Elatsoe is a Young Adult novel written by Darcie Little Badger, released in 2020.
The story follows seventeen year old Lipan Apache girl Elatsoe, who investigates the death of her cousin Trevor. Its setting is an Urban Fantasy version of the United States where many myths and legends are true and treated as basic facts of life by the people.
Elatsoe is Little Badger's first full length novel. Prior to this, she has released several short stories online and in some compilations.
Tropes:
- All Myths Are True: In this setting, most or all of the myths of the various peoples living in North America (and presumably the rest of the world) are true.
- Backup from Otherworld: During the climax, Ellie first summons her grandmother's mammoth and later all the dogs of her ancestors in order to help her fight Allerton and his minions.
- Badass Native: The protagonist Elatsoe and her entire female family line, started by her Six-Great Grandmother.
- Beware of Hitchhiking Ghosts: Hollywood medium Chloe Alanor tries to convince Ellie that this was the cause of her cousin's car accident.
- Big Bad Ensemble: There is Dr. Allerton, Ellie's suspect for Trevor's murder, and Trevor's ghost, who tries to murder everybody at the bicentennial.
- Celibate Hero: Ellie is asexual and has no interest in romantic or sexual relationships.
- Curse: Vampirism is a very wide-spread curse. Vampires prefer to be called "cursed".
- Dead Person Conversation: Trevor's ghost reaches out to Ellie through her dreams.
- Domesticated Dinosaurs: Ellie's Grandmother's tamed ghost mammoth.
- Fairy Ring: The descendants of the fae build mushroom rings that they use for Fast Travel.
- Fantastic Slurs: Vampires don't like to be called that, prefering the more neutral "cursed".
- The Fog of Ages: The coyote in the last chapter may be the one Six-Great met, but it's unclear because she only thinks Ellie looks familiar without remembering any specifics.
- Fossil Revival: Ellie resurrects the ghost of a trilobite from a fossil, while her grandmother trained a ghostly mammoth.
- Haunted House: Allerton's mansion becomes this during the finale.
- Heroes Love Dogs: Ellie and most of her heroic ancestors have/had dogs.
- Hollywood Natives: Averted throughout the book, due to the author being Lipan Apache herself and knowing what she writes about.
- Indian Burial Ground: Played with. The reason for the haunting in the finale is that Allerton desecrated the grave of his victim Trevor, who was Lipan Apache. (Elatsoe and her family spend the whole book trying to conceal his grave and not saying his name for the express purpose of making sure his ghost doesn't get riled up.) So an Indian Burial Ground plays a role, but not in the way the trope is traditionally used.
- Liquid Assets: Dr. Allerton is able to transfer injuries and diseases from one person to another. He used this to get an reputation as a miracle healer, all the while injuring or killing poor people by transferring his rich, white customers illnesses to them.
- Magical Native American: Ellies family has the power to summon ghosts, but they are far from the only magic users in the book.
- Magic Mushroom: Mushrooms are used by fae-descendants to build fairy rings for Fast Travel. One of the species used for this growing in abundance in Willowbee (which is located in arid Texas) is the first hint that something's not right about the town.
- Make It Look Like an Accident: Allerton transferred his own fatal wounds he got from a car accident to Trevor and made it look like Trevor had the accident.
- Misplaced Vegetation: A plot point with the mushrooms and lush vegetation of Willowbee, which hint at the fact that the town was originally located in New England instead of Texas.
- Morally Ambiguous Doctorate: Dr. Allerton
- Must Be Invited: Exploited by Ellie's mother, who uses this to ban a vampire from all of the historical homelands of their tribe. This is pretty painful for the vampire in question, because he's got a long way to go before he can get out off Apache land. Later, Ellie fails to do the same due to the vampire she faces being Lipan Apache himself.
- No Hugging, No Kissing: Justified by Ellie being asexual. This trope doesn't count for supporting characters, with Al and Ronnie being a couple.
