THE WIND AND THE ROSE

Two former students of a magic academy find work and make new friends in Rossi’s fantasy novel.

Upon graduating from school, it can be difficult for young people to find their place in the world, but youthful and entrepreneurial lovers Kika and Balerya achieve success straight away. The skills they learned at Avara Academy, a magical institute, are useful: Balerya can fly, harness the wind, and coax flames from her fingertips; nature-loving Kika studied terrakinesis and can produce water on demand. Their first money-making venture is selling the fruits and vegetables Kika magically grows. Balerya advertises by flying above rooftops and letting the wind sweep her informational words (“Fresh produce for three coppers a piece”) beneath all the doorways. Soon they begin receiving orders from the residents of their village, Serilda. Kika and Balerya’s next enterprise is baking fruit pies, which also proves successful. Then, while napping on a cloud, Balerya gets inspired to bring down bits of clouds to weave into hammocks, bedding, and soft and fluffy clothing. Running their various businesses, the couple gets acquainted with their neighbors, a blend of all types of creatures including gnomes, centaurs, elves, goblins, animals, and humans. Rossi’s world is “quiet, slow, peaceful,” an idyllic place where all exist in harmony and equality. Same-sex couples like Kika and Balerya are presented as unremarkable; endearments abound, with characters referring to each other as dear, darling, love, sproutling, and cloudling. All problems seem small and solvable—villagers trapped inside by snow, prevented from going to a village-wide festival, happily have their own party. Even Mrs. Morley, a grumpy landlady, is revealed to have a softer side, crying at her son’s wedding and showing generosity towards Kika and Balerya. Though the book initially makes for a pleasant escape from real-world strife, readers may eventually feel mildly stifled by the fluffiness tightly encasing them like a cloud-sweater, longing for Kika and Balerya to just once engage in even the smallest of spats.

A comforting tale that grows oversaturated with sweetness.