Review Detail

Now don’t get me wrong, I love me The Lord of the Rings trilogy, but I have been craving a good fantasy epic that gives a fresh, new take on elves. Yes, that’s a very specific want, but hey, I read a lot. Thank goodness for Shannon Messenger’s “Keeper of the Lost Cities,” giving me exactly what I’ve been wishing for.

“Keeper” follows Sophie, a twelve year-old girl who learns she is what else? An elf. But she’s not a pointy-eared, forest-dwelling guardian of rings. Instead she’s a child elf prodigy who has a special and rare talent for telepathy. Off she goes to Foxfire, a school for the magically gifted (which not all elves are) to hone her skills and discover the mystery of her past.

What I really liked about the world Messenger created is that there is a fusion of technology with magic. She doesn’t create massive details about one with the exception of the other, instead she has intricately woven magic into the workings of science. There’s even a special type of elf, a TechnoPath, who uses his or her magical ability to manipulate the ins and outs of technology. This gives the lost cities a decidedly futuristic feel but still containing all the magic and fantasy that Narnia, Middle Earth or Hogwarts has to offer.

The best thing that Messenger’s book has to offer is the Keeper herself, Sophie. She’s a delightful protagonist who just seems sweet, but not naïve. She’s realistic about what she has to do to get things done, and she isn’t your typical angsty magical main character. I love Harry Potter and all, but sometimes he just gets so whiny and acts as if the world is working against him. Sophie never does that. She accepts the challenges that come her way with grace and strength, and even when things are drastically unfair, she doesn’t nag on us that life is unfair. Life is unfair and Sophie gets it, and she’ll do whatever it takes to get things back on track. I can’t wait to see her grow into her own as the series progresses, and reach the thousands of years-old age group when pointy ears do finally manifest for Messenger’s mythical characters.