Book: Earthbound: A Novel (The Faebound Trilogy) by El-Arifi, Saara
Reviewed by Rallie X
Rating: 5/5
πΈββ βππ§πππ¨ - πππ§π©πππ€πͺπ£π, out August 11th!
This series was my introduction to Saara El-Arifi's work and I have loved it from the first page of the first book. So I am very grateful to the NetGalley and the publishers for giving me access to the e-ARC so I could read this grand finale early!
The TL;DR: what an incredible end to an incredible series, El-Arifi manages to stick the landing in a way that left me both breathless and sobbing in my bed.
There is so much to love about the Faebound trilogy - compelling characters, an inventive setting, etc. - but for me the best part is the way El-Arifi uses fantasy to engage with real world politics. Among other things, the trilogy is a work of climate fiction; this is a world that is in the throes of apocalypse where we begin the first book with the understanding that two of the three sentient races have been utterly wiped out through some catastrophe and the world that remains is a Forever War between the elven clans desperately fighting for fraedia , the finite resource used to fuel every aspect of their lives. It is only after being expelled from their clan that Yeeran, Lettle, and Rayan discover that not only have the fae not been wiped out, they have been living in a post-scarcity paradise trapped in the underground city Mosima.
But El-Arifi doesn't allow us to dwell in the misconception of utopia; instead, we are confronted with political fallout from the acceptance of outsiders (and their elevation to power) in an apartheid state. Fraught politics within Mosima and with the threat of the Elven Clan's expansionism and thirst for resources as well as the uncovering of lost or hidden history makes for a complex political landscape in a world struggling to come back from apocalypse.
Earthbound begins a short while after the ending of Cursebound, with Lettle, Alder, and himbo Faeguard Farhan (he's so stupid you guys, think Kronk [Emperor's New Groove] in the body of Arondir [Rings of Power]) on a
mission to the Nomad's settlement to find Alder's past, while Yeeran (and Furi) in Mosima try to forge a peace treaty between elves and fae to prevent the all-out war that Furi kinda-sorta tipped off in Cursebound when she fully slaughtered Salawa and the leaders of the other clans (hencefoth Lettle & Alder is The Quest, Yeeran & Furi is The War). I love how El-Arifi is able to maintain two distinct plot lines at the same time: while The Quest has some impact on what's going on in Mosima (for Reasons), the disintigrating political dialogue between the fae and the elves of The War is entirely separate from the adventurers abroad. This gives it the feeling that The Quest really matters to the choices happening back home, the "heroes on a mission" vibe upon which rests the ultimate outcome of The War itself.
Probably unsurprisingly The Quest is my favorite of the two storylines. I love Lettle and Alder both individually and as a team, their friendship is so sweet and genuine - and I love it when an author really follows through with that "they would do anything for each other" claim in ways that I cannot even begin to touch on here without MASSIVE spoilers.
βThank you for coming with me,β he said as she pulled him along. She paused and looked back at him. βThe truth is everyoneβs burden; Iβm not going to let you carry it alone.β
So much about their conjoined story could've gone awry, but El-Arifi weaves a deft web that makes everything about their interactions with each other and with the world really matter - being friends with somebody with a dire Fate isn't easy, and when one of you is a Diviner and the other is the Last of His Kind so much is on the line. El-Arifi's storytelling choices with Alder were so cool, I can't say much without massive spoilers because, well. Uncovering his identity is part of the plot! But boy is the reveal WORTH it, and everything that spirals out from there, just. Wow. The emotional consequences of The Quest play a huge role in the denouement and a huge role in grabbing my heart and squishing it like a stress ball fidget toy.
If The Quest is the pure fantasy side of the storyline, The War is the storyline that firmly anchors the Faebound trilogy as a masterwork of epic fantasy. Yeeran and Furi navigate the catastrophic intersection of Postscarcity Monarchy with Military Industrial Complex Clan Confederation, and like. Whuff. The Elves really suck guys. We've known that since book one but like. There's only so far you can go to justify why you do what you do, and I love how El-Arifi incorporated multiple political perspectives from the Elven side. What does "peace" mean to a people whose entire remembered history is the Forever War?
βI donβt know if we even know what peace looks like,β Yeeran whispered. βWe lost sight of what it means a long time ago.β
There are several moments throughout The War storyline where El-Arifi beautifully mirrors the pseudo-fascism of the elves with the philospher king-esque monarchy of the fae to where you get the sense that, if things were different, the fae might not be ruled by the Jani bloodline (or any bloodline at all). There are characters that get built up in this book (Jay, Anyah) who point to such liberatory potentiality in Mosima, if only they could be free...
Just as I loved El-Arifi's ability to maintain two separate storylines and then merge them together in the most climactic way, I loved the way she provided closure for the storylines as well as for the characters. It felt so complete in a deeply satisfying way. No threads were dropped, everything was cleaned up with futures wide open for the characters in the world that comes after, "when all three thrive". Each ending felt like it really healed something in this imaginary world El-Arifi crafted that has so many uncomfortable similarities to our own world, which created this overall feeling of hope within what is, again, a post-apocalyptic work. None of it is done cheaply or happens just to happen. It all matters, and it takes a lot of skill to effectively end a book four times without feeling like that ending has overstayed its welcome. And like, Oh my god Pila and Amnan are besties as humans too? I absolutely cannot .
This trilogy truly is something special. I can't wait to reread it all again to see what I missed along the way in and amongst the murder mysteries, political intrigue, secret history, prophecies, and spicy little love scenes between a fae queen and her hot elf ambassador! Genuinely what a beautiful ride, I cannot recommend this enough - if you like epic fantasy with political conflict but not outright war and a side of romance, this is your best bet!
Enslaved then bound, lost then found. Humans made low no longer. Cursebound to centuries on four fleet feet but soon their freedom beckons.
Four months and this was what it had come down to. The elves had taken three weeks to let her into the camp, six more to agree to drafting a peace treaty. And now this, conflict after conflict.
She knew the elvesβ way of life, knew the indoctrination the Forever War had scarred onto their minds.
βThank you for coming with me,β he said as she pulled him along. She paused and looked back at him. βThe truth is everyoneβs burden; Iβm not going to let you carry it alone.β