One of the most fascinating things to pop out of the world of fairy tales was the advent of J. R. R. Tolkien's "Lord of the Rings." Here we had a much grittier and vast fairy tale world mixed with specific races all interacting with each other on a social and political scale. The books pretty much dwarfed the tiny stories of Grimm and Andersen. This series has inspired a lot of wonderful fairy tale universes since its release.
An author I know personally named Shawn O'Toole wrote a book called "Agents of the Eye and Ear" which, on its surface, might feel somewhat like the world of Middle-earth. However, what you are actually seeing in this story is a world inside the one we live in, and what lives in there are many creatures of fairy tale lore. And Mister O'Toole did something else that broke convention. He focused exclusively on the story of the fairies--mainly the elves in this case.
In "Lord of the Rings," the humans were a strong power living among the fairies. In "Agents of the Eye and Ear," the humans barely come into it. They are having their own separate adventures topside, while the fairies of inner-earth are clashing for their own reasons. Shawn O'Toole is very good at explaining how this world works through regular repetition.
The story plays out as a set of secret agent style missions. I have often described the this book as Mission: Impossible with elves. The dark elves always seems to be the villains in the book, but one thing that Shawn does so well is that he explains all points of view perfectly. The dark elves are the villains for a reason.
You may notice that I am not really revealing much about the story. The truth is that I am desperate not to spoil it. I actually really adore this book. The action and story of the book is a strange combination of fun and gritty. Everything is written to be as realistic as possible. The elves are even written realistically.
A lot of my blogs have referenced fairy folk as similar to demons--in that they are soulless intelligent creatures. Fairies are basically intelligent animals. They only do what comes natural to them. Shawn, in the writing of "Agents of the Eye and Ear," makes it perfectly clear that his elves are in no way human at all. They are elves through and through. Some of their actions may surprise you!
"Agents of the Eye and Ear" is worth the read. The story may sometimes seem disjointed, but it really isn't. It just dances around here and there and pulls itself together as a whole. There are a lot of wonderful stories here intermixed with covert missions. The drama is wonderful. The characters are endearing. I consider this story to be the masterpiece of Shawn O'Toole.
If you are interested in buying this book, it is available on Amazon. Here is some information:
Paperback: $13.99
Kindle: $3.99
Click here to see the Amazon.com listing!
Thank you for reading my blog! Did you enjoy it? You can comment below, or you can email me at tkwadeauthor@gmail.com. You can also visit my website at www.tkwade.com. Thanks!
Wow! Thanks for the sincerity! Lee told me today, not knowing about this blog, that he thought a "problem" with AGENTS OF THE EYE AND EAR is that the elves are distinctly alien. He said they made sense but did not think or act like we do. He said there is a disconnect between the reader and the fairy creatures. He said this was a "bad" thing but as a GOOD thing. He insisted I not change a thing. You obviously agree.
ReplyDeleteHumans are always fascinated by the uncanny intelligent animal. Thanks for writing it!
DeleteAgents of the Eye and Ear makes the elves into real people. They are not human, but there is nothing arbitrary about them. The Eye and Ear is a real intelligence organization that works for the betterment of its people.
ReplyDeleteThey were uber realistic. It was as if they actually did exist. That is what made them more compelling than the elves of Lord of the Rings.
DeleteAn excellent review! The Elves of "Agents of the Eye and Ear" are superior to those of Tolkien, the characters are endearing and adventures are exciting. I thoroughly enjoyed this novel and I'd recommend it to anyone who loves fantasy, as I consider this the new standard for Elves.
ReplyDeleteI consider them the standard too. I have to have my elves like his now.
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