Review by Placid Distortion -- The Elf Brief
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Placid Distortion
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Review by Placid Distortion -- The Elf Brief
[Following is a volunteer review of "The Elf Brief" by Jordan David.]
2 out of 4 stars
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My take on The Elf Brief, by Jordan David as the first book in The Magi Charter series is that it makes for a festive read just in time for the holidays. Much of the book focuses on setting and world-building, going into great detail to show the reader exactly what kind of world the elfin protagonist, Noel, lives in at the North Pole as one of many Santa's helper type elves. For Noel, that descriptor becomes more literal as he goes from being a humble List elf to being assigned as the assistant to a new Santa. In the process, the reader is shown exactly how Santa is a job title rather than a sole person and what the whole process for taking over that job entails. This also sets the stage for the rest of the series which focuses on different aspects and time frames of the Christmas themed world Jordan David has meticulously built. The meat and potatoes of the book focuses on the transition of Santa power from rocky, uncertain start to a smooth finish, all while piling on the descriptive details for seasoning.
I would say that the recommended age range for this book would be 8-12, but even that would be a very loosely made guess as to the intended age demographic. The themes would likely be more of interest for children on the younger end of that, but the style and structure better suited for those at the other end; the sentences are short but littered with words that might be difficult for the average kid anywhere in that age range. So it's a bit like a kids book that reads like it wants to be a YA novel, but isn't really one. In any case, the lack of professional editing might make it better suited for an extended revision exercise than leisure reading, as the numerous errors added to the sometimes dry writing style can be both distracting and reduce the entertainment value.
The dryness of the writing style is contributed to - in addition to the disjointed structure - by the sheer amount of description that goes into all of it, which manages to be bittersweet. While I can appreciate the effort and investment involved in the level of world-building that must have gone into it, at times it seemed that the author lost sight of the notion that although the world is crucial to the story, the world is not the story and instead got caught up in the minutia instead of focusing on the narrative. Indeed, there were parts that felt suspiciously like filler while they figured out how to get from one plot point to another and just prattled on until a decent segue was presented.
However, what the story lacks in plot progression it makes up for in foreshadowing as a redeeming quality of sorts. Between other titles in the series (such as The Elf Resistance) as well the way certain characters and scenes were written about, hints of conspiracy abound lending an air of mystery that may prod some readers sense of curiosity just right to keep them interested in at least finishing the book. Some of those hints are addressed and partially resolved by the end of the book but in a way that feels a bit like a rushed job. It's rather as if the author realized they needed to wrap up the book and slapped something together that would suffice for the current book but still leave potential material for the plot of a later – considerably longer – book that may or may not make up for the poor execution of the first one. If a hook for another book was the intent I can understand the move but see it as a bit of a gamble on their part and think it would've stood a better chance of being effective if the rest of the book had been better written. Instead, a potentially unsatisfactory resolution added to a dry, disjointed style may be a recipe for disappointment of particularly bitter aftertaste that leaves the reader unlikely to bother with the rest of the series.
I think the author probably had a good idea and did a really good job on building a world around that idea, but managed to neglect focus for the story being told through the filter of that world and relied too much on subtlety to make up for it. The poor grammar and language structure with no professional editing doesn't do anyone any favors either. So while I'd like to give points for effort, I would not in all honesty recommend this book as a fantasy series even for kids within or around YA age ranges. As such, I give it a rating of 2 out of 4 stars.
******
The Elf Brief
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Like Placid Distortion's review? Post a comment saying so!
2 out of 4 stars
Share This Review
My take on The Elf Brief, by Jordan David as the first book in The Magi Charter series is that it makes for a festive read just in time for the holidays. Much of the book focuses on setting and world-building, going into great detail to show the reader exactly what kind of world the elfin protagonist, Noel, lives in at the North Pole as one of many Santa's helper type elves. For Noel, that descriptor becomes more literal as he goes from being a humble List elf to being assigned as the assistant to a new Santa. In the process, the reader is shown exactly how Santa is a job title rather than a sole person and what the whole process for taking over that job entails. This also sets the stage for the rest of the series which focuses on different aspects and time frames of the Christmas themed world Jordan David has meticulously built. The meat and potatoes of the book focuses on the transition of Santa power from rocky, uncertain start to a smooth finish, all while piling on the descriptive details for seasoning.
I would say that the recommended age range for this book would be 8-12, but even that would be a very loosely made guess as to the intended age demographic. The themes would likely be more of interest for children on the younger end of that, but the style and structure better suited for those at the other end; the sentences are short but littered with words that might be difficult for the average kid anywhere in that age range. So it's a bit like a kids book that reads like it wants to be a YA novel, but isn't really one. In any case, the lack of professional editing might make it better suited for an extended revision exercise than leisure reading, as the numerous errors added to the sometimes dry writing style can be both distracting and reduce the entertainment value.
The dryness of the writing style is contributed to - in addition to the disjointed structure - by the sheer amount of description that goes into all of it, which manages to be bittersweet. While I can appreciate the effort and investment involved in the level of world-building that must have gone into it, at times it seemed that the author lost sight of the notion that although the world is crucial to the story, the world is not the story and instead got caught up in the minutia instead of focusing on the narrative. Indeed, there were parts that felt suspiciously like filler while they figured out how to get from one plot point to another and just prattled on until a decent segue was presented.
However, what the story lacks in plot progression it makes up for in foreshadowing as a redeeming quality of sorts. Between other titles in the series (such as The Elf Resistance) as well the way certain characters and scenes were written about, hints of conspiracy abound lending an air of mystery that may prod some readers sense of curiosity just right to keep them interested in at least finishing the book. Some of those hints are addressed and partially resolved by the end of the book but in a way that feels a bit like a rushed job. It's rather as if the author realized they needed to wrap up the book and slapped something together that would suffice for the current book but still leave potential material for the plot of a later – considerably longer – book that may or may not make up for the poor execution of the first one. If a hook for another book was the intent I can understand the move but see it as a bit of a gamble on their part and think it would've stood a better chance of being effective if the rest of the book had been better written. Instead, a potentially unsatisfactory resolution added to a dry, disjointed style may be a recipe for disappointment of particularly bitter aftertaste that leaves the reader unlikely to bother with the rest of the series.
I think the author probably had a good idea and did a really good job on building a world around that idea, but managed to neglect focus for the story being told through the filter of that world and relied too much on subtlety to make up for it. The poor grammar and language structure with no professional editing doesn't do anyone any favors either. So while I'd like to give points for effort, I would not in all honesty recommend this book as a fantasy series even for kids within or around YA age ranges. As such, I give it a rating of 2 out of 4 stars.
******
The Elf Brief
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Like Placid Distortion's review? Post a comment saying so!
Latest Review: "My Author Is Dead" by Michel Bruneau
