# Elf book **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 17, 2001, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elf-book/58383 "2001-03-17T16:38:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2001, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elf-book/58383/1 "2001-03-17T16:38:11Z")
There was a fantasy novel concerning elves living underground. There were entrances to their world in cellars and basements. Does anyone remember the title? ---
**Author:** ![Rue\_DeDay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/41988e/32.png) [@Rue\_DeDay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rue_DeDay)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2001, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elf-book/58383/2 "2001-03-17T19:16:49Z")
Not to sound too snotty, but there are about 12,000 fantasy books about elves, and bunches of them have the elves living underground (or Underhill). Many have the entrances to The Land of Elves (or Tir Na Nog, or others) in cellars or basements. Faerie Tale by Raymond E. Feist Doc Sidhe by Aaron Allston The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe (or any other Narnia book) by C. S. Lewis Lords and Ladies by Terry Pratchett I’ll bet these are all wrong, but it’s what I thought of off the top of my head. If you give a little more info, just the least little bit, someone will tell you exactly the book you want. Probably in about 10 minutes. ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2001, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elf-book/58383/3 "2001-03-17T19:34:57Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Rue DeDay \* > **The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe (or any other Narnia book) by C. S. Lewis** Um…LW&W has neither elves nor a cellar entrance… It has plenty of other legendary/mythical creatures (Dwarfs, Satyrs, Dryads, etc), but no elves, and the entrance to Narnia is in a Wardrobe (whodathunk? ^\_\_~) in an empty bedroom, not a cellar… The same goes for the other Narnia books (except possibly the Silver Chair…still no Elves, but I don’t remember where the entrance to the underground world was…) - no elves, and while the method of going there changes, it’s not cellars - a painting in the children’s bedroom, a door in a crumbling wall, a magic ring, simply being summoned… (Giving any others at this point would be a spoiler…) ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2001, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elf-book/58383/4 "2001-03-17T20:22:56Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Rue DeDay \* > \*\* > If you give a little more info, just the least little bit, someone will tell you exactly the book you want. Probably in about 10 minutes. \*\* There was a mild drug culture thing. The “waybread of the elves” grew some kind of mold. There was, of course a damsel in distress. The guy was staring at tea leaves trying to find info. The above ground setting was, I think, the USA, maybe California. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2001, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elf-book/58383/5 "2001-03-18T02:03:05Z")
Sounds like something Mercedes Lackey would write. ---
**Author:** ![Yue\_Han](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/eada6e/32.png) [@Yue\_Han](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yue_Han)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2001, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elf-book/58383/6 "2001-03-18T02:30:42Z")
The Elves in _Lords and Ladies_ don’t live underground. They live in a parasite universe attached to the Discworld at magic circles. (Blocked off with lodestone circles, because if elves hate iron they must _really_ hate magnets, and DW elves are nasty, brutish and short.) –John ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2001, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elf-book/58383/7 "2001-03-18T02:41:49Z")
I vaguely remember that they hated iron; that is why edged weapons were used, to keep them away. Darn, I want to read that book again! ---
**Author:** ![MikeG](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mikeg/32/4329_2.png) [@MikeG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MikeG)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2001, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elf-book/58383/8 "2001-03-18T02:50:59Z")
the hating iron bit sounds like Tom Deitz’s books, but there is no physical entrance there…just timeplaces\* where the fabric of the universes touch and magic occurs. e.g. present day Georgia, 17th century Wales, and a couple others I can’t recall. On the OP, does anyone know the books wherein some fairies had the magic stripped from their world and in particular, there is a passage detailing the fairies having to march in shoes and on feet that were never designed to bear their physical weight…also, wood was used with the permission of the trees and when they encountered “woodworking” they were horrified…hmmm maybe Stephen Donaldson? Oh, and can someone give me a list of Terry Pratchett to start on? It sounds good but there are a ton of books- where to start? ---
