Get 50% off Catholic Books & eBooks

Discover the Next Tolkien & O'Connor

Join Here for FREE to Never Miss a Deal

Find new favorites & Support Catholic Authors

Genre

historical fantasy

Audience

middle grade and high school

Author’s Worldview

Catholic

Year Published

2018

Themes

father-daughter relationship, moral absolutes, spiritual vs physical life

Reviewed by

Courtney Guest Kim

Discerning the will of God — and choosing whether to follow it — drives this historical fantasy. Elfling, by Corinna Turner, is a young adult novel set in a fantasy England with Medieval elements such as priests and sorcerers but also a race of elves, and dragonets—miniature dragons that add a charming, whimsical touch to a story that raises unusually serious moral questions. The heroine, Serapia Ravena, goes from rags to riches but also from spiritual ignorance to wisdom over the course of her character trajectory. She is a girl experiencing the changes of puberty but also a moral agent exercising responsibility for decisions whose consequences she does not always foresee. Elfling is a quest story with lots of plot twists and fast-paced action, but Serapia’s quest is a deeply personal one. The young heroine is on a desperate mission to find and keep her father, first for the sake of her own survival, and then for the sake of his. But here too the story operates on a deeper plane, focusing on the possibility of a loss worse than death, the loss of one’s soul.

The essential conflict of the story, and the element that sets it apart as a strikingly Christian narrative, is that the heroine gropes her way not only through material obstacles and human challenges but also wends through a spiritual landscape whose laws are actually more absolute than the laws of physics. The struggle between good and evil plays out between human characters and in a parallel way between elves, for whom the rules of engagement are distinctly spiritual.

Most refreshing about this story is the heroine who is attempting to do the right thing (if she can figure out what that would be) without presuming to define rightness by the standard of her own desires. Rather, she struggles to obtain what she wants while acknowledging that good and evil, right and wrong are determined by God, who has established boundaries that no creature has the right to cross. The story would be worth reading if only for the escape it provides from the asphyxiating self-referentiality that has become normal in both fact and fiction. This heroine is searching for an objective good and recognizes the tension between her own will and the will of God, a tension that in the end can only be resolved by God’s mercy. The young age of the heroine makes the story accessible to mature middle-schoolers, but the seriousness of the theological themes will give food for thought to older readers as well.

Get Catholic Books & eBooks for as little as $1 to FREE

Honor at Stake by Declan Finn

If you’re looking for a vampire-romance with a truly unique twist look no further.

Crusader St. Tommy NYPD Book 5 By: Declan Finn

Detective Nolan embarks on a Crusade against demonic sex traffickers trying to raise a demon.

Best Books of 2022

Our favorite book finds of the year!

Why Reading Fiction Made Me a Better Catholic

How reading fiction became a crucial step in my conversion to the Catholic Church.

Someday by Corinna Turner

Ordinary schoolgirls face a terrible fate: abuse, forced marriages, and even death at the hands of Islamic extremists.

Will Wilder and the Relic of Perilous Falls

Follow Will Wilder as he discovers a hidden world, fights demons and rescues a hidden treasure!

McCracken and the Lost Oasis by Mark Adderley

A swashbuckling adventure into Catholic history and archeology.

Night Prayer by Brother Bernard Seif, SMC, Ed.D., DNM

The Motto Suaviter Sed Fortiter (Gentle But Strong) informs this historical mystery novel about the founding of the Salesian spiritual family and its various branches.

Rosaline’s Curse by Katherine Campbell

If Sleeping Beauty woke in 2017 and Prince Un-Charming was still after her… Sometimes it takes 800 years to find true love.

Boxers and Saints by Gene Luen Yang

This two part graphic novel tells its story from 2 sides China’s bloody civil war: A Boxer Rebel & a “traitor” Christian-Convert.

City of Shadows by Declan Finn

St. Tommy uncovers a group of elites using an ancient artifact to destroy London.

Deus Vult By Declan Finn

Detective Nolan returns home for a well-deserved vacation only to find himself fighting hordes of gunmen, Lovecraftian monsters, and a demon straight from the pit.

Good to the Last Drop by Declan Finn

Marco thought his problems were over when he took on the vampire council, until he gets bit by a werewolf. Will this ruin things with his vampire girlfriend?

Demons are Forever by Declan Finn

Marco flees from his fears of hurting Amanda by taking a job to train Vampire Hunters in San Francisco. Should be a quiet job right?

War Demons by Russell Newquist

Lots of soldiers have demons, but Michael’s follow him back home. And now a secret order of demon-slayers tell him he has to save the world?!

A Life Such As Heaven Intended by Amanda Lauer

A chance encounter with an amnesiac soldier leads Brigid to discover the realities of the Civil War.

Lance and the Veil by Kevin Rush

She was Christ’s comforter, he, his executioner. Can the two find love in each other’s arms?

Calling All Booklovers! – Young Adult, Historical Fiction, & Nonfiction Editor Positions

Do you love reading books and getting other people to read them? Join our team and make your mark on today’s Catholic literary revival.

The Wind That Shakes The Corn: Memoirs of a Scots Irish Woman by Kaye Park Hinckley

Sold into slavery on her wedding night, an 18th-century Irishwoman struggles to free herself from her thirst for vengeance.

The Reluctant Queen: The Story of Esther by Lin Wilder

Chosen by Xerxes to be queen, chosen by God to be savior of His people: the story of Esther.