Book Review: In the Grotto: Elrood the Elf, and In the Grotto: Universal Merit, by Eddie McGarrity

            For a change of pace this week, I picked up a collection of short stories. The adventures of Elrood the elf—told in two volumes, In the Grotto: Elrood the Elf and In the Grotto: Universal Merit, both by Eddie McGarrity—follow one of Santa’s elves who works at the North Pole. It’s a clever idea, and the stories brim with creative world building and narrative voice. A cacophony of indistinguishable minor characters makes things confusing at times, and it could use a bit more tension—a bit more clarification of why the stakes are high—but as a whole, these stories are cute, funny, easy reading.

You know, now that it's October, I find myself much less attached to the idea of being somewhere cold. 

            These two volumes contain four stories: an introduction and three short adventures in which Elrood learns to work in the North Pole’s Finance Department, organizes the Polar Games, and journeys to the South Pole to implement wide-reaching reforms in the naughty-nice system. Colorful details bring the world to life, from the lederhosen worn by the elves to Elrood’s devotion to the jolly figure referred to here as ‘the Boss’.  

            Sometimes, though, the author focuses a little more on world building than on story developments. In one story, ‘Complex Future’, the climax of the tale doesn’t really feel like the story’s been building to it. It could have used a little more emphasis and clarity to have an impact on readers—I didn’t feel like there was much emotional difference between the beginning and the end here. ‘The Greatest Show in the Arctic’ does a much better job of building to a climax, and ‘Universal Merit’ is a little bit confusing. The plot could have been clarified a little better.

           

            High Points: The wit. There’s a lot of snappy one-liners in here that really make you laugh. The voice. Elrood’s narration is consistent throughout the stories. Certain supporting characters. Astrid and Flemming feel pretty well developed and consistent throughout the stories. The light tone. It doesn’t feel too serious, which is a good thing and makes for easy reading.

Low Points: Confusion. The plot can be a bit hard to follow in places—and in places, I don’t even know if there is a plot. Multitudes of minor characters. I always find it’s best to have the absolute minimum of minor characters, especially named ones. When a character has a name, you feel compelled to remember it, and you don’t want that if they’re not important.

Did I like these stories? Yes. Would I read it again? Yes. Would I recommend it to people who like comedic stories? Sure. My rating? As comedic Christmas stories, I’ll give ‘em four stars out of five. As short stories? Three and a half.

--Liz Ellor, O43

You can download the stories here and here