Official Review: The Elf Brief - Book One of The Magi Cha...

[ALynnPowers]

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "The Elf Brief - Book One of The Magi Charter" by Jordan David.]

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3 out of 4 stars

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The Elf Brief – Book One of the Magi Charter is the first of a nine book series by Jordan David that outlines the epic tales of Santa and his elves. In this introductory book, Noel Night is an unknown elf in the tiny reference department of the North Pole. Soon, the current Santa will be leaving, and a new Santa will take his place, as is customary every one hundred years or so. One day, Noel is invited to attend the elf briefing with Santa and the department heads, and he is then given the special assignment of documenting the upcoming transition. Noel then experiences a variety of adventures, such as visiting the human world, that other elves do not often experience. With more changes on the way, Noel learns that he has so much more to discover about humans, elves, and the North Pole.

Just in time for the holiday season, I was very excited to read this book that was sure to take me on a Christmas adventure. I could definitely see some similarities between this book and the 90’s movie “The Santa Clause,” which I recall very clearly from my childhood. There was a strong nostalgia factor that made the book quite enjoyable. It was fun to compare and contrast the two stories.

This book contains a lot of background information about the operations of the North Pole and the systems/departments run by the elves. There are even certain sections that get pretty technical and scientific. Because of all of this, the content sometimes appears a bit dry and slow-paced. While there is something quite admirable about the creativity and research that must have been involved in attempting a scientific explanation for the operations of Santa and his elves, it seemed unnecessary. The magic and “powers” involved in the story were sufficient explanations; the science just bogged the story down with excess information that was, frankly, just boring. It was out of place for a story that could have been light and fun with a whimsical, magical feel to it.

Although the topic of the book does seem to be more targeted toward children, I don’t think that I would recommend this book to children. There is no profanity or graphic scenes, but all of the technical information just doesn’t seem like something that children would find interesting. Even I didn’t think it was interesting at times, but fortunately I was able to find enjoyment in many other parts of the book.

Overall, I give this book a rating of 3 out of 4 stars, and I would recommend it to adult readers who are yearning for a book to bring some Christmas cheer and nostalgia of childhood into their lives this year. While there is a lot of “heavy” information that slows down the overall pace of the book, the rest of the book is interesting enough to overlook the more science intensive portions. I found quite a few errors and typos throughout the book, and I read the version from Kindle Unlimited. I think it still needs another round of editing in order to appear more professional.

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The Elf Brief - Book One of The Magi Charter
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[Noelle770]

I loved "The Santa Clause" growing up so this sounds like a book I would enjoy during the holiday season! Hopefully, it gets another round of editing. Excellent review.

[jardenjarden]

It's interesting how there are so many scientific explanations in the story, as when I was reading the beginning of your review I definitely thought it would be a story more formatted to suit a younger audience. Nevertheless, it certainly sounds like an interesting Christmas narrative. Thanks for your review!

[NetMassimo]

I was curious about this series having seen some of its novels available for review, but the number of books was discouraging. It seems funny if you don't mind the pseudo-scientific explanations. Thank you for your great review!

[Chamirish]

This sounds like an interesting book. I’ll have to check it out. I like that it’s similar to one of my favorite Christmas movies. Thank you for your review.