DWARF STORY

A middle-grade fantasy by Professor W. W. Marplot

For Arty to miss a day of school, either he is very, very sick or a fairytale-character turf-war has begun in his backyard — such as what begins this particular Wednesday. First, he finds an ax-swinging, bearded, sweaty warrior Dwarf scaring his dogs. Soon enough, Emma, Cry and other middle-school friends also find fairy creatures — Elves, Spriggans, Pixies, and a hoped-for Dragon — crashing into their normal homework-doing, backpack-carrying, phone-charging schooldays.

Why are these magical beings here? What should be done? Is that axe sharp? Can Pixies be given aspirin?

Arty with his friends — and spying jerks, and questionable strangers with long names — follow the clues and try to find out, even as things turn dark and dangerous.

The mythical beings are taking sides. The Gwyllion, that legendary Old Woman of the Mountains, has a sinister plan, turning the neighborhood into a fantasy battleground. One that awaits young heroes.

EXCERPT

I found a Dwarf, and there is something funny growing in my yard.

That’s what I was thinking as the Dwarf—short, rectangular, and grunting—and I ran through the woods, early in the morning, trotting away from the bus stop, his breath like fog, his beard like a flapping flag, and his axe like a swarm of wasps—which was making me very nervous, even though he hadn’t stung anyone with it.

Yet.

He made me miss the bus.

I kept running. He followed me, and I followed him.

I didn’t have a beard to sway or an axe to swing, but in compar- ison, my overstuffed backpack bounced back and forth behind me and released loose school notes and to-do lists to the wind and to the ground.

A Dwarf and a funny thing in my yard, I thought, again.

I didn’t want to worry about that funny thing yet, and since it wasn’t following me and my new, strange, dangerous, and impossible friend, it was easy to forget.

But the Dwarf—a wide, muscular, fantasy-warrior Dwarf—was easy to remember and hard to ignore. When he followed me, I led him: from the corner bus stop and away into the wet morning trees. As we ran, I grasped for breaths and for reasons why: why I found a Dwarf this Wednesday, why he followed me, and why I followed him. And what: what should I do with him? And whether: was I still asleep? And another why: why were my dreams now about fantasy characters? I hate that stuff and am more of a scientist who likes math and logic and making lists of things to do before doing them—and keeping them on color-coded sticky notes like the ones flying from my bag and leaving a pretty trail behind us.

This was like those games other kids play, rolling dice shaped like extra-credit geometry, pretending to have swords and sorcery, imagining Elves and Orcs fighting, arguing over treasure and whether charisma is better than a catapult and how many dragons fit in a dungeon. There aren’t even any rules to that nonsense.

But there I was, a human running wildly with a fantasy character whose axe had already killed a tree, scared my dogs, and made me make at least two bad decisions already. He kept yelling things in some strange language that sounded like how cement mixers might communicate. And I couldn’t even stop to keep track of it, or take notes or pictures, or anything.

~Follow the Goddess Fish book tour

Review

This was an interesting take on fairy tales, fairies in general, and a modern-world mix. The description sounded like a great time had by all. I dove in ready to get swept away but wound up not getting as swept as I hoped.

I’m not sure exactly why I didn’t get into this as much as I expected to. To hazard some guesses—it might have been the sort of false start combined with multiple POV characters in first person. Honestly, I don’t usually have an issue with more than one first-person POV, but it didn’t quite do it for me here. I think it’s because the characters sounded too similar. They had very different and interesting traits, but their voices weren’t too distinct. They all did a lot of speaking/thinking ironically and repeating themselves, which got to be a bit much after a while. As a result, I felt left out of their loop and like I was lagging behind in some places.

The ending was pretty cool (no spoilers, kids). My reasons for not getting into this are pretty subjective, so if this type of writing style doesn’t bother you, give this a try. There are kids having issues and magical books in cool libraries. When isn’t that a reason to at least try a book?

About Professor W. W. Marplot

Professor Welkin Westicotter Marplot, of Coillemuir, Scotland, is a collector of esoteric tales of global wisdom and curator of ancient manuscripts. He is a recluse and, as he claims, has been collecting and collating adventure and fantasy stories for over a century.

Giveaway

Professor W. W. Marplot will be awarding a $10 Amazon or Barnes and Noble GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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