Advent Ghosts 2015: Elf

“Elf!”

            Santa called the entire multitude of workers crammed into the workshop ‘elf’ but Elf knew he was being addressed. He hunched his misshapen shoulders as Santa loomed over him examining the Furby he’d been stuffing. After an eternity Santa grunted and thundered on. Elf sighed and rubbed his elongated ears. They’d been normal once but Santa “Claws” had a grip like an enraged crab. Elf dismissed the thought before it drew Santa’s ire. Santa always knew.

“I won’t be naughty again!” A boy screeched as the reindeer herded him inside.

Elf tutted, had he truly resembled this strange creature?

Review: Codex Born by Jim C. Hines

Isaac Vianio's life is back on track,he is adjusting to his relationship with dryad Lena Greenwood, accepting the fact she has another relationship with Nidhi Shah and has taken on a mentor role to a young libriomancer who has a unique new ability. When Isaac and Lena are called to investigate the murder of a Wendigo they quickly stumble onto something more. A group Gutenberg thought he destroyed years ago is resurfacing and they have plans for Lena.

The magic system was very well thought out and constructed and I was happy to see Hines addressing new areas, such as e-books, and how they are incorporated into it. Lena was the most intriguing character from the first book and each chapter begins with a short extract on her own thoughts on her life. This cleverly shadowed a concept introduced in the book; whether you could incorporate enough key events into a book to recreate a person.

The mix of humour and addressing serious issues is again well balanced and I feel like Hines is definitely maturing as a writer.

Overall another clever, character-driven offering from Hines. 8.5/10.