Valiant: A Modern Tale of Faerie

Valiant: A Modern Tale of Faerie

Cover Photo of the paperback edition.
Author Holly Black
Cover artist Sammy Yuen, Jr.
Country United States
Series Modern Tale of Faerie[1]
Genre Young adult fantasy
Publisher Simon & Schuster
Publication date
June 2005
Media type Print (hardcover)
Pages 314 pp (first ed.)
ISBN 0-689-86822-7
OCLC 64442595
LC Class PZ7.B52878 Val 2005[2]
Preceded by Tithe: A Modern Faerie Tale
Followed by Ironside: A Modern Faery's Tale

Valiant: A Modern Tale of Faerie, is a young-adult urban fantasy novel by Holly Black. It was published in 2005 by Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, who recommended it for ages "14 up".[2] Valiant is a sequel to Black's debut novel Tithe: A Modern Faerie Tale, and the second in a trilogy that is sometimes called [A] Modern Tale of Faerie (2002–2007).[1]

Where Tithe is set mainly on the Jersey Shore, Valiant is set in New York City. The two novels share a major premise, or fictional universe, but Valiant also works as a stand-alone story. According to online excerpts from a 2006 Locus interview and short biography of Black, "Valiant (2005) is another contemporary fantasy loosely related to Tithe, and Ironside, a direct sequel to Tithe, is forthcoming."[3]

Valiant won the inaugural Andre Norton Award as the year's best U.S. science fiction or fantasy for young adults as selected by vote of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFFWA).[4] It was also a finalist for the annual Mythopoeic Fantasy Award in children's literature, as Tithe had been.[5]

Plot summary

The book follows the life of runaway Valerie Russell in New York. Valerie is the child of a single mother and is quite tomboyish. At the start of the novel, Val attends high school, is a lacrosse player, and is best friends with the eccentric lesbian-identified Ruth.

Val discovers her boyfriend, Tom, and her mother are having an affair. Betrayed and not sure where to go, Val runs away to New York City. She meets up with a group of teen-squatters, including Lolli (as in lollipop), Dave, and Luis. Val earns the nickname "Prince Valiant" after she helps a drag queen locate her shoe.

She soon learns about the group's contact with a troll, Ravus. He lives beneath a bridge, a reference to the traditional fairy tale "Three Billy Goats Gruff". Ravus also makes "Never", which faeries in exile take in order to resist iron. These exiles are dispersed throughout the city, and Dave and Luis must deliver the glamour to them.

Never can be used as a drug by humans, who can then use magic for a short time. It's highly addictive; a comparison can be drawn between it and heroin. Lolli and Dave introduce Val to "Nevermore", as they call it, and she, like the other squatters, is soon hooked.

Ravus, despite Val's first impressions, is much kinder than he appears. He begins to teach her swordplay and the bond between them strengthens. Val's mounting problems and addiction take a nasty turn, and the trust Ravus has in her is threatened.

Many of the Seelie court exiles are being poisoned and Ravus is blamed. When Ruth arrives, attempting to convince Val to come home, she refuses and Ruth insists she won't leave without Val. Val agrees to go home, but not before saying goodbye to Ravus. She attempts to find him in his alcove, but he is not home, so she finds Ruth, Lolli and Luis by Belvedere Castle. Luis, all the while making sexual thenceforwards with Lolli very unexpectedly, informs her Dave has angrily stormed off, and they all fall asleep in a terrible state. In the middle of the night, Val awakes to see a tree-spirit faerie, who leads her to a festival by the water, where faeries and humans called "sweet tooths" run around freely. Ravus arrives, and delirious and half-starved, Val kisses him. He is pleased, until Mabry arrives as well, where Val realizes Mabry is the one who killed all the Fey. She tries to tell Ravus but Mabry cuts in, telling Ravus Val has been stealing his potions, and she flees as he becomes enraged.

Ruth and Val go to find evidence of Mabry's murders, and they find a harp in which Mabry has strung the hair of those she's killed, including that of Tamson, Ravus' best friend and Mabry's ex-lover. When the hairs are plucked, they sing of their deaths, revealing that Mabry is responsible for Tamson's death and Ravus' exile. The girls also find Luis. The three of them come back to the other Luis and Lolli, and they realize that Dave is impersonating Luis, uncontrollably high off Never he got from Mabry after putting poison in Ravus' potions for her. Dave takes off his glamour, laughing, and falls unconscious. Ruth rushes him to the hospital as Lolli runs off, and Luis and Val rush to find Ravus so he can cure Dave. They find that Mabry has cut out Ravus' heart, and she runs off to the Unseelie Court with it. When she leaves, Val pulls back the curtains and turn Ravus to stone, and Val and Luis pursue Mabry into the Unseelie Court. She challenges Mabry to a first-blood duel for Ravus' heart with the glass sword belonging to Ravus, and after a moment's decision to never use Never again, she fights Mabry on talent alone, stabbing Mabry in the throat. She and Luis rush back to Ravus, and after placing his heart back into his chest, he instantly heals. Ravus gives Luis the tools to go heal his brother, and he and Val finally admit their love for one another.

Eventually, Val decides to leave the streets and return home with Ruth. She and Ravus continually see one another, and Val says she plans to go to NY for college so she can see him. The two kiss, and Val is happy her life is back to normal, with the exception of having a faerie for a boyfriend and never being able to introduce him to her mother.

Characters

Valiant introduces all of these main characters; none are from Tithe. Roiben and Kaye from Tithe do make appearances; Silarial and Nicnevin are referred to by Mabry.

Some fans have pointed out that Lolli, Dave and Luis are similar to Lutie-loo, Gristle and Spike from Tithe, respectively.

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Modern Tale of Faerie series listing at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database. Retrieved 2014-05-07. Select a title to see its linked publication history and general information. Select a particular edition (title) for more data at that level, such as a front cover image or linked contents.
  2. 1 2 "Valiant: a modern tale of faerie". Library of Congress Catalog Record. Retrieved 2014-05-07.
  3. "Holly Black: Through the Maze". Excerpts from interview and biographical profile published in Locus, May 2006. Locus Online. 2006. Retrieved 2014-05-07.
  4. "Holly Black". Science Fiction Awards Database (sfadb.com). Retrieved 2014-05-08.
  5. "Mythopoeic Awards – Fantasy" (list of winners and finalists). Mythopoeic Society. Retrieved 2014-05-08.

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Saturday, February 13, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.