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Shadows over Alfar #1
The Dark Legend
Wren Xavier prizes loyalty above all else. So when someone murders her only friend in the world, the magical superspy swears she’ll bring the killer to justice. But her only lead is the megalomaniacal ambassador from the enchanted land of elves – who couldn’t possibly have committed the crime.
Pursuing her quarry to his home country, the thirty-nine-year-old covert operative finds herself in over her head in a culture she doesn’t understand. And when she discovers a link between the suspect, a sinister artifact, and a psychotic assassin, falling for the lovely captain of the guard may be the mistake that puts them both in the ground.
Can Wren expose a conspiratorial coup , or will her quest for vengeance meet with fatal failure?
The Dark Legend is the page-turning first book in the Shadows over Alfar queer, fantasy-espionage mashup series. If you like strong LGBTQ+ characters, swords and sorcery, and action that’s shaken, not stirred, then you’ll love Phoebe Ravencraft’s electrifying adventure.
Content This novel contains scenes of religious trauma and family rejection that may be upsetting to some readers.
Pursuing her quarry to his home country, the thirty-nine-year-old covert operative finds herself in over her head in a culture she doesn’t understand. And when she discovers a link between the suspect, a sinister artifact, and a psychotic assassin, falling for the lovely captain of the guard may be the mistake that puts them both in the ground.
Can Wren expose a conspiratorial coup , or will her quest for vengeance meet with fatal failure?
The Dark Legend is the page-turning first book in the Shadows over Alfar queer, fantasy-espionage mashup series. If you like strong LGBTQ+ characters, swords and sorcery, and action that’s shaken, not stirred, then you’ll love Phoebe Ravencraft’s electrifying adventure.
Content This novel contains scenes of religious trauma and family rejection that may be upsetting to some readers.
412 pages, Paperback
Published September 28, 2023
206 people are currently reading
432 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
April 24, 2025
I really wanted to like this one more than I did, and that's why it's so disappointing that it fell short of that expectation. I “finished” it, but I did start skimming at around 70% because I was just ready for it to end lol
This fantasy world can't decide if it's more modern or medieval, and I was never able to really get a clear picture. We’re supposedly on “Earth,” we have pseudo-Russia and pseudo-France, whatever Urland is ambiguously meant to represent (UK? US?), and then weird, hyper-religious Rivendell and Lothlórien, I guess, just chilling in the south? Sometimes there’s advanced technology, sometimes there are horse-drawn carriages. Who tf knows what’s been invented and what hasn’t. Not me!
The magic system is unique, but it doesn't make a lot of sense. Wren's medallion, for example, that can instantly translate any language she hears and allow her to speak any language she wants with just a thought - how does that shit work?? No explanations, though, just a grouchy old wizard (doctor??) who supposedly created it with the generic reasoning of ~*~magic~*~ making it possible. What magic, though? Whose magic? Where does it come from? What is it fueled by? Why is there a difference between the magic used by the elves and the magic granted by the Rift? What is the Rift? Why is there just one dude with a flying carpet?? So many questions with exactly zero answers.
One of the most distracting and persistent issues was the presumed lack of editing. If this was proofread at all before publication, I would seriously ask the author to look into hiring a new editor... I encountered a painfully high number of mistakes that were missed entirely, including a few instances where Wren's name was inexplicably changed to Wolf - not sure if that was a typo/auto-correction or if that was originally meant to be Wren's name in the draft stage. I'm also thinking it's possible that Wren was originally written as a man, as I started to notice the pronouns being swapped around from she/her to he/him quite a lot at around 40%. Regardless, there were also a ton of repeated words, missing words, other typos, misspellings, and grammatical errors that came up so frequently it became disheartening. While I may not agree with every writer's style and methodology, I do believe that every writer deserves a good editor to give their work the best chance at success, and that didn’t happen here.
