• Author: Kalob Dàniel
• Publisher: independently published
• Publishing year: 2022
• Number of pages: 308 (Tolino e-reader)
• Cover Design: Finn Frei
• ISBN: 979-8218000042
• My rating: 4/5

Synopsis:

Vvellion is changed. For what once was has long since been lost, faded away through the myriad of years since the casting of The Veil. Generations have passed, and still, no one knows of the existence of faeries…except for one, the elf. Half human and faerie alike, the elf was sent beyond The Veil at the brink of the extinction of faeriekind to reunite the four ecocrystals: earth, fire, water, and air. An ecocrystal was left to a member of each faerie tribe to hide away, but there are none now who live to remember their exact location. For until the ecocrystals are reunited, all of faeriekind will dwindle into faerie dust.

For one hundred years now, Sthier Laithe has been “awake.” She doesn’t know how or why, but she knows of her people’s existence and that she is a faerie, daughter to the Empress of the Earth faerie nymphs. The Empress left her a daunting quest, by way of a letter and half of a tattered old book, for Sthier to traverse. However, the magic of The Veil still prevents her from remembering anything from her past before her awakening.

Along her mother’s quest, Sthier runs into an unlikely ally, Kielik, who is charismatic, witty, and irritating to boot. He will test Sthier’s powers to the very core of her being, especially her trust. Together, with a few other faeries along the way, they will set out on an epic faerietale adventure to trapeze the vast and unknown Tuar ceatha Jungle. They must do whatever it takes to find Sthier’s mother to find the elf to reunite the ecocrystals to save them all…before it’s too late.

https://www.kalobdaniel.com/a-faerie-tale

Review:

Before I start my review, I wish to thank Kalob for the opportunity I was given by reading and reviewing this Advanced Readers Copy. I love a good fantasy book now and then, even though I never pick them up often enough. So this was a great chance for me to rekindle my love for the genre, and a queer fantasy novel was new for me!

I was surprised at the level of action there was in this novel. Never a dull moment and at the same time we go by a range of emotions and we see characters develop into persons (faeries) with feelings, with the power and the will to go through their ordeal.

This is not a thick fantasy novel, and that makes for an easy read (whereas most fantasy novels are often real behemoths) but at the same time we are drawn into an adventure story with different cities and worlds, a lot of characters (but just enough to not make it too difficult and not too confusing) and for me (as I said, I don’t read that much fantasy but when I do it’s often with similar elements at its core) this was a complete new side to fantasy: no dragons (so far) or a lot mythical animals, no dwarves, no huge colonies of elves and battles between humans, elves and dwarves…

That doesn’t mean there are no battles in this novel… there are enough epic scenes to keep you wanting more. And the ending will leave you sobbing… believe me!

I am very much looking forward to continue this series and to all you fantasy lovers out there, to all you queer readers (and allies, of course!) this will be your cup of strong tea!

Btw, don’t forget to read the prequel: The Book of Færie, which is a great addition to this book! It explains the history before The Veil and has significance in this novel! (See my review of it on my blog: https://looneybooks79.blog/2022/06/29/novella-review-the-book-of-faerie-a-faerie-tale/ )