Reviewed by Sadonna
TITLE: Elf Defence
SERIES: Adventures in Aguillon
AUTHORS: Lisa Henry and Sarah Honey
NARRATOR: Nick J. Russo
PUBLISHER: Self-published
LENGTH: 6 hours and 32 minutes1
RELEASE DATE: March 17, 2021
BLURB:
Royal envoys Calarian and Benji embark on a quest in the alpine duchy of Tournel. Things go rapidly downhill when the duke plummets to his death from the tower wall. Whoops – that’s going to be hard to explain. And it’s not as though they can just grab the nearest human and make him the new duke.
Or can they?
Enter one Lars Melker, a slightly gullible cowherd built entirely of muscles and sunshine, who happily accepts their word when they tell him he’s the duke now.
Soon, Calarian and Benji are knee deep in teaching Lars how to fake it until he makes it. They’re also dealing with mountain trolls, a monster, a missing cow, and, most shocking of all, a growing realisation that their elves-with-benefits arrangement might be turning into something with feelings.
Add in their mutual attraction to Lars, and suddenly the hills are alive with the sound of emotionally compromised collectivist anarchist elves.
Also, what’s the deal with those leather shorts?
REVIEW:
Note: This is the second in a series and as such contains major spoilers for Book 1. I highly recommend listing to these in order as this story takes place pretty directly after the events of Book 1.
Cal and his “cousin” but not biological cousin Benji are two elves who have helped the now kings of Aguillon return to their rightful place on the throne. But Cal is always looking for a quest, and Benji just wants to rabble rouse and overthrow the “oppressors” everywhere he goes. So the kings of Aguillon send them to Tournel to help the duke with the little problem of Mountain trolls who are wreaking havoc in the duchy. It’s a beautiful alpine village – so picturesque and lovely. Alas, upon their first meeting with the Duke, he falls to his death from the tower. Because Cal cannot leave the quest unfulfilled, they decide to appoint the next person they find as the next Duke. Luckily in walks Lars Melker, local cow herd who has come to ask for help locating a missing cow. He also happens to be a son of the now deceased duke, so Cal and Benji take that as a sign that he should be appointed the new duke 🙂 Lars goes along with it because Benji and Cal tell him that the old Duke mentioned him as his heir – a not quite at all truth 😉
There is still the question of the Mountain Trolls. Luckily Cal has some insight there, and between Lars, Benji and Cal, they think they know why the Trolls are “attacking” the village. They test their theory and it seems sound, although a historical village fountain does take a bit of a beating 😛 and Gunther, another of the residents of Tournel is very unhappy – about everything. Luckily there are some other townsfolk who appreciate the help = including Gretchen the blacksmith, Hannah, the baker’s apprentice, Greta, the librarian/lawyer and even Jacob, leader of the Tournellian guards.
While investigating the Troll attacks, it seems that they trolls have been frightened by something and that is causing them to run. Lars and Benji and Cal set off to find the monster. In the meantime, Benji and Cal have kept up their “friends with benefits relationship” and they are both keen to bring Lars into the fold 😉 While out on their search, they run into a couple of old friends from their previous quest 🙂 And there are a few more surprises. Turns out the explanation resolved a number of mysteries and the monster is no more.
But upon return to Tournel, it seems that Gunther has taken matters into his own hands and has decided to arrest the three for treason. Needless to say this is not part of the quest1 And Cal and Benji and Lars are thrown into absolute chaos trying to find a way out of the mess they have unwittingly caused for Lars and the rest of Tournel. Luckily there are a lot of allies and some hilarious diversions and outlandish plans and witnesses that help save them 😀
While I didn’t love this one quite as much as the first book in this series, it was still a very enjoyable romp. So much humor and fun and lots of great cameos from the heroes and characters in the first book as well made this a super addition to this series. We met the elves Cal and Benji in the first story as they are elves that help to restore the rightful king of Aguillon – in a most unconventional way 🙂 and now in their role as envoys of the kings, they take on a new quest. Cal and his questing – much to Benji’s dismay – seem to lead them astray when all Benji wants to do is overthrow the rich and give to the poor – but Tournel seems to be a place where that is not only unnecessary but unwanted. The secondary characters in this one are fabulous – just like the first book, especially Gretchen and Hannah and the villainous Gunther 😉 The cameos and surprise appearances of famous characters from other realms are fun also. The one thing I would have liked more of was the evolution of the relationship between Lars, Cal and Benji. It seems a little more glossed over than the first book and I missed more scenes of intimacy and discovery.
As usual, Nick Russo does a fantastic job of narrating this chapter of the story. There are a lot of new characters and familiar characters from the last book and all were voiced superbly. You cannot go wrong with a Nick Russo narration. Highly recommended and I cannot wait for book 3 😀
RATING: 
BUY LINKS:
Audible