Review Tuesday: The Elf Queen by Lyndi Alexander -- #UrbanFantasy #Montana #ReviewTuesday

The Elf Queen by Lyndi Alexander

Dragonfly Publishing, Inc., 2010

It all begins with a glass slipper – but Jelani Marsh is no Cinderella. After losing both her parents and being abandoned at the altar, she’s not looking for any sort of Prince Charming, she’s just trying to survive. Having quit college, she now works at the Butterfly Herb Company coffee shop in her home town of Missoula, Montana, volunteers at the local animal shelter, and hangs out with her closest friends: uber-nerd Lane, agoraphobic OCD sufferer Ron (otherwise known as “Crispy”), and Crispy’s social worker Iris.

Still, it’s pretty difficult to ignore a shoe made of glass, just lying there on the sidewalk. When, on a dare from Iris, Jelani slips her foot into the marvel, it shatters, slicing into her sole and releasing copious amounts of blood. From that blood springs a small army of tiny men, who scamper out of sight.

Jelani tries to convince herself that she’s hallucinating, but Iris catches the bizarre event on video. With their individual tendencies toward paranoia, Crisp and Lane are sure the homunculi are aliens. The truth turns out to be equally strange, and rips Jelani’s world inside out. She finds herself in the midst of a war between two factions of wood elves, a conflict triggered when her long lost mother – apparently the Queen of the Elves – married her mortal father, forest biologist Vincent Marsh. Both sides in the war seem to believe that Jelani has the power to release her mother from the tree in the old growth forest where she has been imprisoned for decades. Failing this, Jelani herself is fated to become queen, or so she’s told by the handsome and seductive elf lord Daven Talvi. Furthermore, the elf whom she chooses as her mate will reign beside her as the king.

I won’t share any more of the plot, since I hope you’ll have the joy of discovering it yourself. The Elf Queen is wonderful – smart, original and genuine, a true breath of fresh air in a genre (urban fantasy) which has become all too predictable. With vivid, fleshed-out characters and a rollicking, action-filled plot, the book kept me guessing. Though they’re strongly connected to the forests and land, Ms. Alexander’s elves aren’t Tolkeinesqe creatures, high-minded and pure. They’re enmeshed in clan politics, and both sides are willing to play dirty to take advantage of Jelani’s power – a power she doesn’t even believe she possesses.

The book has a lot of drama (and some violence), but provides humorous moments as well, often courtesy of the slightly ridiculous Crispy and Lane. The author does a fantastic job bringing these two to life, treading a delicate line between the absurd and the admirable. In fact, when elvish powers fail to protect her, it’s Jelani’s friends who come to her aid.

I asked for a review copy of this novel after reading an excerpt on the author’s blog. I’m so glad I did! If you enjoy original urban fantasy with a hint of romance, I recommend you get a copy for yourself.