THE HOUSE OF GOLD

In this installment of Parker’s fantasy series, the returning Elfin hero tackles problems on assorted fantastical worlds.

Alex Dumwalt is taken aback when she suddenly loses her exclusive modeling contract with a Parisian fashion house. While her manager files an appeal, Alex travels via a portal in London to planet Eledon, where she’s the Keeper of the magical Keys. The Council of Elders, which includes her grandfather, immediately gives her a multi-task assignment on Nimbus, another planet: She’s to escort a recently-released Elfin prisoner there and train Nimbus’s new Keeper. But she’s only made it to the Moonbase pitstop when her troubles begin, most of them stemming from Star Elves (Moonbase is their fuel depot, and Nimbus their world). Alex struggles to “stabilize” an out-of-balance planet, is falsely accused of murder, and suffers the wrath of one particularly hateful Lord Governor. All the while, she’s itching to contest her unfair termination back in the mortal world. Fans of Parker’s series will surely applaud the intrepid Alex juggling myriad subplots as she contends with such things as a sizable theft and a tie to her late father. However, this fourth installment makes nods to past events, like a frighteningly elaborate ruse and an incident in which Alex narrowly avoided an assault, that sound more exciting than the present-day narrative, especially once Alex returns to her relatively mundane mortal-world dilemma. Still, the story teems with sublime characters, including the lanky, black-haired Alex, an accomplished pilot and fighter (“I sized him up as I bounced on my toes”), and her co-pilot and traveling companion Vortex, her grandparents’ obliging android gardener.

A superlative cast of mythical beings and mortals elevates this fun but only moderately exciting sequel.