Another thing that bothered me was Wren being such a blatant horn dog for absolutely no contextual reason. Like, we get it. She's gay. Honestly love that for her, and I was looking forward to a fresh and diverse take on sapphic fantasy but found myself wishing Wren's sexuality wasn't her entire personality. And she's attracted to literally every woman she interacts with??? She was in love with her best friend, she had the hots for her waitress at the Debonney Club, she "felt herself falling for" Simone after literally just meeting her and continued to be annoyingly enamored with her (and even had sex with her after getting her drunk because that's normal and good ¯\_(ツ)_/¯), and of course May is still somehow considered the most immeasurably beautiful woman she's ever seen upon first contact. This kind of writing just perpetuates the harmful stereotype that queer people are immediately wildly attracted to every other member of the same sex they encounter. Wren complains about the selfish attitudes and crude motives of men, but her inner thoughts make her no better than one of the creepy dudes she's constantly hating on. I just could not get over her blatant and consistent hypocrisy. She says it "makes her uncomfortable" when men look at her desirably, but she openly ogles and drools over every woman that exists near her.
For instance, one of the most ludicrous lines that had me just absolutely baffled:
"You speak Elfin?" she said, raising her eyebrows. It was extremely sexy.
Why??? How are raised eyebrows sexy? How is this relevant? What is the point of even mentioning it? Ugh, GAG. This woman is embarrassingly horny.
This feels like the author wanted to write two very different novels - a covert political espionage thriller and a contemporary romance fantasy adventure - and forced everything into one. These are genres that have crossed and blended well before, but the result here just doesn't work for me. Maybe if the state of the world had been more fleshed out and explained in better detail, it would come across as a more concise and appealing framework for the story, but as it is now, it's confusing, disjointed, and awkward to read.
The most fantasy-imbued part of this whole ordeal was the Conquest scene, and that's a little disappointing considering this is a "fantasy" novel and the only good nod to the genre was the "fantasy-themed" card game.
I wish this had been better, but it is what it is. It’s a fine book for some, but it’s a flop for me. :/
This fantasy world can't decide if it's more modern or medieval, and I was never able to really get a clear picture. We’re supposedly on “Earth,” we have pseudo-Russia and pseudo-France, whatever Urland is ambiguously meant to represent (UK? US?), and then weird, hyper-religious Rivendell and Lothlórien, I guess, just chilling in the south? Sometimes there’s advanced technology, sometimes there are horse-drawn carriages. Who tf knows what’s been invented and what hasn’t. Not me!
The magic system is unique, but it doesn't make a lot of sense. Wren's medallion, for example, that can instantly translate any language she hears and allow her to speak any language she wants with just a thought - how does that shit work?? No explanations, though, just a grouchy old wizard (doctor??) who supposedly created it with the generic reasoning of ~*~magic~*~ making it possible. What magic, though? Whose magic? Where does it come from? What is it fueled by? Why is there a difference between the magic used by the elves and the magic granted by the Rift? What is the Rift? Why is there just one dude with a flying carpet?? So many questions with exactly zero answers.
One of the most distracting and persistent issues was the presumed lack of editing. If this was proofread at all before publication, I would seriously ask the author to look into hiring a new editor... I encountered a painfully high number of mistakes that were missed entirely, including a few instances where Wren's name was inexplicably changed to Wolf - not sure if that was a typo/auto-correction or if that was originally meant to be Wren's name in the draft stage. I'm also thinking it's possible that Wren was originally written as a man, as I started to notice the pronouns being swapped around from she/her to he/him quite a lot at around 40%. Regardless, there were also a ton of repeated words, missing words, other typos, misspellings, and grammatical errors that came up so frequently it became disheartening. While I may not agree with every writer's style and methodology, I do believe that every writer deserves a good editor to give their work the best chance at success, and that didn’t happen here.
