New Book Alert: Ela Green and The Kingdom of Abud by Sylvia Greif; Slow Start To YA Fantasy But Magical Kingdom Shines And Leaves Readers Wanting More

 

New Book Alert: Ela Green and The Kingdom of Abud by Sylvia Greif; Slow Start To YA Fantasy But Magical Kingdom Shines And Leaves Readers Wanting More

By Julie Sara Porter

Bookworm Reviews

Spoilers: Could this year's frequent theme/genre be YA Fantasy? Maybe, between Bekah Harris's The Thorn Princess and now Sylvia Greif has Ela Green and The Kingdom of Abud, it's entirely possible. They are similar in many ways. Both deal with high school age boarding school girls who come upon unique powers that are revealed by older relatives. Both take trips into beautiful magical lands that are feasts for the eyes to read and the mind to imagine. Both no sooner have their young protagonists get their feet wet in the new worlds than the books end on a cliffhanger to prepare the Reader for Part Two.

What is different about the two worlds is tone and inspiration. The Thorn Princess is a modern fairy tale that takes its roots from Celtic and Teutonic fairy lore. Ela Green's source is more reminiscent of 19th century Adventure novels. While magic is a central feature of Ela Green, the focus seems to be more on exploring this new landscape and investigating it for magical treasure than learning about the monarchy and political structure and ruling over it. Ivy Hawthorne, The Thorn Princess, is a part of her magical landscape, ultimately the heart of it. Ela Green is just visiting for now but also has a huge part to play in this alternate world and maybe the physical world as well.

The book begins in media res on the night of the full moon when Eleanor "Ela" Green is enchanted by a bracelet that she found. She recites the words of a spell on a scroll included with the bracelet. She suddenly finds herself no longer in her boarding school room but instead in a mysterious forest and standing face to uh, bark with a giant evergreen that reaches the sky. 

Most of the book takes place before and after this strange trip. Before Ela was an over imaginative girl arguing with her mother, becoming the bane of the existence of the headmistress, and bonding with her Uncle Archie whose adventurous and imaginative spirit rivals hers. Then she finds the bracelet and travels to the Enchanted Kingdom of Abud where the giant tree, Yggdrasill tells her that because of her "magical miraculousheart" she might be the Unikone. As the Unikone, she must find The Book of Names. Meanwhile, her Uncle Archie has a family tie to this weirdness and there is the scheming Count Sigismund who just bought Ela's school and also has his sights set on her bracelet and its power.

The book is clearly the start of the series and because of that, it only takes two trips into Abud, one where Ela goes alone and then a subsequent one that she takes with Archie once everything is explained. That's rather unfortunate because the book cuts off right when it's getting good. I know I know cliffhangers, Authors want to leave the Reader hanging. But Abud is such a beautiful setting that it is a shame to not read more of it.

There are wonderful little touches like talking trees that hang upside down and crystals that change color and play musical notes as a visitor steps on them. Of course there are portions of the landscape that will defend itself from the selfish, greedy, and sometimes overly curious, which is why it's very important that it is able to share an empathetic connection with Ela and sees her good heart. She is able to be welcome when others with harmful intentions would not. 

These chapters set in Abud are the highlight of the book as they make the Reader want to see more of this world and the unique characters that inhabit it. The Abud portions should definitely be longer.

It's not that the rest of the book is bad, it just takes a long time to really get invested in the Abud setting before the book abruptly cuts off. 

There is a long expository section where Archie explains the family's link to this magical kingdom. It's an interesting story and it captures how avarice and greed can destroy one's soul and make one lose sight of their real purpose.

It definitely takes its cue from old Adventure novels like the works of Jules Verne, H. Rider Haggard, and Robert Louis Stevenson where there is treasure to be found and a strange land to explore it. The backstory also reveals what's in the heart of the explorers and what compels them to go on this journey, both in the past and present.

It also shows why Abud waited so long for the Unikone to arrive and why many were found wanting. The journey is a test and when the visitors reveal their selfishness and avarice, the way is closed to them.

 I'm also glad that the back story is in the first volume instead of potentially inserted into later books and interrupts the flow of action once Ela and Archie are in Abud. It's always good to get exposition out of the way. However, the build up to Abud itself with this exposition only makes the Reader want to see more of it. It's not asking too much to include a couple more chapters to explore this landscape that has had such a build up.

There are some issues with the pacing of this book as well. An important character is introduced as a potential antagonist only to reach a very anticlimactic ending. Also other characters' motives are somewhat unclear but I suppose need more time for them to be revealed. 

Ela seems like a decent enough protagonist, kind to all living things with just a bit of a sardonic bite so she can stand up for herself. At times, she can be a bit flat in characterization but that could be attributed to this being her first adventure. We may get more nuances to her character in subsequent volumes. 

Archie seems to be an alright character, adventurous, intelligent, understanding towards Ela which her mother is not. There are a couple of times where this Reader wonders if his journeys to Abud are just to protect Ela or to fill some greedy or curious desire himself. Again it will be interesting to see how his character develops in multiple volumes.

Because of the extended build up, Ela Green and The Kingdom of Abud has a very slow start. Once it reaches Abud, it is truly enchanting and leaves the Reader breathless with its description and in fervent anticipation.