Elves, humans, and trolls – oh my! The Elven Alliance series by Tara Grayce has all three of these races, and no one race is the unredeemable “bad guy” of the series. Fierce Heart, the first book, starts the series off strong with an arranged marriage of alliance between a human princess and an elf warrior prince. From there, readers get to meet our main characters’ families and enemies, falling in love with characters from both categories. Grayce does an excellent job of bring reality into the fantasy, i.e. fighting in war – no matter your weapon or background – leaves a person with scars, making her characters empathetic and relatable. This doesn’t detract from the magic and world-building, though, as her imaginary world soars with elf cities with towering trees for buildings, crackles with the explosive magic of Laesornysh (Death on the Wind), trolls who make their homes in and wield the magic of ice and stone, and humans who cleverly work to make the most of what little magic they have.
I really enjoyed this series for several different reasons. First, the families of our main characters, at least the ones for the first three books, are extremely important to them. Neither family is perfect, but both are protective and support our hero and heroine and grow as they mature and learn more about each other. Next, the villain changes throughout the series – just like in real life. People change and grow, relationships are redeemed and restored – becoming more than they were before – and lessons on forgiveness, releasing anger and bitterness, and what family truly is are learned. Despite these weighty themes, I did not find the series to be a heavy read because the characters choose joy and hope and perseverance in the face of their trials. They have moments of despair; it wouldn’t be realistic if they didn’t, but Grayce has written books that show what community and family can and should do for someone when they are hurting. Dive into Elven Alliance and explore a world brimming with intrigue war, and – the conqueror of all – love.
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God Bless and keep magic in the mundane.
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