Valiant : A Modern Tale of Faerie

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Valiant: A Modern Tale of Faerie
Author	Holly Black
Country	USA
Language	English
Genre(s)	Fantasy, YA fiction
Publisher	Simon Pulse
Publication date	2005
Preceded by	Tithe: A Modern Faerie Tale
Followed by	Ironside: A Modern Faery's Tale

Valiant: A Modern Tale of Faerie, is an 2005 urban fantasy novel by Holly Black. It is a loose sequel/spin-off to her earlier book Tithe : A Modern Faerie Tale, but can also be read as a stand-alone novel.

1 Plot Summary
2 Characters in "Valiant: A Modern Tale of Faerie"
3 References
4 External links

[edit] Plot Summary

The book follows the life of runaway Valerie Russell in New York. Valerie is the child of a single mother. At the start of the novel, Val attends high school, is a lacrosse player, and is best friends with the eccentric lesbian-identified Ruth.

Val discovers her boyfriend, Tom, and her mother are having an affair. Betrayed and not sure where to go, Val runs away to New York City. She meets up with a group of teen-squatters, including Lolli (as in lollipop), Dave, and Luis. Val earns the nickname "Prince Valiant" after she helps a drag queen locate her shoe. This may be a homage to Hal Foster's comic strip, Prince Valiant or Prince Valiant in the Days of King Arthur.

Though she earns the trust of the rest of the group, Luis remains wary of Val. She soon learns about the group's contact with a troll, Ravus. He lives beneath a bridge, a reference to the traditional fairy tale, The Three Billy Goats Gruff. Ravus also makes glamour that faeries in exile use so their bodies can be resistant towards iron. These exiles are dispersed through out the city, and Dave and Luis must deliver the glamour to them.

Glamour, according to the novel, can be used as a drug by humans. When used, humans are given magic for a short period of time. It's highly addictive; a comparison can be drawn between it and heroin. Lolli and Dave introduce Val to taking "Nevermore," as they refer to it. Val, like the other squatters, is soon hooked.

Ravus, despite Val's first impressions, is much kinder than he appears. He begins to teach her swordplay and the bond between them strengthens. Val's mounting problems and addiction take a nasty turn, and the trust Ravus has in her is threatened.

Many of the Seelie court exiles are being poisoned. Ravus is blamed for the crime. When Ruth arrives, attempting to convince her to come home, she refuses and Ruth insists she won't leave without Val. Val agrees, but says she must say goodbye to Ravus before she leaves. She attempts to find him in his alcove, but he is not home, so she finds Ruth, Lolli and Luis by Belvedere Castle. Luis, all the while making sexual thenceforwards with Lolli very unexpectedly, informs her Dave has angrily stormed off, and they all fall asleep in a terrible state. In the middle of the night, Val awakes to see a tree-spirit faerie, who leads her to a festival by the water, where faeries and humans called "sweet toothes" run around freely. Ravus arrives, and delirious and half-starved, Val kisses him. He is pleased, until Mabry arrives as well, and when Val realized Mabry is the one who killed all the Fey. She tries to tell Ravus but Mabry cuts in, telling Ravus Val has been stealing his potions, and she flees as he becomes enraged.

Ruth and Val go to find evidence of Mabry's murders, through a harp in which she strings bones of those she's killed, and when plucked they sing their deaths, as well as Luis. They come back to the other Luis and Lolli, confused, and realized Dave is impersonating Mabry, uncontrollably high off Never he got from Mabry after putting poison in Ravus' potions for her. He takes off his glamour, laughing, and falls unconsious. Ruth rushes him to the hospital as Lolli runs off as Luis and Val rush to find Ravus so he can cure Dave. They find Mabry has cut out Ravus' heart, and runs off to the Unseelie Court with it. When she leaves, Val pulls back the curtains and turn Ravus to stone, pursuing after Mabry into the Unseelie Court. She challenges Mabry to a first-blood duel for Ravus' heart with the glass belonging to Ravus, and after a moment's descision to never use Never again, she fights Mabry on talent alone, stabbing Mabry in the throat. She and Luis rush back to Ravus, and after placing his heart back into his chest, he instantly heals, and after Ravus gives Luis the tools to go heal his brother, he and Val finally admit their love for one another.

Eventually, Val decides to leave the streets and return home with Ruth. She and Ravus continually see one another, and Val says she plans to go to NY for college so she can see him. The two kiss, and Val is happy her life is back to normal, with the exception of a faerie for a boyfriend

Some fans have pointed out that Lolli, Dave and Lewis are similar to Lutie-loo, Gristle and Spike from Tithe, respectively.

Note: In the book Roiben and Kaye make appearances. Silarial and Nicnevin are referred to by Mabry.

[edit] Characters in "Valiant: A Modern Tale of Faerie"

Valerie "Val" Russell - Val is the protagonist of the book, Valiant: A Modern Tale of Faerie. She finds out that her mother is having an affair with her boyfriend, Tom, and runs away from home. Desperate for change, she shaves her head and takes up living with a trio of homeless teenagers; Dave, Lolli, and Luis. Val eventually becomes addicted to the fairy drug Nevermore. About midway through the book, she begins to learn swordplay from Ravus and falls in love with him.
Ruth - Val's lesbian best friend. It turns out that she knew all about Tom and Val's mother. Several weeks after Val runs away, Ruth comes to find her and refuses to go home without Val.
Tom - Val's ex-boyfriend. He was having an affair with her mother, which resulted in Val running away.
Ms. Russel (Val's Mother) - As far as we know, she is not married- Val finds out that she was sleeping with Tom, Val's boyfriend, in the beginning of the book. Despite bad judgement, she genuinely cares for Val and is worried out of her mind when Val disappears.
"Sketchy" Dave - Luis's younger brother. He is also addicted to Nevermore. Dave is not particularly loyal to anyone but himself, and strikes a deal with Mabry to frame Ravus for poisoning fey in exchange for her temporarily locking up Luis. Dave is in love with Lolli.
Lollipop (Lolli) - One of the homeless teenagers Val lives with. Loli is in love with Luis, but he does not return her feelings. Lolli has blue hair and only watches out for herself. She is also addicted to Nevermore and is responsible for Val getting addicted. She is also the one who discovered the powers that Never gives humans.
Luis - Dave's older brother. He has the Sight and lives in almost perpetual fear of the faerie folk. As a precaution against them, he had multiple stainless steel piercings put in his face. He is blind in one eye, which was put out by a faerie when he was very young. Luis is easily the most responsible of the homeless teens, and would do anything for his brother, Dave, even though Dave typically resents the help. Before the book takes place, he struck a deal with Ravus to heal Dave from a gunshot wound in exchange for Luis' help with deliveries. It is revealed in Ironside that he is gay.
Ravus - A "young" troll whom Luis and Dave do errands for. He is a healer and makes medicine for the city fey to ease their sickness to iron. He is accused of poisoning several fey who had died subsequent to taking his medicine. Ravus was self-banished from the faerie courts after he accidentally slew his best friend in a duel. Midway through the book, he begins to teach Val swordplay, and eventually falls in love with her.
Mabry - A half-goat fey who is responsible for the death of Ravus' friend. She was his lover, and weakened his armor during the duel so that when Ravus struck it, it offered no protection. Her plan backfired when she was banished with Ravus to "mourn her loss". She hates Ravus and planned to get revenge on him by framing him for a series of fey poisonings.