A cute series of young adult novels written by Frewin Jones, The Faerie Path follows the adventures of ordinary teenager Anita Palmer, after she discovers that she is the fairy princess Tania. The story then follows her various adventures in the immortal realm of Faerie.
The books are:
- The Faerie Path
- The Lost Queen
- The Sorcerer King (also published as The Seventh Daughter)
- The Immortal Realm
- The Enchanted Quest
- The Charmed Return
The series also contains a manga adaptation, and the same author also writes other series, including the Warrior Princess series.
The entire series contains examples of:
- And I Must Scream:
- The Amber Prisons. A case of Fridge Brilliance in that what Tania loves the most is to travel and explore; it's even a magical gift for her. No wonder the idea of eternal stasis is so horrible.
- Gabriel - one look into his silver eyes, and he can skewer you with a sword and make you think he's doing you a favor.
- Badass Family: The entire royal family of Faerie. They also qualify as Royals Who Actually Do Something.
- Better with Non-Human Company: Cordelia is a mild case, being somewhat brusque with other faeries, but much more at ease with animals.
- "Blind Idiot" Translation: The German version not only shortens the whole books by large amounts, especially the parts mainly serving character development to the point to render Anita/Tania a passive, smiling girl and many a minor character a mere cardboard cutout, but also offers quality translations like "die rothaarige Schwester" (literally "the red-headed nurse") for "the Irish nurse" or "ein bisschen Spaß" (literally "some fun") for "a good night out".
- Blonde, Brunette, Redhead: Zara, Sancha and Tania. Also, Rathina/Hopie (brunettes) and Cordelia.
- Generation Xerox: Tania is "the very image and reflection" of Titania, which is odd considering how many human incarnations she's lived through.
- Gratuitous Princess: Tania, Rathina, Zara, Hopie, Eve, Cordelia and Sancha are all princesses.
- Half-Human Hybrid: Tania is half human and half Faerie, which is both her greatest asset and a source of endless internal conflict as she struggles to decide where she belongs.
- Implausible Fencing Powers: Subverted. Although many people in Faerie are excellent fencers, not one instance is recalled where their skills are actually implausible.
- Magical Land: The immortal realm of Faerie.
- Mindlink Mates: Part of a Faerie marriage ceremony is to hold hands and pour a magic potion over them, which gives the couple a temporary ability to read each other's minds. It makes sense - since faeries are immortal, they'd better make darn sure that getting married is the right decision.
- Mordor: Ynis Maw and Ynis Borealis.
- Muggle Foster Parents: The Palmers. They have trouble adjusting to Anita/Tania's identity, especially Mr. Palmer, but are very kind and supportive throughout.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Tania always acts with the best of intentions, but sometimes ends up just making the situation worse. Before the start of the series, experimenting with her powers was what got her lost in the first place. The sword she uses to free Edric, and then forgets about, is later used by Rathina to free the Sorcerer King. Bringing Connor through to cure The Plague accomplishes nothing, beyond making him miserable. Luckily she always manages to fix her mistakes somehow.
- Villain Pedigree: The Big Bads just keep getting bigger: Gabriel, the Sorcerer King, Prince Lear.
- Will Not Tell a Lie: Seems to be an Aurealis family trait, except for Tania (and presumably Titania) who need to keep up The Masquerade. Tania does have a hard time lying, though. Rathina, who spends the first book pretending to be Tania's best friend while secretly plotting to force her marriage to Gabriel, becomes the most brutally honest of all after her return to the good side.
- Will They or Won't They?: Tania and Edric, with faint shades of The Masochism Tango. Really, the hurt those two inflict on each other makes you wonder why they bother coming back.
- The Worf Effect: For such a powerful king, Oberon does need a lot of rescuing: first from his depression in book 1, then from an Amber Prison twice: once in book 3, once in book 6.
Book One
- Aristocrats Are Evil: Only some of them. Gabriel Drake for sure, and possibly his father.
- Dangerous 16th Birthday: On Anita's 16th birthday, she almost dies in a boat crash, gains mystical faerie powers and discovers she's a lost princess.
- Face–Heel Turn:
- Used interestingly with Edric. At first, it seems as if Edric had done this in his relationship with Tania, but then, it turns out Gabriel Drake made the real Face-Heel Turn.
- There's another example later when Rathina is revealed to have betrayed them all.
- Kick the Dog: It's seeing how harshly Gabriel treats Edric that makes Tania realize he's the villain.
- Laser-Guided Amnesia: Tania has forgotten all her memories of the Faerie Realm.
- Prince Charming:
- This is the reader's initial impression of Gabriel Drake.
- Edric from Tania's perspective, even though he's technically not a prince.
- Something Only They Would Say: The quote from Romeo and Juliet that makes Tania finally realize which of her suitors truly loves her.
- With Great Power Comes Great Insanity: Gabriel implies that Eden has turned into this. He's lying.
Book Two
- Dreaming of Things to Come: Tania's nightmares about being trapped with Edric on Ynis Maw.
- Fish out of Water: The princesses in the Mortal World.
- Humans Are Bastards: Sancha, Zara and Cordelia share this opinion, especially Cordelia, who is horrified by the pollution in modern-day London.
- Invisible to Normals: The Gray Knights.
- Living MacGuffin: The titular 'lost queen'.
- Punny Name: Lilith Mariner, anyone? It's made even more noticeable by the fact that Edric points it out.
