CSFF Blog Tour - Day 2

Faery Rebels: Spell Hunter
Faery Magic, One Size Does Not Fit All In the Gardener's Eyes


(click image for Amazon link or click link below)

*Faery Rebels: Spell Hunter - http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/006155474X
Author Web site - http://www.rj-anderson.com/
Author blog - http://rj-anderson.livejournal.com/
Twitter - http://twitter.com/rj_anderson

In conjunction with the CSFF Blog Tour, I received a free copy
of this book from the nice people at HarperCollins Publishing.

Magic has left the Oakenfolk, except for Queen Amaryllis. It wasn't always so, but since before the time of the Queen the faery folk are unable to work magic. At times of stress, small magic or changes can be worked, but the spells soon wear off returning the people or objects to they way they were before. Born into the repressive life of the old oak tree, Byrony yearns for something more, something larger than her world inside. She even questions why The Gardener, the whole world's creator, would make such a big world and expect faeries to remain secluded inside.

Faeries have lost their creative abilities along with their magic. No one has created new art, or new dresses, or new songs since the magic has left the Oakenfolk. It may be that their magic helped create these things. With power to create unavailable the faeries must preserve the irreplaceable beauty of the past and only bringing these items out during very special occasions

Early in the story Bryony escapes through a large window in the seamstress room and encounters a young human boy. The chance meeting surprises both, and Byrony scurries back inside the tree. The Queen hears of Byrony's unprotected venture out of the tree, and Byrony is hurried to their physician. Inside, Byrony encounters her first case of the Silence as it has hit one of the older faeries of their tree. No one knows for sure of the cause, only that the results are final, but most think the disease comes from contacts with humans lik ethe one Byrony just met.

Byrony's curiosity gets the better of her, and she begins searching for answers the Oakenfolk, especially the Queen, would rather she didn't ask. Turned away from the answers by her elders, Byrony, who becomes Knife, searches the Library. Her thirst for knowledge impresses the librarian who takes her to a special room holding old books from the time before the loss of magic. Shocked to find a glimpse of the real reason behind the Oak's loss of magic, Byrony now known as Knife, begins to doubt the truth of those around her, especially the Queen.

It seems that once one question is answered, a new question begs creation. Is the Silence to blame for the loss of Faery magic? If so, where did the Silence originate? Was it something members of their tree did to disappoint the Gardener. Maybe it was a disease caught from the giants known as humans.

At first I thought it odd that all the characters were female. Instead of giving birth, faeries lay a magical egg that changes into a faery youngling over time. That made sense as magical beings would reproduce in a magical manner, but it begged the question of what happened to the male faeries. Midway into the book even Byrony asks this question. Her search eventually leads to an answer so odd, so outlandish that she denies it could have ever been true.

Her answer worked on multiple levels. The story struck me as an allegory for our own world. Over time, the faeries had become so seperated from the Gardener's plan, that they lost their way and had come to think of their limited, inwardly-directed lives as the way life was meant to be. Questioning society upsets the status quo because 'that's the way we've wlways done it.'

On the third and final day, I'll discuss how friends care about you especially when they don't always agree with you.


Tomorrow - Friends Come in All Sizes and Places, Both Faery and Human.





*Participants’ Links:

Sally Apokedak
Brandon Barr
Amy Browning
Melissa Carswell
CSFF Blog Tour
Stacey Dale
D. G. D. Davidson
Jeff Draper
April Erwin
Timothy Hicks
Jason Isbell
Becky Jesse
Cris Jesse
Jason Joyner
Julie
Carol Keen
Krystine Kercher
Dawn King
Rebecca LuElla Miller
New Authors Fellowship
Nissa
John W. Otte
Donita K. Paul
Crista Richey
Chawna Schroeder
Andrea Schultz
James Somers
Steve Trower
Fred Warren
Phyllis Wheeler
KM Wilsher