Valiant – a modern fairy tale

Valiant – a modern fairy tale, by Holly Black **

I read Tithe by the same author a year or so ago and loved it. I am sorry to say that Valiant is pretty much the same story, only without the elements that made Tithe so lovable.

A young girl – Val – runs away from her home and fins some squatters in New York whom she decides to stay with. These three teenagers, Lolli, Dave and Loui, run errands to pay of a debt, but when their customers start dying, they quickly get a lot of nasty surprises.
For one, their dept holder is a troll.
Second, the customers are fairies – mermaids, ogres, and so on.
Thirdly, the ‘fairy dust’ they’ve been delivering has a real kick on humans – it almost makes them fairies themselves. But it is very, very addictive.

This story is trying to be a love story, a growing-up story, an adventure story all at once. It’s...barely making it. Mostly because apart from Val there is no one really likable in this story. Even one of my all-time favourites the now Elven King of the Unseelie Court, Rath Roiben Ray, makes a very bleak (ha! the pun!) appearance.
But I kind of liked the troll Ravus.
Not really worth the effort, but at the other hand the story barely offers any resistance, so any effect of effort is quickly paid of. Buy and read for a train ride, and expect no more, no less.

Oh, yes an other question that begs to be addressed…a lot of people (read: Americans) seem horribly offended by the fact that there is a relationship between an older woman and a teenage boy. He is seventeen. He’s above the age of consent. It’s not a crime. Get over it.
Or at least, be offended by the drug abuse questions, the theft or the lot more squicky relation going down (se below). Honestly, some people…

Spoiler: Highlight to see.
Hmm….in Tithe, the girl gets the elven King. In Valiant, the girl gets the troll. Blacks taste’s are rapidly deteriorating…..

Scraps: And you know the Ring-tequila game? Might be done in this book using the word ‘urine’. Just call 112 first.

More scraps: All the little details, such as referring to Warcraft and (I’m not kidding here) Really supposed to be King, will mean this book is as outdated as I am in just a few years.