An
Urban Fantasy novel by Gael Baudino,
Gossamer Axe is the story of a
Really 700 Years Old "young" woman named Chairiste ni Cummen who, through various magical means, has survived into the year 1987. In the sixth century, Chairiste and her lover, Siudb, were captured by
The Fair Folk, and trapped in their static, unchanging world for centuries. In the late 18th Century, Chairiste manages to escape, but leave her lover behind.
For two centuries, she has tried repeatedly to win back Siudb from the Fey, following the gate to their world as it made its way around the world, until she ended up in Denver, Colorado. Under the name Christa, she has been passing on some (
but not all) of her skills with the Irish harp to students, when one of them decides to pay her back by taking her to an Yngwie Malmsteen concert.
Christa is so overwhelmed by
The Power of Rock that she throws herself wholeheartedly into Denver's metal scene in order to put together a band and finally defeat the elvish harper to win back her lover.
Gossamer Axe contains examples of
- Aerith and Bob: The band consists of Christa, Devi, Monica, Melinda, and Lisa
- Abusive Parents: Devi's father.
- Cue the Sun: After Kevin enters the Sidhe kingdom to bring them change, the sun rises for the first time.
- Drugs Are Bad: Melinda falls off the wagon by hanging out with the wrong crowd in order to make connections for the band.
- Yuri Genre: Chairiste and Siudb. Also, Christa and Monica as well.
- Magic Music: Which Christa plans to use to win back Siudbh
- Not So Stoic: Orfide, the Sidhe harper, is a seething pile of bottled-up emotions.
- The Power of Rock: Christa's secret weapon against the Sidhe harper
- Present Tense Narrative: All the scenes that take place in the Sidhe kingdom are narrated in the present tense to show that time does not pass for those trapped within.
- Rapid Aging: Without the aid of magic, the years spent in the Sidhe world catch up to those leaving all at once. This includes death and decay.
- The Stoic: The elves, with few notable exceptions, do not display emotions at all.
- The One Guy: Kevin Larkin, Christa's friend and guitar teacher (though she rapidly surpasses him).
- Title Drop: Guess what Christa's band is named?
- Year Inside, Hour Outside: Time doesn't pass in the Sidhe realm; thus a few hundred years there will be nearly no time in the human world.
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