New Book Alert: Stories From The Vale: Gifts Of The Elven by Kathy Ann Trueman; Return to The Vale Now Troubled With Prejudice Towards Gifted Individuals

 

New Book Alert: Stories From The Vale: Gifts Of The Elven by Kathy Ann Trueman; Return to The Vale Now Troubled With Prejudice Towards Gifted Individuals

By Julie Sara Porter

Bookworm Reviews

Spoilers: When it comes to Bookworm Reviews authors, Kathy Ann Trueman is the champ. With Epic Fantasies under her real name and Regency Romances under her pen name of Catherine Dove, this is the fifth book of hers that I have reviewed by request making Trueman one of the most reviewed authors on my blog. (Phillipa Gregory and Jasper Fforde have more.) Of course this blog is only almost five years old and I only started reviewing new books four years ago, so it's not a worldwide great achievement. But still quite impressive by my standards. Not only is she the most prolific reviewed author but every book received positive reviews, and two (Stories From The Vale: Path of the Dragonfly and Greenspell)  ended up in Best of the Best Year End countdowns. Anyway, when it comes to Bookworm Reviews Authors, Kat you are the GOAT!

And she continues to deliver with the sequel to Stories From The Vale Path of the Dragonfly with Gifts of the Elven. She takes the excellent world building and characterization of the predecessor to a higher level by deepeng on the themes of love and acceptance that are so prominent in the real world as well as a fantasy one.

In the previous book, Path of the Dragonfly, Shak, a middle aged and retired soldier is assigned to protect two children: Falin, a thief with the ability to freeze time and Celia, a mage with the ability to communicate with dragons. While looking after these children, Shak is seeking revenge against Lord Sefal, a childhood friend turned noble, whom Shak blames for the death of his wife. Meanwhile, Sefal is on a journey of his own, to search for his long lost son, who, surprise surprise, turns out to be Falin. Well, after many sleeps in inns, sword fights a plenty, encounters with snooty elves, an arrival of dragons, and magic spells galore, Sefal and Falin are reunited. Shak and Sefal restore amends. Shak discovers a familial connection with Celia and becomes an honorary uncle to the kiddos. Celia gets proper training from Shak's eccentric grandmother. Friends and family are united and goodness reigns overall.

The action of Gifts of the Elven is set over 20 years later and things have changed in the fantasy kingdom of the Vale, to say the least. "Medieval Yuppie," Lord Sefal has become king with Falin fully established as a prince and has had more children and grandchildren. Shak lives in comfortable retirement on a farm (and unfortunately does not appear in this book much.) Celia is a well known sorceress but mostly stays out of politics. The former children have grown, married other people, and have had children of their own. Things should be good but they're not.

Falin and Celia's abilities are not a one time thing. Many other children since then have been born with unique abilities like invisibility, telepathy, and  shape shifting. They are called the Gifted but to some they are more like the Cursed. They are ostracized, attacked, and treated like second class citizens. It's gotten to the point that families that are supportive of them have to keep their children hidden. Sefal created rules protecting the Gifted though some suspect ulterior motives. They are not that far off. Besides Falin, he has a grandson, Arlin, whose abilities are extremely hard to hide. He has an enormous pair of sharp wings and can fly. Unfortunately, Arlin accidentally injured his Aunt Celia and terrified and remorseful, he ran away from home.

On a road, he encounters Fiella, an apprentice book binder and seller. She too is Gifted, though with mental manipulation. The two meet and go through the usual animosity brought on by class distinction and differing personalities. A friendship is formed as they make their way to Safehold, a haven for the Gifted.

Meanwhile, Shonwin of Kuturan, a shape shifter, and his mother bear a grudge against Sefal. They long to seek revenge and what do you know, his grandson is wandering around the Vale with a bookseller, making a perfect opportunity for kidnapping.

Gifts of the Elven works on so many levels. It has the tone of a humorous buddy adventure. Fiella and Arlin are the typical adversaries turned friends from opposite sides of the economic spectrum. Arlin grew up pampered and spoiled until the moment when he ran away. It is kind of ironic since his father did not exactly have an easy childhood, separated from his parents and raised as a thief. I suppose he was the type of parent who overcompensated by giving his children everything that he never had growing up. Not to mention that the book upfront says that Falin and his wife unashamedly played favorites and Arlin was often left out. Instead he was preferred by Grandpa Sefal and since we saw what a great influence he was in the previous book, it's no wonder Arlin grew up as he did.

Fiella is that kind of rare character who is both book and street smart. As an apprentice bookseller, she loves and cherishes the written word. She is well versed in many subjects and is able to converse on multiple levels with other people from every class and walk of 

life. She is also very tough and practically carries Arlin through their adventures. However, Arlin has the political and diplomatic experience that she lacks and has only experienced through books and travels. Like all true friendships, each character is able to fill the deficiency that the other needs. Arlin needs to learn to be self sufficient and Fiella needs to learn refinement. 

It's also nice that unlike other Epic Fantasies, a romance does not develop between the two characters. In fact, Fiella falls in love with another character and there are implications that Arlin's romantic interests lie elsewhere. This is mirrored in the predecessor when Falin and Celia, despite being thirteen years old, do not fall in love with each other and in fact later marry other people.

Through Shonwin and his mother, Trueman shows that redemption does not come easy. In this book, Sefal is not the same arrogant social climber that he was in the previous book. He has amended his ways, but his previous actions are still called into question. He made a lot of unscrupulous decisions and hurt a lot of people to get where he is.

If he didn't have any former enemies, that meant he would have gotten off too easy for his earlier mistakes. Shonwin and his mother show that redemption and forgiveness are things that it takes along time to really get and accept even within oneself.

The other way that Gifts of the Elven works is as a metaphor for the world that we live in reality. Using special abilities as an allegory for racial, gender, and sexual identity is nothing new. X Men is the most prominent example and I have encountered it myself in many of the books that I have read. But in a time when division is most prominent and even the very idea of discussing such inequality in schools is being challenged, this theme could not be more prominent. Arlin, Fiella, and the other Gifted are trying to claim and accept their identities and learn who they really are. Society also needs to accept and learn to understand them as well and give them that geographical and psychological space to live their lives.

 

Hopefully, this won't be the last trip through the Vale. In fact since the books are not numbered, it would be nice for Trueman to do a midquel to reveal exactly how Falin and Celia met their spouses (a muscular warrior woman and a slightly spaced out troubadour respectively) and how they got brought into the family. 

I have a feeling there will be many more trips through the Vale to come. At least, I hope so.