Review: The Inside Story of the British Bureau for the Arcane: The Dark Elf Dynasty File by Phil Parker

Blurb:

The British Bureau for the Arcane has kept people safe for centuries from the arcane species that seek to harm human beings. Their range extends to Commonwealth nations that were part of the British Empire. A once-proud part of the British Secret Service, their success in controlling the arcane races has been their downfall. These beings now live on the edge of survival in remote parts of Britain. Or, at least they did.

For Arlo Austin, a loyal but troubled agent for the Bureau, something is wrong. When he’s sent to protect the citizens of the Shetland Isles from rampaging Norwegian trolls, it soon becomes apparent it was an attempt on his life. When another agent dies in mysterious circumstances, and Arlo is warned of an impending war with arcane species, his instincts are proved right.
But who is behind this rebellion? Could it be linked to Arlo’s own bloodline as a Dark Elf? His traumatic childhood holds secrets, ones that are going to test his loyalty to the Bureau. In their cells, another Dark Elf is held prisoner, one who is so despised by its staff, their hatred has extended to Arlo. This species is violent and vengeful, can they recruit one of their own to bring about the destruction of the Bureau? And in so doing, enable the arcane races to wage war against the human race.

Review:

Well… I’m not sure how to begin this review so I’ll begin by talking about how I got into Phils novels earlier this year. I’ve read four of them now, with the fifth being the final instalment of “The Bastard in Faeryland”, a review for the first book in that series linked here, and I’ve genuinely enjoyed all of them to an extent. And this one was no exception, just…there were a few things I enjoyed, one or two things that irked me, but in a small enough manner that it didn’t remove too much of the story.

Granted, if I had to sell this book undercover on the street, without any long and winding speeches, I’d give them this snippet to get them acquainted with the novel before I run off again to find someone else:

“Arlo’s a decorated agent of the British Bureau for the Arcane, but due to his heritage, many want him dead, including members of his family. Care for more?”

However, I’d have ill intentions saying that that is all for the novel, and left it there as is. And each part of this book was intriguing, from plot to magic to drama.

To start off this review, let's take a look at Arlo and what makes him tick. First off, he’s a troubled soul, and his past is one of trauma. As far as the agency is concerned, he’s too dangerous to be left alive, hence… dangerous missions not by the book. Throughout the novel, he has some character growth, learns to be a bit more human along the way and ends up in plenty of shenanigans, each one getting more and more dangerous.

The other characters, well, I don’t want to say much, but some are static, some are dynamic and each one has some part to play in the greater scheme of the novel.

Next, the plot of this novel. It may sound silly, however this time around it’s as simplistic as it comes, with a few minor twists and turns that drive up the suspense. The general gist is:

Attempted death by trolls → shenanigans → more shenanigans → hullabaloo → end

Aside from that, there’s a bit of murder there, a bit of murder over there, some unexplained deaths there and a bit of torture. It’s one of the lighter reads out there when it comes to the fae world, and can be easily read in an afternoon with a few scones and tea, as long as the death and torture doesn’t bother you that much. 

After that… there’s the world building. Take Great Britain’s modern age, toss a few elves and dark elves into the mix, alongside several other magical creatures, and that would be this book. There’s a few mentions of other dimensions, but they’re not concretely gone into. Out of a historical context, this novel decides to add some fae creatures in as prominent evil figures, so that was a nice touch.

Finally, there’s the magic system, and while it is not the wheel reimagined, it does the job quite well. There’s magic blades, iron blades, and somewhat immortal beings. With a few other magical things that I don’t want to go into lest they detract from the surprises of this tale.

Now, this wouldn’t be a review of mine if I didn’t have one nitpick about this novel, and this time around, it would be the character interactions/dialogue. And I know dialogue is extremely difficult to get right, so it isn’t much in terms of detracting from the story. The dialogue itself was mostly fine, just clunky in some parts, and it felt more like robots than actual humans.

If you like mysterious bureaus of magic, some action, lots of death, and various other shenanigans, this book, “TISotBBftA: The Dark Elf Dynasty File”, is for you.

As always, thank you for reading this review and I hope I’ve helped nudge you towards your next read. And if not, don’t fret, for here is a random link to take you to a random review somewhere else on the site. It may be up your alley, it may not be. ‘Tis fate and luck when it comes to such things. 

Wherever you are reading this, have a good morning, good afternoon, good evening and good night!