Review: wonderful characters!
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 08 1, 2013
Laura Lond's short trilogy of the Dark Elf of Syron is a wonderful fantasy.  Lond gets it right by putting her characters first, making them real, and flawed and not just magical, but showing us the sacrifice that comes with such great powers.There's always a cost and the dark elf Alvacorpays dearly for it.  He's not just some one-dimensional character who has great power without any explanation as to how he obtained it, but instead, Lond gives us the reason for the elf's power, and the agony he lives with daily after being given his great `gift'.I was constantly reminded of my favorite fantasy series The Lord of the Rings while reading The Dark Elf.  I'm not a huge fan of fantasy novels in general, and almost didn't read this one but after the first page I was hooked.Alvacor is such an unforgettable character that I didn't want his tale to end ever.  If there are any flaws to this book, it's that it's just too short.  I wanted a Robert Jordan thousands of pages series stretching on into infinity so that I could keep spending time with the great characters Lond has created, especially Alvacor the Dark Elf.The story goes like this; the warden of the a prison looks in on a dangerous prisoner who lives is great luxury.  The warden fears the prisoner, and slowly we learn that the prisoner is a dark elf with powers beyond belief, enabling him to leave the prison at will, yet he stays. Why?When a new governor wishes to visit the prisoner, the dark elf promises the warden that he will submit to the visit, and to being chained just for one day.  When the governor has the prisoner whipped, I was heartbroken at the dignity, and honor of the dark elf who kept his word to the warden.Lond has drawn Alvacor as an almost messianic character, she's made a dark creature out of an elf, who is now living out the nightmare of his life.  For all of Alvacor's darkness, he's the most honorable character in the book.Lond truly understands that pain, and sacrifice is what gives us wisdom and compassion, and that without these things, power will corrupt any who hold it.If wisdom is crystalized pain, then Alvacor is the wisest of them all.This review was written for Awesometrilogies.com