I just couldn't get back into the world, despite moderately liking the first book of this series. I haven't finished it and I don't expect to -- but I think if you are into the world and the writing of this duo, it'll be great!

An Apprentice to Elves by Elizabeth Bear and Sarah Monette
This story presents elves in a different light than the fair haired, pointy eared elves of Lord of the Rings. Elves do live underground in this book and Tin, an elven smith has a human apprentice, Alfgyfa. Alfgyfa is silver-blond and of the Northmen. Specifically she grew up in a wolfheall which is a wolf centered hall of those who have wolf brothers. The story focuses on interracial tension and the invasion of Rhean troops. Rheans show all the characteristics of Romans.

The relationship between Tin and Alfgyfa is mildly tumultuous. The long lived elves have a very conservative outlook. Alfgyfa on the other hand is impulsive and inventive. The inevitable clashes occur.

If you have read my previous reviews, you are aware I have a deep and abiding fondness for anthropomorphism so I loved the wolf/man bond. The invasion of the Rheans and the results provide the meat of the plot.

The characterizations were very well done. I liked the recognition that intolerance and fear of difference can be overcome. Would be a better world of we could transport some tolerance and overcome some prejudice in the real world.

I enjoyed the book and recommend it.

(I received a free copy of this book from Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.)

Sarah Monette and Elizabeth Bear return with the third book in their Iskryne trilogy, An Apprentice to Elves. The trilogy began with A Companion to Wolves, and continued in The Tempering of Men. This novel picks up the story of Alfgyfa, a young woman who has been raised in the Wolfhall by her father Isolfr, who is the human leader of the queen-wolf Viridechtis' pack, and was the protagonist of the first book.
The warrior culture of Iskryne forbids many things to women-and most especially it forbids them bonding to one of the giant telepathic trellwolves. But as her father was no ordinary boy, Alfgyfa is no ordinary girl. Her father has long planned to send his daughter to Tin, a matriarch among the elves who live nearby, to be both apprentice and ambassador, and now she is of age to go.

*2.5 stars*

This is the third book in the Iskryne World series. While it is extremely important to read the first two books to follow the narrative and character developments and motivations, this isn't the worst "Book 3" to read on its own. Certainly not a standalone, but it is possible to read - and understand - this book without necessarily reading the first 2.

Now to review - this is hard. The first two books were really strong in both world-building and characters. I really did get immersed in "A Companion to Wolves" - it stood out for me as something quite unique and irresistible. The following book, The Tempering of Men, wasn't AS revolutionary for me but still told a fantastic story.

And that brings us to this one...

The world-building is still there. I love the descriptions, the history, the cultures - all of that works so wonderfully well. But where this one fails to deliver is in the characters. And when there as sooooooo many of them, all with Norse/Middle English names that are very hard to keep straight (certainly that was the case for me), they have to be really good characters to stand out from each other. And they just don't. The "hero" of the story, Alfgyfa, was just so dull that I really had no concern for what happened to her. It felt like "Let's create a really strong female MC...what should we make her do?...Dunno...." I know that sounds harsh but she just didn't come across very well as a main character.

Other letdowns for this story were the pacing (very hard to keep momentum up when every few pages we stop to describe something else in the world for a few pages...); the political intrigue between the races never seemed to be fully realised - I think the balance was out between world-building, characters, plot and pacing.

While I may have only given this a 2.5 star rating, I am still going to recommend this series to people as I think it was very good as a whole and maybe, just maybe, I may be alone in being disappointed in the ending...


Paul
ARH

Take a world where Remus defeated Romulus and founded a city that went out to conquer the world. Add in wolves and men bonding together in the Northlands where trolls and elves exist. That is the background for this addition to Monette and Bear's series where Northmen (think Scandinavians) face off against the invading Rheans. Plenty of action, plenty of character development, and plenty of story for the reader to chew upon. Now, i will need to go back and get the earlier volumes while waiting for a new tale set in this world.