The Faerie Locket

(Companion to A Practical Guide to Faeries)

by
Susan J. Morris

Wizards of the Coast, March 2011, 248 pp.
ISBN: 978-0-7869-5562-6

Genre: Young Reader
Subgenres: Fantasy

World: Dungeons & Dragons
Reviewed: 7/25/2011

Reviewed by: Conan Tigard

Book Cover

Excerpt

The forest around them in almost all directions was frozen solid.

Just then, one of the dragons took a great, raspy breath and let it out, freezing a large section of trees, birds still in their branches.

"What does this mean?" Jade whispered, confused.

"I don't know," Pip whispered. "But I bet it's important. Aren't you glad you came with me now?"

"What are you two guys talking about?" Quinn asked. "What do you see?"

"None of your business, prissy wings!" Pip called back.

"Quiet down'" Jade said. "They'll hear us."

"What do you mean, 'none of my business'!" Quinn shouted, his high pixie voice ringing through the clearing. Jade winced, holding her ears. At first, nothing seemed to happen. She held her breath.

"Oh no," Quinn whispered as he caught sight of the dragons. "There are so many. Why are there so many . . ."

All of the dragons swiveled their heads to where the pixies were hovering, their cold black eyes focusing in on Jade, and their jaws opening in anticipation. One of them gave a fierce cry that sounded like a cross between a wildcat and a hunting hawk. Three of them thundered across the clearing, drawing in breath, while the fourth, who had a puckered scar across its right eye, beat its wings and rose up out of the clearing, soaring quickly out of sight. For a moment, Jade was frozen in awe at the sight. Then she found her voice.

"Back through the spider tunnels, quick!" Jade cried. "Fly!"

She could hear the dragons behind them, breaking branches and crushing roots. A rush of frosty air flew right over Jade's head and slicked the tree in front of her with ice so thick she couldn't see the bark underneath.

Dodging the snapping jaws of another dragon, she beat her wings as fast as she could, struggling to stay ahead of the ice and teeth and claws. Then when she caught sight of the spider tunnels below, she raised her wings and dived as fast as she knew how, just as she had done at breakfast.

She flew past the forest in a blur and shot right through the entrance to the tunnel, followed quickly by Pip and the rest of the pixies, who, upon reaching the inside of the tunnel, erupted in cheering.

"Whew," she panted. "That was--"

But before she could finish her sentence, frosty air slammed into the tunnel entrance, sealing it off with ice. She flew over to the ice, putting her hands on it without thinking, and drew them back with a hiss. The ice was colder than normal! Her hands felt numb already.

The celebratory shouts of the faeries behind her turned to screams. She turned back around and shrieked. A spider was right in front of her, dividing her from her friends.

Hovering, careful to avoid touching the web in the narrow tunnel, she backed up very slowly as the spider reared up on its hind legs. Its mandibles were huge--as big as her feet at least. It lunged, and she dodged out of the way just in time. She heard the snapping of its teeth and saw its legs punch through the webbing where she had been a moment before. She saw it struggle to free its legs from the tangles threads.

And that gave her an idea.

Synopsis

Jade spends a lot of her time in a tree house on the edge of the Oakspring Forest. There, she reads books and watches the world go by. Her favorite book is A Practical Guide for Faeries. For many years, Vira has told her younger sister, Jade, make-believe stories about a female ranger known as Vira Wyvernsting and her sidekick Jade Farstar, a pixie, who adventure through the land of Golden Leaf. But now, Vira is training to become an actual ranger with some elves and doesn't have time for Jade anymore, so Jade is left to her own devices.

In Jade's tree house is a box, and in that box, one day, Jade finds a locket. This faerie locket was put there by a pixie named Pip, who was sent by the Sun King to retrieve the famed ranger named Vira Wyvernsting. You see, the pixies have been listening to Vira telling Jade about Golden Leaf over the years and believe Vira to be the Vira Wyvernsting from the stories. Jade, wanting a little adventure, pretends to be Vira Wyvernsting.

Pip and Jade have to flee because the redcaps, a very nasty type of faerie that carries a large sickle and whose hat is red from dipping it in the blood of their victims. They work for the Ice Queen and are hot on Pip's trail. Pip tells Jade to put on the faerie locket and they are transported to the Feywild, the land of the faeries.

The next morning, when Jade wakes up, she finds that her body has morphed from a human body to one of a pixie. Jade cannot believe it. She is a faerie! Pip informs her that they need the help of Vira Wyvernsting to aid in the defeat of the Ice Queen. Both the Sun King and the Ice Queen have lost their magical powers, but somehow the Ice Queen still seems to be able to use her powers and is freezing the land and subjects ruled over by the Sun King, her former husband.

In the Forever Court, the Sun King tells Jade that someone has stolen his trove, which contains all of his magic. If she cannot find this trove, everything she sees here in the Feywild will be destroyed by the Ice Queen. Jade had already seen what the Ice Queen could do when she found the frozen body of Phoenix, the daughter of the Ice Queen and Sun King. Jade also meets Frost, Phoenix's brother, who has plans of his own.

Will Jade be able to figure out who has stolen away the troves of both the Sun King and the Ice Queen? How is the Ice Queen still using her power to freeze the Feywild? Why would the Ice Queen freeze her only daughter in a block of ice? What does Frost have to do with any of this? And finally, will Jade, who is pretending to be Vira Wyvernsting, be able to solve any of these mysteries before the Ice Queen turns the Feywild into a frozen wasteland?

The Faerie Locket is the stand-alone fantasy book and is written by Susan J. Morris. This is her first novel, although she has written some of the Practical Guides books. This book is a companion novel to the book A Practical Guide to Faeries. This book is intended for young readers 10 and up.

Review

The Faerie Locket is a fun story about a young girl who finds herself in a sticky situation. Her dream of traveling to the land of the faeries comes true, but she has to lie to get there. When she does arrive, she finds that the Feywild is a very dangerous place and that her lie is something that weighs heavily upon her. On the other hand, without having lied, would Pip have ever let her travel to the land of the faeries anyway?

Susan J. Morris, whose name I know from reading all three of her Practical Guides books, as created a wonderful story about the land of the faeries. I really liked that she used some of her own past, like using Golden Leaf, which is something she made up as a child and has created her own stories about it, and integrated it into a Dungeons & Dragons story. She does a fine job in her first novel of fleshing out the characters and staying true to the world of D&D.

As with all companion books to Practical Guides books, it is helpful to have read A Practical Guide to Faeries before you read this book, but it is not necessary. Reading the guide could help the reader visualize the land and some of the creatures, understand the Feywild, and comprehend some of the dangers, but you can still read this book and understand everything within it if you don't have a copy of the guide. As the name implies, the guide is only designed to help you.

The main characters in this book are ones that readers will instantly like. Finally, a book has been written in the world of Dungeons & Dragons that is aimed at female young readers, but can still be enjoyed greatly by boys. There is plenty of action in the book as Jade is always on the run while trying to solve the mystery of the missing troves. The Ice Queen is a wicked creature that will surely make the reader shiver in fright.

Overall, The Faerie Locket is a great addition to the companion novels of the Practical Guides series. I always look forward to the companion books as they are filled with action and adventure in the world of Dungeons & Dragons. My hope is that Wizards of the Coast continues to make books for Young Readers and continues to create the companion novels. Let's hope so.

I rated this book an 8 out of 10.