I love classic fantasies with humor and wit, as you can tell from some of my reviews. But I also love discovering contemporary writers who write with distinction and style. Anthea Sharp is one of my new favorites. The first distinguishing element of her Feyland and Feyguard books is her expert use of fairy tale and folklore elements (she cites Katharine Briggs and other sources in her back matter). One of the main characters is even named Tam Linn, which should ring a bell for fairy buffs. She develops this world very successfully in the form of the Dark Realm and Bright Court (traditionally the Unseelie and Seelie Courts), reminding readers that the faeries can’t be trusted (any agreement with them must be very carefully phrased) and that they live by a different code. The Dark Queen in particular is a traditional and truly menacing character.

The second engaging element in Sharp’s books is the sim role-playing game Feyland being developed at VirtuMax by Jennet Carter’s father. This game can serve as a portal to the faerie realm, though the faeries also make inroads in crossing the boundaries into the mortal world. I have spent many, many hours playing role-playing computer games (including the oldies) and have never read a better description of how much fun and how exciting it is to play them (in this case augmented by the sim factor). The reader is truly drawn into the game world, especially in The Dark Realm. The surprise effect of the gaming is somewhat reduced in later books, but they all feature thrilling and convincing game playing.

The teenaged game players themselves are the third attractive element. The Feyland books center on Jennet and Tam (and to a lesser extent Marny, one of my favorites). Their gradually developing romance as he becomes her champion overcomes their social differences, which initially make him hang back. The depiction of the characters’ lives in the everyday world outside the game (particularly the precarious circumstances of Tam’s mother and little brother) balance the actions in the game world. And sometimes the fey cross the boundaries, threatening individuals and the mortal world itself.

In the Feyguard series the original game players have become guardians of the boundary between the faerie realms and the mortal world, on watch to thwart the efforts of the Dark Queen and the Bright King to lure mortals into the faerie realms and to expand their powers. I recommend both series for their originality, style, captivating magic realms, and engaging characters, although the original Feyland trilogy is less predictable and more intriguing.

The Feyland Trilogy: The Dark Realm,The Bright Court, The Twilight Kingdom                                                                           

Official website: http://antheasharp.com/

Anthea Sharp’s Feyland and Feyguard