Publisher's Synopsis
Ask any of the residents on Tuscoraura Mountain-high elves, wood elves, garden gnomes, mountain dwarves, or longhouse humans-and they will tell you that in the upcoming election seventeen-year-old Mademoiselle Zena Jeannesdottir is a sure candidate for the next umpire-in-chief of Fire Elf City, one hundred fifty feet up in the treetops. Over and above her drive, her good-looks, and her knack for statecraft, Zena has the magic touch...that unique ability to tame a magica tree at the stroke of her fingertips.
In one day, her mother upsets it all when she invites the famous Christian druid Johnny Appleseed to preach at the elves' extravagant New Year's Eve party. On a mission to end the hunger and bloodshed plaguing Vinland, he freely offers the Tuscoraura elves the good spell of the Lord Jesus, the apple seed, and the secret to blackflame.
But something is rotten in Vinland! Fearing the blackflame's potential as a weapon of mass destruction the Inquisition has launched a manhunt to haul in this ragamuffin preacher before his gifts fall into the wrong hands. Moreover, the high elves are appalled at his crude manners, shabby overalls, and unfashionable tin pot hat. Despite his good intentions, Johnny Appleseed sends Zena's campaign into a tailspin.
With the elections just weeks away, Zena is convinced that only one high elf, the debonair rascal Enganyon, holds the key to restoring the voters' confidence...and finding true love. All the while her 'too nice' admirer, an Ammonite Christian wood elf named Lynx, tries desperately to convince her that Enganyon only has eyes for Mademoiselle Florenz Kibblersdottir, formerly her best friend but now her chief rival on the ballot.
When Lynx enlists the help of two rangers' apprentices, Louis and Clarke, they trigger a series of adventures that bring the Tuscoraura elves to center stage in this humorous and epic alternate history of how medieval Vinland came to be modern Amerika.