Another thing that bothered me was Wren being such a blatant horn dog for absolutely no contextual reason. Like, we get it. She's gay. Honestly love that for her, and I was looking forward to a fresh and diverse take on sapphic fantasy but found myself wishing Wren's sexuality wasn't her entire personality. And she's attracted to literally every woman she interacts with??? She was in love with her best friend, she had the hots for her waitress at the Debonney Club, she "felt herself falling for" Simone after literally just meeting her and continued to be annoyingly enamored with her (and even had sex with her after getting her drunk because that's normal and good ¯\_(ツ)_/¯), and of course May is still somehow considered the most immeasurably beautiful woman she's ever seen upon first contact. This kind of writing just perpetuates the harmful stereotype that queer people are immediately wildly attracted to every other member of the same sex they encounter. Wren complains about the selfish attitudes and crude motives of men, but her inner thoughts make her no better than one of the creepy dudes she's constantly hating on. I just could not get over her blatant and consistent hypocrisy. She says it "makes her uncomfortable" when men look at her desirably, but she openly ogles and drools over every woman that exists near her.
For instance, one of the most ludicrous lines that had me just absolutely baffled:
"You speak Elfin?" she said, raising her eyebrows. It was extremely sexy.
Why??? How are raised eyebrows sexy? How is this relevant? What is the point of even mentioning it? Ugh, GAG. This woman is embarrassingly horny.
This feels like the author wanted to write two very different novels - a covert political espionage thriller and a contemporary romance fantasy adventure - and forced everything into one. These are genres that have crossed and blended well before, but the result here just doesn't work for me. Maybe if the state of the world had been more fleshed out and explained in better detail, it would come across as a more concise and appealing framework for the story, but as it is now, it's confusing, disjointed, and awkward to read.
The most fantasy-imbued part of this whole ordeal was the Conquest scene, and that's a little disappointing considering this is a "fantasy" novel and the only good nod to the genre was the "fantasy-themed" card game.
I wish this had been better, but it is what it is. It’s a fine book for some, but it’s a flop for me. :/
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 21, 2023
Is this game of thrones or what? Because the amount of people I liked dying was soul crushing
Jokes apart (is it a joke though?), this is a funny, heart-aching story that took me hostage through it and I was thanking it by the end. I truly hope won't be very longer till next book is here, because I want to know more about this world and its magic.
So in short, there were a very interesting plot and characters. We got to see multiple POV, mostly Wren and her (maybe?) bae, the others are quick-ish glimpses so we have an idea of what's going on all around. Which added to the story, IMHO, but not to the point that it's detrimental to us connecting with the MC.
Mind you, the book could do with one last editing. Because there's a a few mix ups with pronouns and character's names here and there, but nothing outrageous. Just a bit disorienting on occasion.
Jokes apart (is it a joke though?), this is a funny, heart-aching story that took me hostage through it and I was thanking it by the end. I truly hope won't be very longer till next book is here, because I want to know more about this world and its magic.
So in short, there were a very interesting plot and characters. We got to see multiple POV, mostly Wren and her (maybe?) bae, the others are quick-ish glimpses so we have an idea of what's going on all around. Which added to the story, IMHO, but not to the point that it's detrimental to us connecting with the MC.
Mind you, the book could do with one last editing. Because there's a a few mix ups with pronouns and character's names here and there, but nothing outrageous. Just a bit disorienting on occasion.
September 27, 2025
The concept is great - political intrigue, elves, lesbians, spies, yes, awesome.
Unfortunately, the author was unable to pull off a successful execution of any of the elements of the premise. None of the characters have depth; they're stereotypes who act As The Plot Demands whether or not those actions are consistent with how the characters have been introduced. The "politics" read as though they were written by a middle-schooler trying to fake an assignment for a social studies class; they're juvenile, blunt, and frankly internally inconsistent. The only reason the protagonist succeeds is plot armor derived from main character syndrome. The most interesting thing about the book is the concept of the (potentially corrupting) Rift, but I suspect that's because it's not been explained, and that any explanation would be as deeply childish as the rest of the story turned out to be.
