The Book of Atrix Wolfe

Summary

For twenty years, Atrix Wolfe has turned his back on his magic to live with the wolves in the mountains. Once a powerful mage, Atrix Wolfe nearly caused the destruction of the kingdom of Pelucir when one of his creations, meant to force an invading army threatening his homeland to retreat, massacred not only the invaders, but the Pelucir forces defending their homeland as well. The daughter of the Queen of the Wood was another victim of Atrix's Hunter; during the creation of the Hunter, Saro disappeared when the fairyworld was torn asunder by Atrix Wolfe's magic.

Talis, the prince of Pelucir, calls Atrix back to the human world to explain a spellbook written by a mysterious mage shortly after the massacre of Hunter's Field that the aspiring mage was studying. In the kitchens of the castle, a mysterious scullery maid named Sorrow works silently, interacting more with the pots and pans than other people. The three characters are connected by the Queen of the Woods's desire to find her daughter, but it is only when they uncover the truth of what happened twenty years earlier that they are able to find her as well as solve the mysteries of the spell book.

Atrix Wolfe eventually discovers that the terrible Hunter was made, in part, from Ilyos, the consort of the Queen of the Wood and Saro's father. (Sorrow, the scullery maid, is actually Saro.) Talis delivers Saro back to her mother, thinking that he will never see her again, as the Wood is a magical realm, which humans cannot reach by normal means. Saro regains the power of speech after being returned to the fairy world. Atrix Wolfe un-makes the Hunter. Ilyos, however, has been through so much that he cannot return to his life as the Queen's consort. In order to protect the Queen's world, he turns himself into one of the trees of the Wood. Talis is surprised when Saro returns to Pelucir, and they begin to become acquainted. She says that he was the only person she knew, for twenty years, who was kind to her.

Nominations