- Non-Human Undead: Ellie and her ancestors are able to summon non-human ghosts. The most prominent example is her ghost dog Kirby.
- Our Elves Are Different: Many people are distant descendants of the mythical fairy king Oberon, including Ellie's best friend Jay. This gives them limited magical powers and the ability to use fairy rings for Fast Travel.
- Our Ghosts Are Different: There is a strong distinction between human and non-human ghosts:
- Human ghosts are really just vengeful phantoms made out of the dead person's negative feelings, while their actual soul resides in the afterlife. They can accidentally be summoned by not being able to make peace with the death of a loved one, or by treating the deceased without respect.
- Animal ghosts on the other hand really seem to be the animals soul summoned from the afterlife, so they have the same basic personality as they had in life. They can gradually change their looks from completely invisible to completely visible.
- Our Vampires Are Different: Vampirism is a curse that gives you most of the typical powers and weaknesses like the thirst for blood or a vulnerability to sunlight, but all of those start in a light way and get stronger over time. Also, vampires are immortal and the weaknesses are treated like a magical illness that can be stalled through healing magic.
- Phony Psychic: Chloe Alanor. It's unclear if she's really good as a psychic, but in the one case were she's working for the protagonists, she is clearly lying about what she senses. Dr. Allerton bribed her to give false answers.
- Pointy Ears: As a distant descendant of Oberon, Jay has slightly pointy ears.
- Poltergeist: In the finale, Trevor's ghost throws a piano at the attendants of the ball.
- Posthumous Character: Kirby (who appears throughout the book as a ghost) and Six-Great (whose exploits are remembered by or told to Ellie over the course of the plot.)
- Raising the Steaks: Ellie, like her female ancestors, has the power to summon the ghosts of dead animals. There is no limit as to how long the animal is dead, so she is even able to summon Trilobites from fossils millions of years old.
- Really 700 Years Old: The coyote from the last chapter
- Reasonable Authority Figure: Ellie's parents fully believe her when she suspects that Trevor's death wasn't an accident, and they even help with her investigations, but they are still worried about her being in danger.
- Shapeshifting: The animal people, like the Coyote in the last chapter, are able to shapeshift into human form to live among humans. Only their eyes always stay the same, which is how you can spot them.
- Shout-Out: In the last chapter, Ellie gets lots of letters from people who want her help with their own paranormal problems. One mother writes that her son hears rats in the walls that nobody else can hear.
- Speak of the Devil: Non-villainous example. After Trevor's death, Ellie and her family are careful not to say his name aloud, because using it might keep him from passing on. Nobody slips up about the name, but it doesn't matter because Dr. Allerton desecrates his grave.
- Stock Dinosaurs (Non-Dinosaurs): Ellie's grandmother has a ghost mammoth as a pet and mount. Also, Ellie revives a trilobite from a fossil.
- Stronger with Age: The curse of vampirism gets stronger with age, including all of its advantages but also all weaknesses. Young vampires are still able to eat normal food and go out into the sun for short periods of time, while old ones only drink blood and are very light-sensitive.
- Those Wily Coyotes: Coyotes are definitely tricksters, but they are never portrayed as evil, only curious and a little mischievous.
- Town with a Dark Secret: Everybody in Willowbee knows about Dr. Allerton's powers. They regularly relocate the town to avoid prosecution.
- Unwitting Instigator of Doom: Throughout the book, Trevor's ghost reaches out for Ellie to resurrect him. She manages to resist, but Trevor's infant son Gregory, who doesn't understand what's happening, unwittingly resurrects his father by touching him in his dream.
- Villainous Harlequin: Allerton's vampire henchmen are dressed in jester outfits for the bicentennial.
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Write What You Know: When asked why her protagonist is an asexual Lipan Apache girl, author Darcie Little Badger stated that it's because she is all those things herself and it is easier to write what you know.
