The Isle Beyond Time

Rating:
Summary: Pierrette, it's time to save the world...again.
Review: The thought-provoking "Sorceress's Tale" series concludes, as far as I know, with this book. The sorceress Pierrette, seventeen years old in body and ancient in spirit, still dreams of the day when she will finally meet her dream-lover, Minho of the Fortunate Isles, and become his queen. But the goddess Ma throws a wrench in her plans when she insists that Pierrette must kill Minho and destroy the Fortunate Isles. Pierrette is heartbroken, and doesn't know why this must be.

Soon after, she is reunited with the scientist ibn Saul and his apprentice Lovi, still beautiful, still conflicted about his sexuality. Ibn Saul is also on a mission to find the Fortunate Isles. Pierrette now believes she understands Ma's demand--if ibn Saul finds the Isles, he may rationalize them into something wholly mundane. And so maybe she has to destroy them before ibn Saul can ruin them. Hoping she can find a less extreme solution than the Lady's, Pierrette joins them on their journey.

From here, the story goes fairly slowly for a while, bogged down in travel minutiae. But hints begin to appear that something is terribly wrong somewhere--that the balance of good and evil in the world is messed up yet again, threatening to unleash the terrible Black Time.

The plot picks up when Pierrette actually reaches the Fortunate Isles. What sort of place is this, and what sort of man is Minho? And how is Minho's utopia connected with the Black Time? Once Pierrette is in Minho's kingdom, _The Isle Beyond Time_ becomes quite exciting, recalling both the thoughtfulness of _The Sacred Pool_ and the action of _The Veil of Years_. I won't say anything more, since I don't want to spoil the plot twists for you.

This is an interesting end to the trilogy. I wonder what Pierrette will do with the rest of her life--after all, she is quite young in physical years.