CROWN OF SHADOWS

Final volume in Friedman's hybrid Coldfire trilogy (When True Night Falls, 1993, etc.) set on planet Erna with its ambient magic ``fae'' and native ``rakh'' along with human colonists, sorcerers, demons, strong Church, and walking undead. This time, the science- fiction elements have faded almost into invisibilityleaving an ordinary and uninteresting supernatural clash between warrior- priest Damien Vryce, reluctantly allied with the undead sorcerer Garald Tarrant, and the powerful demon Calesta, with the usual falls from grace and last-gasp redemptions thrown in. A ponderous, preachy, and disappointing conclusion.