- Sarcastic Confession: Tania to Jade.Jade: What really happened to you while you were missing? Come on, I want the truth.Tania: The truth? Okay. The truth is I went to another world and found out that I'm a Faerie princess.Jade: Good one!
- Smitten Teenage Girl: Tania's parents see her as this in regards to Edric, and even forbid her from seeing him because he's a "bad influence". To be fair, from their point of view it does look like Tania's sudden mood swings and disobedience are caused by him.
- Terms of Endangerment: Gabriel's "My Lady" sounds much less romantic this time around.
- What the Hell, Hero?: Edric gives Tania a thorough telling-off when he finds out she's been to see a fortune teller, in spite of knowing that Gabriel can reach her through a medium. She doesn't take it well.
Book Three
- Bittersweet Ending: They defeat the Sorcerer King, but Zara dies.
- The Dog Bites Back: Rathina, who has been Gabriel's devoted Love Martyr throughout the series, finally snaps when she sees him killing Zara. She stabs him in revenge.
- Distressed Dude: Oberon, stuck in an Amber Prison on Ynis Maw until Tania gets him out.
- Evil Matriarch: Lamia of the Lyonesse, although she's only mentioned once. She's in the manga, though.
- Grim Up North: Prydain, the geographical equivalent of Scotland on the Fantasy Map where Faerie is shaped just like Britain.
- Kick the Dog: The Sorcerer King, torturing his prisoners.
- The Power of Love: Between Oberon and Titania, and between the sisters (the Power of Seven).
- This Is Unforgivable!: Sancha, after the Library is burned down, including the Soul Books.
- Unicorns: They're pretty, all right, but very dangerous. Not to mention carnivorous.
Book Four
- Fantastic Racism: Lord Aldritch and Hollin call Tania a "half-thing" and accuse her of bringing evil to Faerie just for being who she is.
- Fish out of Water: Poor Connor. Also Clive Palmer; they're both scientific, logical types, who don't deal well with the Faerie Realm at all.
- Fourth-Date Marriage: Cordelia and Bryn. Tania, due to her 21st-century upbringing, strongly disapproves of this. Especially when Edric suggests following their example. She turns him down hard, triggering one of their "off again" periods that lasts far into the next book.
- Light Is Not Good: Hollin, who dresses in bright yellow and claims to be a famous healer, but is really just an Ax-Crazy charlatan out for Tania's blood.
- Mood Whiplash: Cordelia and Bryn's wedding becomes the site of a gruesome epidemic. Worse yet, Cordelia herself becomes ill during what is implied to be Their First Time.
- Unrequited Love Switcheroo: Tania had a crush on Connor when they were younger, which he ignored. Now that She Is All Grown Up, he falls for her, but since she is irrevocably in love with Edric, he doesn't stand a chance.
Book Five
- Drunk on the Dark Side: Edric has a hard time giving up the Dark Arts.
- Immortality Immorality: Connor makes a deal with Lord Balor, who is searching for the secret to immortality: in return for handing over Tania and Rathina to Balor to experiment on, Balor will let him take the secret back to England and become rich and famous. It ends badly for both of them: Balor dies, Connor is mind-wiped.
- Kid with the Leash: Lord Balor and his chained Salamander. Once the Salamander is freed, it takes gleeful revenge and is glad to help Tania in return.
- Mind Rape: Edric to Tania, taking on eerie shades of Gabriel Drake. Somewhat understandable, since he was Gabriel's adopted brother and sidekick for more than five hundred years. Some of his influence is bound to stick. But really, hypnotizing your ex-girlfriend into dancing with you when she clearly doesn't want to? Not nice.
- When Ashling does the same thing to him later on, you can't help feeling as though it's Laser-Guided Karma.
- Mind Screw: The land of Erin. There's one region of endless night, another of endless day, one where the voices of dead loved ones call to travelers from the trees ... you would not want to live there. Connor perceives the entire Faerie Realm as this.
- The Mole: Connor.
- Shapeshifting Squick: What Ashling does to Edric, as a test of Tania's love and loyalty.
- Sour Supporter: Connor, whose grumbling gets on everybody's nerves.
Book Six
- Arc Words: "Do not listen to the hooves ... "
- The Chessmaster: Lear, to an extreme degree. Even Tania doesn't notice until it's almost too late.
- Friendship Moment: Jade comforting Tania, who's had yet another case of Laser-Guided Amnesia.
- Getting Smilies Painted on Your Soul: Most of the Faerie population.
- I Know Karate: Jade, who turns out to be quite the Badass Normal and surprisingly helpful.
- Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane: After all her experiences with Prophetic Dreams, Tania worries about whether her latest set of nightmares means anything or not. It does.
- My Future Self and Me: Tania travels back in time to recruit six of her previous human incarnations to help her save Faerie, which she finds somewhat horrifying - especially since she needs to fetch them just before their natural deaths.
- The Ophelia: Cordelia, who is assumed to be dead but is actually locked in Eden's former tower. By the time Tania and Jade find her, though, she's just Obfuscating Insanity to protect herself from Lear.
- Pair the Spares: Rathina and Titus, who was one of Zara's suitors before she died. Also, Titus is their step-cousin.
- Villain with Good Publicity: Lear, disguised as trusted advisor Raphael Cariotis.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: Hollin, who was magically banished to an unknown location by Edric and never heard from again. Also Oberon, who leaves to renew his bargain with the Divine Harper; the price he needs to pay is left unknown, but it is implied in a few parts of the book that he gave up his life to save Faerie.