehensible.
The character development in this novel (where even minor players have a backstory) is as important as the convolutions
of the plot, adding a depth and interest to the tale that even the most exciting adventures and wondrous magics
can't achieve alone.
In classic multi-book epic style, the conclusion abandons all the characters at moments of crisis, like a TV serial.
Depending on the reader's taste, this will either tantalize or annoy. But Fisher knows what she's doing; she even
satirizes a little, with an ending that cuts things off not just mid-action, but mid-sentence. This is an exciting
start to a promising series, and I'll be looking forward to its continuation.
Copyright © 2002 Victoria Strauss
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