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Ellis McCauley

Alderelm

"Alderelm is a touching,
intricate fantasy story —written in a lovely, lyrical style." Addison Ciuchta, Independent Book Review

In the land of Laurantis lies Alderelm, one of the seven ancient forests of the world, which chronicles the history of all creatures—flora and fauna, great and small. Here, faeries known as Treeans dwell among the white-barked trees. When disaster strikes, a young Treean named Littleleaf Leadtree embarks on a quest to protect Earth’s memories by protecting the Sakatu, the World Tree Seed.Fortune presents her with an eclectic group of companions: a Puman and Coyotl elf, two human brothers from Seayr, and Tullkaee, a noble Daunan huntress. Together, they must travel to protect the precious seed from the sinister forces of Geul, who would garner power from its destruction.Embark on a magical journey amidst the beauty of the natural world, where faeries, elementals, and elves coexist alongside humans, and unexpected friendships form in this literary, textured tree tale.

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Life is a twisting path of discoveries on a switchback of seemingly impossible heights whose beauty and intrigue keep one climbing.

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He led his friend up the twists and turns of intermingled trails, as natural a landscape as the Trees themselves, the scent of Pine and Cedar whetting their senses, and the gentle babble of unseen rills soothing their ears. The night birds clicked and clattered within the bracken while crickets chirped, and the frogs croaked their jests within the Forest choir.

More at home within the sage and bitterbrush, the pines and vernal pools, the arid, dryscape of hidden treasures, the raw wind ever twirling to kiss the sky and Earth—more of the scablands was he.

The Gauss made an audible sucking sound out of the corner of its mouth as it looked over the trampled foliage interspersed with streaky paths of brittle earth, burned and charred. The other Gauss walked mindlessly along, continuing their assault by their mere presence of being, thudding through their existence, meaningless and heavy: breathing, eating, voids. To disorganize, displace, and emotionally torture was their point of purpose. Even the Four Directions and the scents on the wind were made empty. And to render empty was to make the land a monochrome of sallow, a reflection of their kind.

booklife Review
McCauley’s heady debut may be classic high fantasy, but her worldbuilding is so rooted in the natural world that it feels unearthed rather than invented. In her mythopoeic realm, trees function as sentient repositories of history, and McCauley’s description of resin-scented forests—where the mournful voices of ancient boughs echo through luminous tarns—has folkloric gravitas. Faeries guard ancient secrets and elves wrestle with destiny in Alderelm, none more than young LittleLeaf, a Treean fairy who’s been entrusted with the Sakatu, the World Tree Seed that contains all of Earth’s knowledge.The bond between Treeans and their Trees is like two beings sharing the same spirit, and LittleLeaf understands that she carries immense responsibility. Geul, the Spirit Keeper of Pythium, has been attacking the ancient forests, and after the fall of Surgyle, the siege of Lemnoss, and the theft of the Singing Tree Stone, Treeans fear that he will unleash the ghouls of fire and smoke on Alderelm. As the threat looms, a conflict unfolds within the Treean council. The elders cling to tradition, but only LittleLeaf can awaken the Sakatu, and she begins a quest to the White Mountains accompanied by outsiders who serve as her companions and guardians.As the narrative moves between sweeping battles and intimate scenes of survival and inheritance, dialogue among elders, seers, and warriors reveals Alderelm’s central tension: the pull between preservation and transformation. McCauley launches her Annals of Emerus series with a message of stewardship—that even in grief and loss, the memory of the land and the bonds between living things endure. Her prose is lyrical and deliberately archaic, reminiscent of Tolkien yet imbued with its own lush mythologies (there’s a sizable appendix). Exploring themes of collective memory, metamorphosis, and the struggle to redefine one’s identity in the face of change, Alderelm celebrates the interconnectedness of all beings.Takeaway: Lyrical, lovely fantasy honoring stewards of Earth’s enduring memory.Comparable Titles: Patricia McKillip’s The Forgotten Beasts of Eld, Katherine Arden’s The Bear and the Nightingale.Production grades
Cover: A-
Design and typography: A
Editing: A-
Marketing copy: A-ext