Review: The Battle Sylph

The Battle Sylph by L.J. McDonald

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I downloaded this book for free through Barnes & Noble's Free Book Fridays promotion.

Once again, the editors in charge of the free books have outdone themselves. They've consistently managed to recommend books that are not major bestsellers but are still intriguing nonetheless. I enjoyed this book greatly, and while the general content was only worthy of three stars, the sheer originality of the worldbuilding took it up to four stars, easily.

In this world, men are allowed to create a bond with sylphs. These sylphs are beings from another dimension, almost like elemental spirits. Different kingdoms have different rules about who can bond with a sylph--in some, the king doles out the bonds, and in others, even middle class families can have a sylph. Only the priests know how the summon sylphs, so even in the least restrictive kingdoms, there are still gatekeepers that decide who can have a sylph and who cannot. Most sylphs have the power to manipulate one element--air, earth, fire, water. However, there is another class of sylphs--the battle sylphs. These are given only to the king's most trusted men, whether they're nobles, commoners, or soldiers. To summon a battle sylph is not easy, and it requires the death of a virgin female.

Solie decides to run away from her family after her father arranges a marriage for her with someone three times her age. However, before she can find refuge with her beloved aunt, Solie is kidnapped by soldiers and taken to the castle to be a sacrifice for the battle sylph. Something goes wrong in the summoning, though, and the sylph bonds with Solie rather than the young prince. A bond like this has never been heard of before, and Solie and the sylph find themselves hunted outlaws.

Their bond is the stuff that can destroy whole worlds . . . or make a new one.

The relationship between Solie and her sylph was a little too unbelievable for me. The novel walks a fine line between fantasy and some kind of romance/captivity/empowerment story. The fact that McDonald is still able to tell a coherent story while walking that line is remarkable. I don't know if I'll read the second book in this series or not. However, I am very glad that I downloaded this one. It was the perfect light read when I wanted to destress.



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