3 out of 4 stars
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The Elf Legacy by Jordan David is a fantasy story defining friendship and loyalty. The story takes place at the North Pole and while it explains a lot of Christmas traditions such as Santa’s list, coming down the chimney, reindeer games, the story primarily focuses on the elves. How they come to be at the North Pole, their organizational jobs, and interpersonal relationships. Within the teacher student relationship a competition forms between Merlin’s two elf apprentices. Ultimately testing loyalty between new and old teachers and the concept of good and charity verses power and greed.
The idea of how elves came to be and their organization of departments is of interest to the daily lives and differences between life at the North Pole and their human lives. The passage of time is cleverly marked by the exchange in Santas’ and historical events of significance that marginally affect the main characters. The relationships of the elves seem to evolve over decades and friendships are formed particularly between Anna and Tobi ending with the truest loyalty and friendship and commitment.
I enjoyed the interaction between Merlin’s two apprentices. The competition, quest for knowledge and ultimate battle between good for the greater good and greed and power over others. The book climaxes with a technology and magic battle between these two similar characters. I also enjoyed the side story of polar bears, Hilda and her hospital and the Mother Elf and Merlin relationships.
What I disliked was I wish more action or back story was given with the polar bears as the story built up tension and left us wondering if a greater role was going to be played by these dangerous characters. I was also looking for more back story between Merlin and Mother Elf. However the relationships and character building between Merlin and his two different apprentices is perfect. I was intrigued and happy when Merlin came out of retirement to deal with his rouge apprentice. I look forward to an additional book continuing the saga.
I give this book 3 out of 4 stars. It was well written with no grammatical or spelling errors. And I didn’t rate it at 4 stars simply because so many story directions hinted at hidden back stories and were not further referenced. Overall I at first I had my doubts about this book when I realized it was a book about Santa’s Elves and not Lord of the Rings Elves. However I found myself deeply satisfying reading about the daily routine and relationships of the Christmas Elves that it became a night time routine of my own that I did not want to end. I look forward to continuing the story of Merlin and the Christmas Elves.
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The Elf Legacy - Book Five of the Magi Charter
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