Rebel Fay (Noble Dead)

This was an excellent book. However, you need to start from the beginning of the series and real them in succession to understand what is happening. Start with Dhampir, follwed by Thief of Lives, Sister of the Dead, Traiter to the Blood, Rebel Fay ending with Child of a Dead God. The series has action, adventure, a bit of love and fantasy in it. If you like fantasy adventure, these are books for you.

Rebel Fay was mostly elven politics, a tangled subject in any series. But the Hendees handled it masterfully, keeping the main players distinct, but their alliances unclear. The rule of thumb I followed here was to expect any elf to do whatever would cause the most distress to a person of roughly equal power and seemingly opposite morals. I got rather frustrated with Wynn for talking too much and squirelling off on a whim as much as I loved her for it. I really like the Noble Dead elves (and by that I mean the elves in the Noble Dead Saga, not vampire elves, which I don't think *can* exist). While retaining the paranoia, height, blonde hair, and connection with nature of Tolkien's quintessential Eldar, the skin tones were darkened without drawing upon the drow. They involve themselves more covertly and much less overtly with humans. Most of the elves I've read just want to live in peace, and/or are actively benevolent towards humans, although they all seem very wary of any humans that enter their lands. The Hendee elves were greatly helped along by the addition of a caste of elite assassins, the Anmaglâhk, serving an ancient master (usual) with an increasingly fragile grip on sanity (unusual). I hesitate to use this term, but there was some real human warmth and feeling to a few of these elves. They were real characters; real people, not just an inscrutiable race of mages and hunters. Up until this point, all we've seen are cold-hearted assassins sent to seed discord and warfare among humans for no discernable purpose. Although we meet no children, we do gain insight into daily life and how the young, especially Leanâlhâm, are expected to behave. It was especially unusual for any of them to have a sense of humor, even more so that Gleannéohkân'thva (Gleann) is a respected elder, healer, pillar of the community, etc. Rebel Fay was also unusal within the series. Welstiel and Magiere missed their usual charged confrontation, and Welstiel had no opportunity to try to lead Magiere and her party astray. There was absolutely zero undead slayage. What Wynn gains in arcane usefullness, she aparently loses in common sense.

For those of you who don't know, the Noble Dead series is the story of Magiere, a dhampir (living child of a vampire), Leesil, a half-elf, a dog named Chap, and assorted supporting character. Magiere and Leesil start out in a world that resembles medieval northern Europe running a vampire scam -- scare the villagers and then pretend to kill the monsters. Only real monsters show up, one thing leads to another and the series follows the two as they become real heroes and then set out to find out who they really are. Now that I've said all of that, let me add that this is not a good book to start out your acquaintance with the series. Go find a copy of Dhampir, prepare to enjoy yourself, and dig in. Rebel Fay is Leesil's book (except that it is also Chap's). Hell-bent on tracking down his mother and returning the skulls of several relatives, Leesil, with Magiere, Chap, and Wynn (the group's sage and general pest) brave the mountains in mid-winter so that they might enter the Elven Territories. They barely make it and they are definitely not welcome -- only full elves need apply. The find themselves pitted against a whole array of elves. Some are just traditionalists, some are interested in revenge, and a few, the Anmaglâkhs, led by the hyper-paranoid Most Aged Father, are convinced that Leesil is a traitor and Magiere is a horror so old that the entire history of it has been forgotten. This is also Chap's book. We've always known he was more than a simple dog, but this is the first time that we get a real explanation of what a majay-hì really is. And how special a majay-hì is Chap. His role shifts from boon companion to major player in this book, and the secrets he holds are important ones. For all that happens in this book I found it a bit slower paced than its predecessors. The Hendee's are setting up the story arc for at least the next few volumes and there is a lot of detailed information to put into place, as well as characters to introduce. However, you wouldn't be here if you weren't a fan of the series and this is a pivotal book, answering some questions and raising many more. As long as the Hendee's can continue this rich and inventive series I'm happy to put up with some slower pacing now and then. And their version of slow pacing will still keep you reading this from cover to cover.

This is my favorite book in the series (so far.) Barb and J.C. Hendee do a marvelous job of crafting the Elven world and showing the contrasts in the Elven culture as Leesil, Magiere, Wynn and Chap search for Leesil's mother. I received deeper insights about each of the characters and learned a great deal more about Chap and his mission. One of the beautiful layers in this book is the interweaving of the majay-hi culture with the others. I was rapt by the spirit-touched dogs unique method of communicating. As impressive as the imagery is, it wraps around a very solid plot full of wonderful turns. Just when I thought I knew where the path was leading, something jumped out of the forest. It was only then that I realized I had been catching glimpses of this new threat for some time. And just so I don't forget where I am headed in the series, Welstiel and Chane traverse a parallel story line that echoes the overarching themes of trust and betrayal.

It seems I've been disappointed recently by multi-book series releasing a new title that has no plot development (Mistral's Kiss, anyone?) Not so here! The Noble Dead saga just keeps getting better, as does the writing and character development. Magiere, Leesil, Chap and Wynn finally make it to the Elven Lands to discover the fate of Leesil's mother. During their "visit," the reader will discover more about the motives (or lack there of) of Chap's fay kin, why Leesil was trained as an assassin and the role Magiere is destined for. The ending wasn't a cliffhanger, but the story obviously will continue in the next book. I highly recommend this entire series!