3 out of 4 stars
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The Elf Archive by Jordan David, is the sequel to The Elf Brief, which the first book in The Magi Charter series. Book Two continues the story of the magic land of the North Pole and it's inhabitants. The Mission of the North Pole is to spread love, joy, and peace to every deserving human in the world on Christmas Eve.
The first book hinted at how elves are recruited from among the human population, and assigned to their roles in the complex, finely organised system that produces gifts for Santa to distribute. The opening scene of The Elf Archive is a much stronger allusion to the recruitment process but does not completely explain it, nor identify the elf who was enlisted. We cut back to the North Pole, and the story carries on from where The Elf Brief left off.
Noel Night is now the Head of a new Department. He is, in fact, the only elf currently in this Department, but he has been given a very important quest to fulfill. Woven into this mystery are the strange dreams that Noel has been having nearly every night. The quest and the dreams don't seem to be connected, but how will Noel complete one while being distracted and exhausted by the other? Why are the retired elves suddenly being so helpful to Noel, and what is the ancient knowledge that some other Department Heads seem so eager to keep hidden?
There are fast-paced action scenes featuring flying reindeer races, surfing competitions, and inexplicable ‘accidents’ that narrowly avoid tragic consequences. Oh, and there may even be a little romance budding in Santa’s life, but how will he choose the right Mrs. Claus?
Overall, The Elf Archive is a thoughtful and intricately-planned tale with enough threads in the storyline to keep a reader interested, but not enough to become confusing. The characters are not gripping, but they are engaging enough that I cared about what happened to them. I feel Santa's character could be explored and explained in more depth, as he is, after all, Santa of the North Pole. The ending brought some parts of the story to a conclusion, but the author made it very clear that there will be another exciting installment to follow…
My biggest disappointment with both of Jordon David's Elf books that I mentioned is the quality of editing and the appalling number of errors I noticed. Over-done or absent commas, typographical slips, words missing, misspellings, and wrongly-used words are in almost every paragraph. Some sentences are so badly constructed or damaged by errors, that they are barely coherent. It appears to me that the author simply sat at the computer, typed furiously until the story finished, then published it as it was.
I quite enjoyed this reading this book, and I admire the author's imagination and plot-planning skills. For this reason, I would have awarded it 4 stars. However, the poor editing annoyed me so much that I would have liked to deduct 1.5 points if that were possible, but have settled on 3 out of 4 stars. Adult readers who prefer action-packed thrillers or suspenseful mysteries may find this book a bit dull. It is completely G-rated and is suitable for older children and adult readers who appreciate a gentle, kindly sort of story – a bit like Santa Claus is reputed to be.
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The Elf Archive - Book Two of the Magi Charter
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