The Elven Inquisition

A Woke Fairy Story

By: Steve Wiley

Narrated by: Michael J. Lunney

Elf privilege. Marginalized mermaids. Woke trolls. Pumpkin fairy reparations....

Welcome to the chaotic kingdom of Fantasmagoria, where an inquisition for absolute equity rages and the masses combat all forms of social injustice by any means necessary. Elves are burned at the stake for suggesting there is a biological difference between mermaids and goblins. Djinns are executed for granting capitalistic wishes. Vampires are tortured to death for insensitive jokes made five hundred years ago.

Finbar Finneban is a well-intentioned faun employed by the kingdom newspaper. At work, Finbar is made to censor, ensure staff diversity, and write virtuous articles on the inquisition. Problem is, Finbar resents the inquisition. He hates the victimology, identity politics, and cancellation culture. More than anything, he hates the madness of crowds. The question is: can he, and the kingdom, survive them?

The Elven Inquisition is a hilarious, thought-provoking satire on the divisive cultural and political issues plaguing modern-day society, from Fairytale Chicago author Steve Wiley.

©2020 Steve Wiley (P)2020 Steve Wiley

Uniquely absurd and hilarious woke satire

Orwell meets Tolkien in this one of a kind fairytale which is a satire of the current woke ideology permeating every aspect of culture today. An inquisition for equitability terrorizes the kingdom of Fantasmagoria, with the story mirroring many of the hot buttons in the news today - media bias, cancel culture, thought crimes, plague, reparations, etc. The narrator makes this fun to listen to, and his accent is perfect for a woke fairy story.

Fun take on current events

oh well educated and entertaining version of the world's contradicting confusing and tyrannical BS issues in real world today

The Elven Inquisition

An interesting short story about what could happen when things are taken to an extreme. This is a quick easy listen although there were a few character voices that were not easy to clearly understand at first listen.
I received a free audiobook code in exchange for an honest review.

Nice ironic parable, starts off great

Trigger warning: this story is meant as an ironic reflection on the so-called 'wokeness' of social justice warriors and other extreme-leftist-minded people. It's written as a parable, a fable actually. I liked the premisse, it's why I chose this book, and it actually gets off to a great start. However, about halfway through it seems to loose its focus and the story is no longer one story with one plotline, but each chapter now turns into a separate fable, with the MC as kind of a tourist in his own story. Which is a pity, for that change steals the wind from its sails, and it ends a bit dull. Expect no great ideas or moral direction to solve this problem of 'wokeness', something a good parable should have included I feel, other than let's blow the whole thing up and start over (I mean come on, that's no solution).
It also comes dangerously close to borrowing almost literal ideas or even paraphrasing Orwell's 1984 (but maybe that's only because true leftist wokeness automatically brings us some variant of 1984's dystopia...)

Narration is fine, not the greatest I've ever heard but nice enough.

Inspite of my critique above, I really did like this story and I may listen to it again in the future to see if I can figure out in even greater detail what each of the fables refers to in our world today.

~ I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review. I was not required to write a positive review and this reflects my honest opinion of the work.

Fantasy & Fairy Realm Meets Woke Parables 18+ Read

I must warn there is a fair amount of very graphic public executions that anyone who is squeamish should probably skip this book, there's a fair amount of bad language as well as some sexual references that would make me rate this as a R / 18+ level read. Animal Farm meets fantasy and fairy realms. It really shows many of the extremes that we are dealing with today and the level of bias in the media (social and news) and though we aren't putting people to dealth many are having their lives/careers ruined for speaking up often very publicly. The inquisition for equitability that is plaguing Fantasmagoria, shows the censorship, cancel culture, reparations and the fear and communist controls forced on the citizens. It was honestly hard for me to get through because of its graphic nature and how close he came with the parables. It's a good read for the older crowd of fantasy and wokeful readers. The narrated did a great job and was definitely entertaining.

—I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

Woke Animal Farm

Have you ever wondered what society would be like if it was run by a culture of extremely woke trolls with the governing power to deliver death to anyone who dares to exceed above others, speak to someone without pronouns, or claim a goblin can mine better than a mermaid on land. Well, this the book you have been waiting for. Definitely Animal Farm for the woke in 2020.

A cautionary tale for social justice warriors

The Elven Inquisition is a hilarious satire of the modern social justice movement. I'm an avid promoter of social justice, which made me appreciate this book and its message. In my experience, some groups and individuals can push social justice to extremes that do more overall harm than good. This is particularly true when social justice is used to benefit a minority group by subverting others rather than addressing the causes of inequity. This story is an excellent illustration of how social justice can be co-opted and wielded as a weapon against those that threaten a supposed egalitarian society's status quo. It is smart, witty, and an excellent cautionary tale for social justice warriors everywhere. As I read, the words of Nietzsche came to mind -- "Beware that, when fighting monsters, you yourself do not become a monster."

Outside of its value as a clever satirical work, it is an excellent story as well. The overall plot and story are entertaining and engaging, and the characters were surprisingly nuanced and deep for a short book. I also enjoyed the way the author used a combination of modern fantasy and traditional folktale elements to build a unique world. Overall, it was a fun and enjoyable read (or listen). The audio version of the book was performed by Michael J. Lunney, who did an excellent job narrating the main character and projecting the book's tone and unique message.

A special thanks to Steve Wiley, Jen McDonald, and the rest of Lavender Line Press, who graciously provided me with this book at my request.