Sorcery Rising (Fool's Gold, Book 1) (Hardcover)

by Jude Fisher (Author) "KATLA Aransen stared out across the prow of the Fulmar's Gift as it ploughed through the gray waves, the foam from the ship's passage spraying..." (more)
Key Phrases: Rosa Eldi, King Ravn, Tycho Issian (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
Jude Fisher (The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Rings Visual Companion) inaugurates his Fool's Gold series with Sorcery Rising, the story of a rebellious young knife maker's adventures at the great Allfair, held yearly in the shadow of a sacred rock that her people, the Eyrans, call Sur's Castle, and the Istrians (their former enemies) call Falla's Rock. Though Katla Aransen's boldness in climbing the mount puts her in grave danger, old feuds and strange sorcery seem equally threatening in a tale that asks as many questions as it answers.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
An accomplished knife maker and skilled rock climber, Katla Aransen travels to her first Allfair to ply her trade. When she unwittingly climbs a rock sacred to the people of the Moonfell Plain, she unleashes a storm of events that changes her life and that of her father forever. Even more world-shaking events take place in the land of Elda, and a fugitive albino mage, a woman with no memory, and a mysterious black cat hold secrets that have the power to alter the fate of the world. Fisher's (The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Rings Visual Companion) series opener provides a fast-paced introduction to a world of magic-wielding nomads, ice-bound havens of magic, and royal courts filled with treachery and intrigue. Fans of epic fantasy should enjoy this tale; For most fantasy collections.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 528 pages
• Publisher: DAW Hardcover; Book Club edition (July 2, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 075640083X
• ISBN-13: 978-0756400835
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.2 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (27 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #665,083 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good fun (3.5 stars), August 14, 2002

By	Nathan Blumenfeld "mastadge" (Wilmington, DE United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

"Literary fantasy" it isn't, but if you're looking for some good, fast, fun adventure, this is the book for you.

This book moves along at an incredibly rapid clip. There are quite a few characters, but the author doesn't sit with any one of them too long; she cycles through the characters quickly enough that you never get bored with any of them, and in such a way that the plot moves right along. The characters themselves aren't particularly deep or complex, but they are all well-defined and act consistently, and are mostly quite likeable. Also, there are thankfully no "Good" or "Evil" characters, just people who are living their lives. An interesting twist that's not found in too many fantasy novels is that the different characters in the book are from very different societies, meeting at the "Allfair," rather than a group of people all hailing from the same village/region, which adds some interest to their interactions. Additionally, the banter/dialogue between the characters tends to be quite entertaining.

This novel is clearly the opening to a bigger story, a prologue really, written mainly to establish the characters and world. The series title, "Fool's Gold," is apt, but it's not what this particular book is about. This book is about the re-emergence of magic. At the beginning of the novel, magic really is a non-issue in the world, but as the book progresses, simple charms and spells start working far too effectively, as the characters realize that the magic of the world is "re-awakening." Not an entirely novel idea, but it's presented in a fun way.

Overall, this is fun fantasy. If you want dark, realistic, complex nitty gritty, look elsewhere, but if you're looking for something along the lines of Farland's Runelords or Haydon's Rhapsody (minus the angst), then this is the book for you. A solid, if not perfect, debut novel. I'm looking forward to the next book in the series.

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Stereotypes Rising, September 26, 2004

By	P. R. Hildebrandt "Trish!" (California) - See all my reviews

This book annoyed me enough to pull me out of the story from time-to-time. As other reviewers have said, this book is definately a set-up for the series. For watchers of anime series: this is the Carnival episode! (The episode where, in a long storyline, everyone goes to a carnival and mayhem ensues, but very little happens in the way of plot advancement.) In other words, I found it hilarious that this story took place over four days of the "Allfair."

This book also has the stumbling block that the three main cultures were derived from earth: Gypsies (Footloose, which meant I had the popular 80s anthem running in my head non-stop - ugh), Norse (Eryans, complete with battle axes and sword-weilding women), and the Arabs (Istrians, with veiled women and laughable misogyny in which they claim that it's a women's privledge to be veiled.) The males thought about sex non-stop. Saro, one of the Istrians, seemed disillusioned with his culture, which naturally made him one of the good guys. So, as a good guy, he had to fall in love with Katla (our heroine) practically at first sight.

Katla, as the main character, is a little bit of a drag. She's bossy, imperious, pig-headed (as the author informs us more than once), and is written as a Mary Sue, despite all these shortcomings. She's a fast runner, the greatest swordmaker at the Fair, an amazing rockclimber, and it looks like she's getting some strong magical powers thrown into the mix. Ugh. When ill befell her, I found that I didn't care too much. Let's add to this that a enormous number of male characters are in love with her. Blargh.

Then there's the Rosa Eldi, the Rose of Elda, a nameless amnesiac who fills men with overwhelming (plot-driving?) lust.

Personally, I preferred Selen, the Istrian daughter of a nobleman. Her struggles and emotions seemed realistic. Eron too seemed like a decent character - not too overdrawn, with a personality that seemed feasible. In fact, the minor characters of this book may have been the strongest points - Katla's father with his wandering soul, brave Tor, sensitive Saro, narrow-minded and fanatical Fent.

The endless references to sex, as mentioned by another writer, were awfully funny. I realize that these are 'barbaric' cultures, but they might think of something else once in a while. There was also an enormous amount of unrequited love, which was annoying.

Despite all this, I really loved some of the lesser characters enough to get book 2 and find out what happens to them. The climax of the book is interesting and exciting, even though it takes ages to get there. Some of the subplots held a lot of promise. It'll be interesting to see how this author handles the threat of war and the return of magic to the world. I'd recommed this author before Anne Bishop but left in the dust by Carol Berg. Give it a try and make up your own mind.

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars written by a horny teenager, August 13, 2004

By	Ben T. - See all my reviews

This review is from: Sorcery Rising (Fool's Gold, Book 1) (Paperback)

I actually enjoyed this series enough to buy the next one (at half price books, of course). This is not a series to be taken seriously. The writing is just bad. The characters are totally static and most of them suck. The entire plot is poorly put together, totally unoriginal, and the 'mythology' sucks. There are three races - the arabs, the gypsies, and the vikings. Oh sorry, I meant the Istrians, Footloose, and Eyrians. Katla didn't suck for a while, but the only cool characters were ignored.

What got me through this book was that the author can't go three pages without making a sexual reference. It was frickin hilarious. Basically, the story loosely follows a half-dozen or so teenage kids around a long fair, and they all have crushes and such. The author constantly tells you things you absolutely didn't need (or want) to know. For example, a certain Istrian's musings on how sexually able his daughter is based on his experience with his wife, or when a girl glances at a boy while occupied with something else, and recalls how he had "let her rock herself to climax on his fingers." That's about as explicit as it gets. It's not a porno, its just a horny teenage drama. Oh, and at the end, you have the expected political explosion and war breaks out, yadda yadda.

I actually thought that it had some promise as an actual series, like the other reviewers have mentioned ("great potential" etc.) Well, sorry to say it doesn't. In fact, the second one wasn't nearly as funny as the first, though the story didn't really improve. I had some trouble deciding between 2 and 3 stars because the book wasn't terrible, it just wasn't that good. Don't look here if you're going for some really good fantasy, but it won't hurt you to give it a try, especially if you think horny teenagers are funny.