The Ungifted Elf

Disclaimer: I won this book in a Firstreads giveaway. I am reviewing this book/short story on two different levels. First (and foremost), the story. Good story. It held my interest and engaged me, making me care about the characters and what happened to them. A good mix of action/adventure and introspective narrative. I think it is appropriate for middle aged readers. With only a couple of exceptions focused on sexuality that are not explained well enough for a young reader to understand. They weren't graphic but could lead to some confusion. I think this story could be expanded into a full length novel and even be a platform to launch a series around these characters. I would be interested in following the adventures of Eckxio. Will he reconnect with Daneera? Will we learn more about Nana? There seems to me to be adequate fodder for future writing. Second, The mechanics of the book. It's hard to identify what exactly is going on here. At times it reads as though it was not written originally in English. A kind of clunky translation. Or, perhaps, it was edited by spell check and auto correct. Many incorrect words (spelled correctly) such as "vanish" where "vanquish" was probably meant, "from where it came from", "retrieved" instead of "retreated". These are mechanical problems which can be remedied with proper editing. I understand how difficult editing a book can be as I have helped in that process recently. These problems unfortunately detracted from my overall enjoyment of the story. It was impossible to maintain a comfortable flow of reading because I had to keep trying to figure out what the proper word should be. Mechanical issues aside, I truly enjoyed the story and look forward to reading more of A.J. Martinez's work.