On Silver Wings Takes Flight

Blue Dolphin Publishing, including its fiction imprint, Pelican Pond, specializes in publishing books relating to "alternative" points of view to life, love, mysticism, and more. On the fiction side, there are accounts of UFO abductions and alternate worlds. This is the first of three reviews I'll be doing for them. The second and third reviews will both be posted in our September 2001 edition.

Author Elfie Leddy (whose name my sister pointed out sounds an awful lot like "Elf Lady") provides us a novel-length look at the lives, both past and present, of one Tannis McRae. McRae is a 40-something sculptor living in Vancouver, British Columbia (as does Leddy, who also sculpts), who begins having rather erotic, dreams of a man that appear to take place in the late 1400s. After encountering a tarot card reader, and finding a mysterious book on Magik Spells, Tannis comes to believe she may actually be the reincarnation of a Wicca woman, Tanacea Lagohaire, the Lady of Lianarth.

Soon, she is on a spirit quest --involving her daughter, Linka, and best friend, Josie -- where primarily Tannis must relive 12 strands of Tanacea's old life. The object of her quest: The man of her dreams; the reincarnation of her love and husband, Garth MacCumal. Actually, it is a two-fold quest, for Tannis learns that Tanacea's relationship to the Wicca ways, combined with her ego and temper, indirectly caused the deaths of a thousand of her people. For the quest to be fulfilled, Tannis must somehow find, and reunite, with Garth's current self, and heal the rift between Tanacea and her hated enemy, Giles Kaylon.

Along the way, we are treated to a beautiful mixture of late 20th century Vancouver, as well as parts of England, Wales, and Ireland, and some of their 15th century counterparts. There's plenty of magic thrown in -- including a breathtaking scene at Stonehedge -- as well as dire deeds and consequences, both medieval and modern.

One of the wonderful touches is Leddy's ability to truly "write what she knows" by using her own experience as a sculptor. Tannis' sculpting takes on new meaning as Tanacea's connection to "The Mother" -- the personification of the Earth's mystical energies -- allow her to create stunning sculptures of Tanacea (herself), Garth, and their daughter, Faye. They have been commissioned by a wealthy and reclusive Irish Lord who, unbeknownst to even him, is the reincarnation of Garth. Late in the book, the reader begins to realize that Bryan MacCumal is the many-times removed descendent of Garth's brother, Seamus. He is stunned when the sculptures arrive at his estate. Who is the Enchantress who beckons to him, and the child placed between them? And how can the sculptress have made such an incredible likeness of himself?

I suspect many male readers will pass "On Silver Wings" thinking it a "chick book." Other readers, in general, might be put off with obvious linkages to Leddy -- she does appear to be writing her own, personal story, of reincarnation. The character of Tannis' best friend, Josie, for example, is an aspiring author who actually gets into trouble trying to publish a novel of the quest. In the author bio, it reads at one point: "She believes that self-transformation becomes reality through the expansion of individual consciousness." And, at the novel's conclusion, she writes, in verse form, "This tale is real. The question is; Is it real because I lived it in another time? Or, because I made it up, and live it now?"

However, I thoroughly enjoyed the book. It is well-written, entertaining, and filled with fully realized characters. This is especially so of the women in the story. While Josie and Tannis' daughter, Linka, come across as ditzes, they both are filled with ageless wisdom, insight, and strength. While I could easily say this is simply because Leddy herself is a woman, it is refreshing to find such characters in a fantasy novel.

Other authors, most recently Robert Jordan in his "Wheel of Time" epic, have tried to create such characters. While I, personally, believe Jordan has come close, Leddy has made Tannis, Josie, and Linka, as well as several other women, including Tanacea in the past, more real simply by grounding them in a reality that happens to have magical elements.

It's a rare testament of an author's ability to do this. I felt as though I were reading about real people, easily suspending my disbelief at their situations. Whether I believe in reincarnation, magic, and whatnot is irrelevant -- Leddy accomplished her mission. She has crafted a wonderful tale of love, life, and magic.

What more can you ask for in a good fantasy novel?

Book Review: Elfie Leddy's On Silver Wings

A Mystic Tale of Celtic Love

by Martin L. Cahn

On Silver Wings Takes Flight