Working through the hard times…Elves and SFFS for 9-22

In The Elf Child, several of the characters struggle to overcome very real personal crises. Jelani and Astan find themselves pregnant without the intention to be so, and find that the Circle has conspired against them. Grigor struggles to survive as an outcast from the clan. Lane and Crispy…well, they just have issues.

But the character who has the longest journey is Daven Talvi. He’s totally lost his direction and must start again:

Jelani and Astan had asked him to put a protective spell on the door, something to keep others out, but he’d refused. The Circle worried that Jelani would use the spell to keep them from the elf child. Instead, his omission had enabled the evil ones to gain access and take the cuddly infant that was dear to them all.

            I failed you, Jelani. I failed you.

            He’d lost so many who were close to him in his service to the elf clan, friends, family, even Astan’s mother, Veraena. Each loss carved a small chink in his courage and determination to persevere for the greater good, and the chinks added up. Knowing at last that this tragedy could be laid square at his door broke Daven’s strong heart.

            “Lady of the Forest, show me the way,” he said, taking the small bag of runes from his pocket. “I need your guidance.”

The Blurb:

The moment Astan Hawk accepts his clan’s challenge to protect the young Elf Queen Jelani, trouble dogs his heels. Jelani’s human upbringing clashes with clan tradition and spurs dangerous intrigues within the Circle of Elders.    Seeking revenge against Jelani for the loss of his mentor Bartolomey, outcast Grigor Biren finds powerful elf mages deep within the forest and sets out to prove himself worthy to learn their secrets.      When Astan finds that his father Daven supports the agenda of the Circle, he has no choice but to turn to Jelani’s human friends for help.  Paranoid Crispy, empathetic Iris, and computer whiz Lane complicate Jelani’s unexpected pregnancy and the young queen’s attempts to rule her people. After the child is born, everything that could go wrong does.      Can Astan carry through on his promise to keep Jelani safe when the whole world seems to have turned against them?

Read a excerpt here!    http://www.dragonflypubs.com/excerpts/elfchild.html

Here’s a review:

“The Elf Child, second in the Clan Elves of the Bitterroot Series, can be read as a stand-alone, but is probably a richer reading experience if read in sequence. Lyndi Alexander has created a very interesting story that occupies a rather unique niche in the fantasy genre; not exactly urban fantasy, but with hints of same. I like her main characters, but like the secondary ones even more. Former wards of the state Lane and Crispy are unique and extremely likable. The overall story, which could have gotten sloppy at a couple of points, avoids falling into traditional pitfalls and instead, flows along, smoothly at times and with an urgency at others which grabs the reader and pulls him/her along in a page-turning frenzy as her well-crafted world grows real enough to create a nice movie in one’s mind. I am certainly looking forward to the third installment in the series and plan to go back and read the first one so I can have a complete understanding of what happened to set up this book. The Elf Child is highly recommended for fantasy readers who like a contemporary setting and plenty of action.” ~ reviewed by John R. Clark (public librarian) for TCM Reviews. | http://www.tcm-ca.com/?p=9007 |

Find out more here: http://clanelvesofthebitterroot.com/the-elf-child

Find more great science fiction and fantasy snippets at Science Fiction Fantasy Saturday’s main page. I love this group of authors–what great imaginations!