**Author:** ![Rue\_DeDay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/41988e/32.png) [@Rue\_DeDay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rue_DeDay)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2001, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elf-book/58383/9 "2001-03-18T15:02:33Z")
I know my books were all over the place, and not following the OP, but the shotgun approach works sometimes. I can’t help get you what you want,carnivorousplant, but here’s more reading. Charles De Lint has alot of elf in his books. I can’t think of one that matches the OP, but if you want a good mystic read, he does good. And he throws in a good dose of native American lore, too. Elves show up alot in _Shadow Falls_ by Simon Green. The Pratchett books start with _The Color of Magic_ and _The Light Fantastic_ and goes pelting away from there. You don’t have to read (most of) them in order, but sometimes it helps. The [official website](http://www.geocities.com/Area51/1777/) might help. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2001, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elf-book/58383/10 "2001-03-18T18:05:26Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by MikeG \* > **On the OP, does anyone know the books wherein some fairies had the magic stripped from their world and in particular, there is a passage detailing the fairies having to march in shoes and on feet that were never designed to bear their physical weight…also, wood was used with the permission of the trees and when they encountered “woodworking” they were horrified…hmmm maybe Stephen Donaldson?** This sounds almost like the _Darksword_ books by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman. Except they weren’t fairies, they were humans on a magic-rich world. Everything was done with “Life” (magic) and technology was seen as a dark art, giving “Life” to dead things. Did it involve a servant class that couldn’t use magic but was necessary to supply it to the rest of the people? That would definitely be _Darksword_. ---
**Author:** ![Yue\_Han](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/eada6e/32.png) [@Yue\_Han](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yue_Han)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2001, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elf-book/58383/11 "2001-03-19T03:41:19Z")
a) That’s not the official homepage. The official homepage isn’t finished yet. A good page for references on the Discworld is [http://www.lspace.org](http://www.lspace.org). b) Almost anywhere is a good place to start with Pratchett. Guards!Guards! is said to be the best start, but good luck finding it in the States. Mort is another good beginning, and Harper Collins just rereleased in February. Don’t start with the Color of Magic; according to Pratchett himself, from Sourcery on, the books were the same world written by a better author. But seriously, you can jump in anywhere. Lords and Ladies and Soul Music require, at the beginning, a short summary of the previous book, which Pratchett includes. There are 4 main story lines about sets of characters, plus 4 stand alone books. Starting with stand alones is also probably not a good idea. The main story lines are: Witches: about a coven of three witches keeping the peace in a small rural kingdom, lead by amazing badass Granny Weatherwax. Books are: Equal Rites (sort of… just an underdeveloped Granny) Wyrd Sisters Witches Abroad Lords and Ladies Maskerade Carpe Jugulum Rincewind: the cowardly and inept wizard, often used by Pratchett to explore the Discworld. Rincewind is always running away from trouble, into more trouble, but the neat thing is, he can run away from _that_ too. Colour of Magic The Light Fantastic Sourcery Eric Interesting Times The Last Continent The Watch: Sam Vimes and cops try to keep the peace in a city where the laws don’t exist, the Guilds rule the town, and the racial tensions feature dwarves, trolls, and the Undead. Guards! Guards! Men at Arms Feet of Clay Jingo The Fifth Elephant Death: The adventures of Discworld’s Death, a quiet professional who rather likes people, and his family. These tend to make you think about the nature of Belief and Duty. Mort Reaper Man Soul Music The Hogfather The stand-alones are: Small Gods: about how a god tries to save himself and his religion with the last man who believes in him. Pyramids: Dams in the flow of time, designed to stop time in the center. And now poor Pteppic find himself ruling the kingdom when it all falls apart. A hard job for a teen. The Truth: It’s the first newspaper ever in Ankh-Morpork, the oldest, greatest and smelliest city in the multiverse. Moving Pictures: Movies make it to the Discworld, where they don’t belong. The stability of the Universe is threatened. A cast of thousands. I recommend reading whichever ones you can find in America, frankly. We don’t get enough to be picky. –John