Windleaf is a pleasant enough fairy tale. Its plot strongly resembles Lord Dunsany's The King of Elfland's Daughter, but the writing is much more accessible for younger fantasy readers.

Although the writing occasionally seems a little contrived and the whole novel is not very thought-provoking, it does have likeable characters, a quickly moving plot and plenty of magic. It is a bit on the generic and shallow side, though, and older readers might just as well pass over this one for Neil Gaiman's much more inventive Stardust or Dunsany's beautiful Elfland's Daughter. Another good bet is Elizabeth Marie Pope's The Perilous Gard, which is set in 16th-century England and deals with fairies; it's quite a bit deeper than Windleaf and feels much more realistic.

by Jennifer Mo
Rambles.NET
14 July 2007