Unfortunately, the author was unable to pull off a successful execution of any of the elements of the premise. None of the characters have depth; they're stereotypes who act As The Plot Demands whether or not those actions are consistent with how the characters have been introduced. The "politics" read as though they were written by a middle-schooler trying to fake an assignment for a social studies class; they're juvenile, blunt, and frankly internally inconsistent. The only reason the protagonist succeeds is plot armor derived from main character syndrome. The most interesting thing about the book is the concept of the (potentially corrupting) Rift, but I suspect that's because it's not been explained, and that any explanation would be as deeply childish as the rest of the story turned out to be.
December 19, 2024
Great characters, too political
I loved the world building, magic, and the character development and growth in the Dark Legend. Wren Xavier is hilarious and playful and a badass, but the book was a bit too political for my taste. It took me a bit to get through it. The end, when a lot was happening, caught my attention. But the elf cities and homes were beautifully described and I'm always a sucker for friendship love. If you don't mind the politics, then you would have a great time with this fun, bad ass, saphic romance.
I loved the world building, magic, and the character development and growth in the Dark Legend. Wren Xavier is hilarious and playful and a badass, but the book was a bit too political for my taste. It took me a bit to get through it. The end, when a lot was happening, caught my attention. But the elf cities and homes were beautifully described and I'm always a sucker for friendship love. If you don't mind the politics, then you would have a great time with this fun, bad ass, saphic romance.
April 14, 2024
Well! This is a wild read! It has a sort of female James Bond meets Fae meets Russian war villain vibe. It's honestly a mash-up I didn't know I needed!
Wren Xavier is a shadow agent and is sent on mission to investigate Silverleaf, the Elven ambassador.
Cue lots of subterfuge, clever gadgets and nefarious behaviour.
Looking forward to book 2!
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
Wren Xavier is a shadow agent and is sent on mission to investigate Silverleaf, the Elven ambassador.
Cue lots of subterfuge, clever gadgets and nefarious behaviour.
Looking forward to book 2!
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
March 13, 2025
It really took me a while to get into the world building and lore, but gotta say the political aspect really did get me hooked! The romance is also solid while still having action enough that I could get on board with! Only downside was some of the language was a little anachronistic ("smiled sexily" being one line that felt awkward to me) Still, really glad I stick with it and will be continuing this series!
February 8, 2024
Oh wow. I have been on the edge of my seat for the entirety of this book, it really is that good. The characters are awesome, both the good and the bad ones, the plot is fantastic and the writing flows with an ease and beauty that often eludes many authors. Highly recommended.
May 30, 2025
I was looking forward to a strong follow up to the best friend being murdered but somehow Wren takes on every beautiful spicy woman in the universe, country, elvin world. I love a good secret agent tale but this first fantasy in the series may be too complex
November 26, 2024
Not for me, I struggled to get into this one.
December 31, 2024
I love magic & mystery & strong female heroes & this book has all three!!!
December 31, 2024
I really enjoyed this book. Listened on Audible. Loved having elves in the story. Love the Sapphic storyline.
March 18, 2025
Explosive💣💥. Wren portrayed a spirit of inner strength that was inspiring❗May turned out to be Wrens saving grace and a guardian angel. This was a definitely inspiring story.
🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟❗
🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟❗
August 12, 2025
Started real good, then
Then some stopped making sense. Ended up skimming thru the last few chapters.
Thought i found a great series in the beginning but it didnt cut it for me.
Then some stopped making sense. Ended up skimming thru the last few chapters.
Thought i found a great series in the beginning but it didnt cut it for me.
January 27, 2024
Interesting
Well this is a different twist of the fantasy genre. A story woven around concepts of spycraft, Cold War, faith, with a dash of fanatical terrorism. Took a bit for it to reel me in but left me ready to grab the next book.
Well this is a different twist of the fantasy genre. A story woven around concepts of spycraft, Cold War, faith, with a dash of fanatical terrorism. Took a bit for it to reel me in but left me ready to grab the next book.
November 30, 2024
I wanted to like this so much more than I did. I met the author at a book festival and she was lovely! I enjoyed the sapphic romance elements, but the overarching plot couldn’t hold my attention, which is why it took so long to read.
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews