Griffin's Daughter



Griffin’s Daughter is a trilogy of fantasy novels by Leslie Ann Moore. The central character is Jelena, a half-elf, niece to a human baron (by way of his sister, who died in childbirth). After Jelena’s uncle agrees to hand her over to another noble as a concubine (an arrangement closer to slavery than an arranged marriage), she runs off to find her father’s people in Alasiri, the elven lands. Accompanying her is her cousin, Magnes; the only member of her mother’s family -- and the only human, other than her foster mother, Claudia -- who treated her like a person (and who is running from his own personal turmoil).

Once into Alasiri she meets Ashinji, son of the local elf lord. Together, they seek to find out the truth of Jelena’s elf heritage, along with the secret of the strange power growing within her. In the meantime, they must also deal with the possible re-emergence of the elves’ ancient enemy, The Nameless One, and a looming war with the expansionist human kingdom of Soldara.

The second novel, Griffin’s Shadow, deals with revelations about the nature of the power Jelena possesses (but can’t yet control), her true heritage and her and Ashinji’s growing attraction. Along with dealing with both the malevolent presence the Nameless One and the malevolent attentions of Ashinji’s sadistic older brother, Sadaiyo.

The third and final novel, Griffin’s Destiny, is more about Ashinji, as he fights to return to his homeland after the events of ‘’Shadow’’, in time to help with both the imminent war with the humans and the final plan to deal with the Nameless One -- a plan Jelena may not survive.


 * Abdicate the Throne: Magnes never wanted to be heir to his father's title, his sister actually wanted the job and was better suited for it. His father stood firmly by traditon, despite this. When he returns to
 * And That Little Girl Was Me: tells Jelena a story of how a young elf man and young human woman met and fell in love. By the end of the story,  drops the pretense of third person as
 * Arranged Marriage: Magnes agrees to help Jelena escape, partly to escape one of these.
 * Barrier Maiden: It turns out Jelena’s “blue light” is
 * Cain and Abel: Sadaiyo sees Ashinji as having usurped his place as Lord Sen’s favored son just by existing.
 * Chekhov's Gunman: Lady Amara mentions the former head of their inner mage circle in passing. Guess who Ashinji encounters during the second book?
 * Crash Into Hello: The first time Ashinji and Jelena meet, he accidentally runs over her with his horse, while on patrol in the forrest.
 * Despair Event Horizon
 * Magnes finding out that
 * Sadaiyo after finding out that
 * Dreaming of Things to Come: Ashinji sees Jelena’s face in his dreams, long before he meets her in the flesh.
 * Eldritch Abomination: What the Nameless One has become.
 * Everyone Can See It: Everyone can see Jelena and Ashinji are crazy about each other. Each has a fairly solid reason to deny their attraction.
 * Father to His Men: Ashinji to his regiment, the Peregrines.
 * Fantastic Racism: While half-elves are treated far better in Alasiri (elf territory) than in Soldara (human territory), they are treated roughly the same as blacks in the US, pre Civil Rights Movement.
 * First Episode Spoiler: We know Jelena’s father is from the prologue of ‘’Daughter’’, though his exact identity isn’t revealed until the end of that book. This becomes a Late Arrival Spoiler for the rest of the series.
 * Go Into the Light: is called away from the light by the voice of
 * Half-Human Hybrid: Jelena and those like her are called hikui in the elf language.
 * He Who Must Not Be Named: The Nameless One’s true identity was stricken from elf history, to keep others from trying to use his True Name to bind him to their power.
 * Hell on Earth: The Nameless One’s ultimate plan.
 * Honor Before Reason:
 * Really the only reason Ashinji didn’t beat the snot out of Sadaiyo.
 * Also Jelena choosing to risk death by running to the elf lands, rather than stay and enter the comfortable arrangement her uncle had set up (though one that basically leave her a pampered slave).
 * I Know Your True Name: How the Kirians planned to reseal The Nameless One.
 * It's All About Me: Sadaiyo’s view of the world.
 * It's Not You, It's My Enemies: Ashinji won’t cop to his love for Jelena out of fear that Sadaiyo will do something horrible to her, just to spite him.
 * Karma Houdini: Sadaiyo gets away with all manner of casually cruel and spiteful acts - up to and including, because he’s Lord Sen’s heir.
 * Lost Technology: The transport discs. Elves no longer have the knowledge or magical power to recreate them.
 * Love At First Sight: Ashinji and Jelena.
 * Love Makes You Stupid: Magnes went back to Soldara, despite the probable consequences, because he wanted to reunite with his lover, Livie, not knowing that
 * Make a Wish: Jelena is granted a boon from Lord Sen, in exchange for saving his life. Her request?
 * The Mole: is The Nameless Ones agent among the Royal Court.
 * Moral Myopia: Sadaiyo blames Ashinji for lack of emotional bond between himself and Lord Sen and complains that everyone loves Ashinji instead of him. All the while, completely ignoring that all of that was more due to his repellent, selfish personality.
 * Murder the Hypotenuse: is killed off during the final battle vs. the Soldarans, freeing her to marry
 * My Greatest Failure: Gran tried to replicate a spell of the great ancient elf mages.  She exiled herself to the human lands as penance.
 * Only Known by Their Nickname: Gran
 * Pet the Dog: Thesselina, choosing to.
 * Reasonable Authority Figure: Lord Sen and King Keizo.
 * Redemption Equals Death:
 * Rescue Romance: How Jelena's parents met: Her human mother discovered her elf father injured, then hid him and tended to his injuries.
 * The Starscream: planned to betray The Nameless One during The Sundering. Unfortunately,
 * Sealed Evil in a Can: The Nameless One.
 * Selective Obliviousness: Lord Sen and Lady Amara turn a blind eye to Sadaiyo’s petty cruelties, partly because he’s the heir to Sen’s title and partly because they’d hope Sadaiyo would grow the hell up on his own. Amara says as much to Ashinji in apology.
 * Sequel Hook: ‘’Destiny’’ ends with  begging him to save "them."
 * Sibling Yin-Yang: Ashinji is humble, kind and beloved by all. Sadaiyo is vain, petty, sadistic and the people of their lands dread the day he takes the reigns as Lord.
 * Shoot the Dog: Ashinji is tasked with
 * Someone to Remember Him By: only made love once before he ran off. Guess what  finds out when he seeks her out a couple of years later?
 * Surprisingly-Sudden Death: Rather than let him linger in his sick bed in the face of what was to come
 * Succession Crisis: Averted: With Keizo ill and his brother and nephews (the next in line) about to go to war, the elf nobility is faced with the possibility of ending up on the throne, something many of the elf nobles feared would spark a civil war.
 * What Happened to the Mouse?: The mage that Never mentioned again.
 * What Have I Done: Sadaiyo invokes this by name after  wear off.