Faylinn

Another project that started as a simple challenge that quickly morphed into something far more complicated and unexpectedly invigorating. Faylinn is a YA fantasy novel focusing on the trials and tribulations of two Ellu, which are my personal interpretations and renditions of traditional fae. Each tribe of Ellu is based on a different “real” fairy with a compilation of similar fairy traits to give them their own twist. I love symbolism, the elements, symmetry, and color-coding, and this world is chock-full of it. Work began on this story in earnest in the spring of 2018 and is still a work in progress.

SYNOPSIS:

In the land of Faylinn live the seven tribes of Ellu: the Keshali of the mountains, the Jan of the plains, the Miren of the forest, the Ballobog of the swamplands, the Haliai of the sea, the Dverg of the caverns, and the Mazikeen of the desert. Each tribe is uniquely suited to their homeland and have a special power that manifests by singing a “key-note,” which is audible only to members of that tribe. The Ellu have been ruled for centuries by the whims of the seven Bakru, mysterious and powerful overlords that hold the land in thrall. Every seven years, the Ellu must tithe several of their people to the Bakru as both protection and appeasement. 

Asa of the Keshali Tribe is a “grey-eyes,” an outcast among her people. When her grandmother, her only remaining family, is taken for the Tithe, Asa vows to rescue her. In desperation, she breaks the long-standing rule of isolation and travels to the nearby Miren tribe to seek help. There she discovers that she alone among the Ellu can hear the key-notes of the other tribes. Together with a crippled boy from the Jan tribe named Tal and unexpected allies among the other Ellu tribes, Asa must unravel the mystery that connects the Bakru and the grey-eyes if she is to have any hope of saving her grandmother and fellow Ellu.