Thraxas and the Elvish Isles

Thraxas #4

by Martin Scott

In the fourth book of the Thraxas series, Thraxas is invited to the Elvish Island of Avula. Sailing south means he can avoid the harsh Turanian winter, and escape from Makri, who's recent behaviour has outraged all decent citizens. Makri refuses to be left behind, much to the displeasure of the Turanian Prince, who knows her Orcish blood isn't going to be welcome on any Elvish island. Once there, Thraxas finds himself involved in the puzzling case of the Elvish sacred tree, and Makri starts giving sword-fighting lessons to a very puny young Elf. As a restful holiday, Thraxas's voyage south doesn't work out as well as he hoped. There's a lot more Elvish crime than he expected, and he ends up in conflict with virtually everyone on Avula. This is a new edition with an introduction by the author.

Genres: Fantasy, Mystery, Humor, Fiction

256 pages, Paperback

First published August 3, 2000

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.

A pen name of Martin Millar.

Reviews

[Boneist · Rating 5 out of 5]

Despite the fact that it's formulaic and still has the stilted narration, I really enjoyed this book. Couldn't wait to find out whodunnit!

[Clarence Beeks · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've actually started to ration the Thraxas novels now, knowing there's a finite number. So far they've just got better and better.

[John Chapman · Rating 2 out of 5]

Silly and convoluted story. Not as good as the previous two in the series. Description of the Elivish Island lacks imagination. Trees, parrots and butterflies being almost the sum total of the flora and fauna described. There was an interesting gathering place for elves that liked to drink called something like, "3 oaks and river". The dwa in the sacred pool was absurd. Also, I thought Makri’s character was somehow different. Perhaps it’s because she featured far more? Preferred her characterisation in the previous books.

[Veselin Nikolov · Rating 5 out of 5]

Probably the best Thraxas so far. I know it's less Thraxas than the other 3 but it's the most mysterious and balanced one. It's an almost pure fantasy crime story.

Thraxas and Makri will go to an Elven island to work on a murder case. A dear friend and war buddy asked Thraxas for help because his daughter was arrested and is likely to be prosecuted for the crimes she likely committed.

There will be alcohol and Makri will wield her swords. No axe.

[Darren · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is series is not great literature, but it's a lot of fun to read. This was my favorite of the books so far. I loved the subplot of Makri as a teacher, and Thraxas shows off his Investigator skills more in this book than the others, where I felt he just slogged along until clues were thrown at him.

[B · Rating 5 out of 5]

This series gets more funny and over-the-top with each iteration. People involved in educating the young to be resilient have a lot to learn from Scott's ideas. This volume offered even more literally laugh-out-loud moments than the last. Brilliant.

[Nathan · Rating 3 out of 5]

The eponymous loudmouth, reasonably obnoxious investigator finds mystery and beer in the lands of the elves. Not Thraxas' best outing. Scott spends too much time being clever about fantasy elf tropes and not enough on the plot. Rated PG for some violence, drug use and adult themes. 2.5/5