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Quest for the Elf King’s Sword
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
July 8, 2026
Love, love, love—that's what I feel.
Is it perfect? Probably not, but it’s K.L. Noone, and the author has once again managed to brighten my day.
I’m not sure if I caught all the references, but just having Van Halen, The Neverending Story, and Star Wars as references in a single story—and then all that atmosphere of ’80s fantasy movies in the background—oh, that was wonderful.
The relationship between Sebastian and Eirian is a second-chance story, and unfortunately, we don't know their backstory—we only learn a few details here. I wouldn't mind reading the original story as an epic fantasy... dear author... maybe... pretty please...
Oh, it was wonderfully sweet and painful to watch the two of them trying so hard to show their feelings for each other but not daring to do so.
I shed quite a few tears, even though it wasn’t actually sad at all, but somehow it touched me deeply.
The plot is pretty minimal, so you shouldn’t expect too much there. The ending was pretty short and wrapped up quickly. I would have liked to find out more. But well, if you know the author, it’s no surprise.
Bittersweet.
I love it...
Ordinary. Human. Dull. Not world-changing, not built of glowing lamps and endless library shelves and the sweet painful triumph of knowing a kingdom had been in need, had been hurting, and he and Ri had protected everyone, together.
He’d loved it. He’d loved it all so much he didn’t know how to remember it, because if he let himself remember, he might die from the emptiness. 💞🥺💞
Sebastian no longer knew anything at all, because if Ri was here then it was real, it was all real again; and if Ri was here then maybe Ri didn’t hate him, and if Ri didn’t hate him… 🫠🫠🫠
His daydream. His fantasy. His Eirian, wrung out and splashed with ecstasy. Sebastian had done that. 🫠😳🫠
Is it perfect? Probably not, but it’s K.L. Noone, and the author has once again managed to brighten my day.
I’m not sure if I caught all the references, but just having Van Halen, The Neverending Story, and Star Wars as references in a single story—and then all that atmosphere of ’80s fantasy movies in the background—oh, that was wonderful.
The relationship between Sebastian and Eirian is a second-chance story, and unfortunately, we don't know their backstory—we only learn a few details here. I wouldn't mind reading the original story as an epic fantasy... dear author... maybe... pretty please...
Oh, it was wonderfully sweet and painful to watch the two of them trying so hard to show their feelings for each other but not daring to do so.
I shed quite a few tears, even though it wasn’t actually sad at all, but somehow it touched me deeply.
The plot is pretty minimal, so you shouldn’t expect too much there. The ending was pretty short and wrapped up quickly. I would have liked to find out more. But well, if you know the author, it’s no surprise.
Bittersweet.
I love it...
Ordinary. Human. Dull. Not world-changing, not built of glowing lamps and endless library shelves and the sweet painful triumph of knowing a kingdom had been in need, had been hurting, and he and Ri had protected everyone, together.
He’d loved it. He’d loved it all so much he didn’t know how to remember it, because if he let himself remember, he might die from the emptiness. 💞🥺💞
Sebastian no longer knew anything at all, because if Ri was here then it was real, it was all real again; and if Ri was here then maybe Ri didn’t hate him, and if Ri didn’t hate him… 🫠🫠🫠
His daydream. His fantasy. His Eirian, wrung out and splashed with ecstasy. Sebastian had done that. 🫠😳🫠
August 1, 2026
It's K.L. Noone, so the writing is fantastic.
But the plot felt like a trilogy shoe-horned into 25k words. Sometimes more really is more.
But the plot felt like a trilogy shoe-horned into 25k words. Sometimes more really is more.
August 6, 2026
This was fine, but then went on too long without the obvious resolution, so even though I enjoyed it generally, it could have been much better.
July 6, 2026
This book is decent. The author has a good voice. The story is paced well for what it is.
My criticisms come down to a tendency to overuse streams of descriptions in run-on sentences, separated only by the word "and", which makes them go from evocative to a pile of disconnected adjectives or nouns. There is also an overuse of em-dashes. The Elf King also had some glaring flaws. In the first chapter, it's made clear he doesn't know what a TV, radio, or MTV is. In the following chapter, he claims to be a film actor as a cover story. There is no way he should know that is when he was literally just saying he is completely ignorant of Earth culture and technology. He is also a flat character. Calm and serene about everything. Doesn't hold anything against Sebastian for disappearing without explanation. Even in a short story, he could have been given more emotional range.
The author also could have done more research into what Sebastian did for a job. She described a feature of a house in broad, general terms when there's already three existing words for it. She also misrepresented the dangers of gay relationships in the 60s.
Overall, a fast read, but not one that endears me to want to look up more her work.
My criticisms come down to a tendency to overuse streams of descriptions in run-on sentences, separated only by the word "and", which makes them go from evocative to a pile of disconnected adjectives or nouns. There is also an overuse of em-dashes. The Elf King also had some glaring flaws. In the first chapter, it's made clear he doesn't know what a TV, radio, or MTV is. In the following chapter, he claims to be a film actor as a cover story. There is no way he should know that is when he was literally just saying he is completely ignorant of Earth culture and technology. He is also a flat character. Calm and serene about everything. Doesn't hold anything against Sebastian for disappearing without explanation. Even in a short story, he could have been given more emotional range.
The author also could have done more research into what Sebastian did for a job. She described a feature of a house in broad, general terms when there's already three existing words for it. She also misrepresented the dangers of gay relationships in the 60s.
Overall, a fast read, but not one that endears me to want to look up more her work.
August 7, 2026
A Joyfully Jay review.
4 stars
Quest for the Elf King’s Sword is an urban fantasy from author K.L. Noone and set in 1980s California. The narration is all third person limited perspective, keeping the reader aligned with Sebastian’s thoughts and keeping an air of mystery and wonder around Eirian. The narrative voice is very characteristically Noone’s, with lots of descriptive writing that conjures vivid imagery with thoughtful repetitions and highly conceptual descriptions. At just over 90 pages, this story is far too short to go into much detail, and yet there is not just the contemporary conceit of Sebastian helping Eirian find a lost sword, the story and emotional connections between the two leads is highlighted by choice flashbacks to their original meeting twenty years ago.
Read Camille’s review in its entirety here.
4 stars
Quest for the Elf King’s Sword is an urban fantasy from author K.L. Noone and set in 1980s California. The narration is all third person limited perspective, keeping the reader aligned with Sebastian’s thoughts and keeping an air of mystery and wonder around Eirian. The narrative voice is very characteristically Noone’s, with lots of descriptive writing that conjures vivid imagery with thoughtful repetitions and highly conceptual descriptions. At just over 90 pages, this story is far too short to go into much detail, and yet there is not just the contemporary conceit of Sebastian helping Eirian find a lost sword, the story and emotional connections between the two leads is highlighted by choice flashbacks to their original meeting twenty years ago.
Read Camille’s review in its entirety here.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews