A quick search around Amazon will reveal that “the fae” are enjoying a bit of a moment. While the cover art suggests that many of these new stories about fairy folk are Twilight-style supernatural romances, the lore behind fairies, faeries or fae is far older and more complicated than all that steam would make you think. What we think of as “fairy tales” can be traced back to pre-Christian beliefs, and the stories of these magical beings who live in a secret world hidden from their human neighbors are common throughout Europe. Some of that same lore inspired the sylueds, from their seclusion in the Forest, to their understanding of magic, to their habit of raising human “changelings,” which Palm reveals to be his own backstory. I’m fascinated by the way we form myths as a way to understand the world, yet those same myths can often obscure our understanding. That’s why most humans in the world of “The Elect Stories” are depicted as being fascinated by the wonderful and exotic myths about the sylueds – myths which the sylueds themselves consider diminishing slurs – while holding deep prejudices against the people themselves.
