ELF REALM: THE HIGH ROAD

Following The Low Road (2008), this equally wide-body middle volume pitches teenager Matt and his nine-year-old sister Becky into the midst of a rogue mage’s mad scheme to foment war between Faerie and all humanity. As the veil between worlds weakens, Matt and two pint-sized nonhuman companions set out in search of his captured parents and also a certain magical seed. First stop: the elven city of Argant (aka Pittsburgh), where the Faerie population is near anarchy. Meanwhile Becky ends up in Helfratheim—a center for munitions manufacture, where demagogic Mage Brahja-Chi is gathering 1,000 stolen human children for mass slaughter. Kirk creates a turbulent Faerie at odds with itself but united in its extreme hatred and fear of Humans. He also casts Matt with such a chip on his shoulder that it’s a wonder he has any allies—though, indeed, even they have ulterior motives. The central plot is thin for the page count and the climax passes too quickly after all the buildup, but the ambitious tale’s array of supernaturals may attract fans of all things fey. (Fantasy. 11-13)