{"id":43661,"date":"2026-03-09T06:30:14","date_gmt":"2026-03-08T17:30:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/?p=43661"},"modified":"2026-03-08T17:57:22","modified_gmt":"2026-03-08T04:57:22","slug":"more-on-elfrid-in-the-princess-of-flames-by-ru-emerson","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/2026\/03\/09\/more-on-elfrid-in-the-princess-of-flames-by-ru-emerson\/","title":{"rendered":"More On Elfrid in “The Princess of Flames” by Ru Emerson"},"content":{"rendered":"

Last month, in Post #1 of my Heroines series<\/a> on Supernatural Underground, one of the featured heroines was Elfrid, from Ru Emerson’s debut novel, A Princess of Flames.\"\"<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

I took a more indepth look at Elfrid about a decade ago now, in a series on (the late, great) SF Signal<\/a>, titled “Fantasy Heroines That Rock My World.” One in which I shone a spotlight on my favourite Fantasy heroines, not only revealing who<\/em> each one is, but why I believe they kick butt and take names as characters.<\/p>\n

Here’s what I had to say about Elfrid then:<\/span><\/h4>\n

“A long time standout in my cast of favorites is Elfrid, the \u201cPrincess of Flames\u201d, from Ru Emerson\u2019s book of the same name. At face value, Elfrid\u2019s arc might seem to be somewhat stereotypical for a Fantasy heroine. She is the \u201cmisfit\u201d, illegitimate daughter in a family of legitimate half-siblings, and is also adept with weapons in a society that disapproves of women warriors. Exiled with her deposed father (nods to Cordelia and King Lear), Elfrid returns eight years later, impersonating a famous, fighting Archbishop (Gespry of Rhames) to wreak revenge on her half-siblings and endeavor to save the kingdom from their tyranny.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Yet although that is<\/em> the basic plot, Elfrid is not in the least bit stereotypical. Here\u2019s why: firstly, she\u2019s not only good with weapons, she is an effective warrior \u2013 but in a matter-of-fact way that I really like. When the chips are down, she both knows what to do, and proceeds to take care of business. This includes both in battle, where she has to emulate Gespry\u2019s fame as a general, but also in duels:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cHyrcan\u2019s sword pressed down, slipped harmlessly away as [Elfrid] executed a swift, circular movement of the wrist. Three clashing blows rang out.\u201d<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

It would still be easy to write a cardboard cut-out woman\u2013warrior, though, but Elfrid works because she is very much a real person. The fabric of her relationships\u2014with her exiled father, the loyal companions surrounding the ostensible Gespry, and both old friends and enemies when she returns home\u2014is very much the heart of the book. Elfrid is convincing, too, because of her combination of determination and uncertainty as she walks the knife edge of deception, for high stakes.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThere were long. awkward silences between the King\u2019 words, silences into which anything might be read, and her own inner sense caught radiating suspicion, fear, uncertainty. Alayya, Elora, if he has suspected, if he suspects \u2013<\/em> \u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

I also like that Elfrid is unarguably equal in all her relationships, including with the man she loves. When they first re-meet after eight years, she is prepared to kill him to maintain her imposture and protect her companions, at least until she can be persuaded of his good faith. But after he has sworn to her, she is also clear that:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201c\u2026we ride \u2026 as equals, you and I, or not at all.\u201d<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Loyal to those she loves and respects, strong of arm and of will, but also fairminded, both a warrior and a leader \u2013 it\u2019s hardly surprising that Ru Emerson\u2019s Elfrid continues to rock my world.”<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Last month, in Post #1 of my Heroines series on Supernatural Underground, one of the featured heroines was Elfrid, from Ru Emerson’s debut novel, A Princess of Flames. I took a more indepth look at Elfrid about a decade ago now, in a series on (the late, great) SF Signal, titled “Fantasy Heroines That Rock […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30,19],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-43661","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-epicfantasy","category-funstuff"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43661","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=43661"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43661\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":43665,"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43661\/revisions\/43665"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=43661"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=43661"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=43661"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}