#21: Sarah Rees Brennan, In Other Lands
Aug. 9th, 2018 02:37 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kareila posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
kareila_booksI recognized the author's name from various short story anthologies, but didn't have any particular expectations of this book other than "fantasy genre subversion" and boy, did it have that.
The basic premise goes like this: there's our world, and there's a world known to us as the Otherlands, where creatures of myth and faerie live and technology fails. Most people can't see the border wall between the two, but those who do are invited to come live in the Otherlands and join the Border Patrol, where they will learn battle skills and mythic lore. Not everyone chooses to stay. Most of those who do choose to become soldiers.
But not Elliot. Elliot is an unloved and friendless 13 year old boy who is smart, obnoxious, pacifist, and an utter xenophiliac. He is smitten on sight with an elven warrior maiden named Serene, who turns out to be a hilarious inversion of human gender bias; she takes an improbable liking to Elliot immediately. Over time, Elliot also begins to appreciate Serene's fighting partner, a beautiful blond human boy named Luke, who cheerfully tolerates Elliot's disdain for his fighting prowess. Instead of training for war with his new friends, Elliot throws himself into the study of history, geography, and languages, so that he can forge peace between the various creatures of the Otherlands.
Over the course of several years, we follow the three friends through their various successes and screwups and see how they and their relationships change and mature, sometimes in surprising ways. By the end of the story, the three have grown up and found love, and are ready to begin their adult lives. I hope someday to read about their further adventures.
The basic premise goes like this: there's our world, and there's a world known to us as the Otherlands, where creatures of myth and faerie live and technology fails. Most people can't see the border wall between the two, but those who do are invited to come live in the Otherlands and join the Border Patrol, where they will learn battle skills and mythic lore. Not everyone chooses to stay. Most of those who do choose to become soldiers.
But not Elliot. Elliot is an unloved and friendless 13 year old boy who is smart, obnoxious, pacifist, and an utter xenophiliac. He is smitten on sight with an elven warrior maiden named Serene, who turns out to be a hilarious inversion of human gender bias; she takes an improbable liking to Elliot immediately. Over time, Elliot also begins to appreciate Serene's fighting partner, a beautiful blond human boy named Luke, who cheerfully tolerates Elliot's disdain for his fighting prowess. Instead of training for war with his new friends, Elliot throws himself into the study of history, geography, and languages, so that he can forge peace between the various creatures of the Otherlands.
Over the course of several years, we follow the three friends through their various successes and screwups and see how they and their relationships change and mature, sometimes in surprising ways. By the end of the story, the three have grown up and found love, and are ready to begin their adult lives. I hope someday to read about their further adventures.
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Date: 2018-08-10 12:18 am (UTC)