How the King of Elfhame Learned to Hate Stories by Holly Black
- May 16
- 2 min read
An selection of short stories to accompany Holly Black's Folk of the Air series, How the King of Elfhame Learned to Hate Stories has the privilege of being the book with the longest title that I've read this year, possibly ever. It is the last book following the story of Jude and Cardan, if you want to take a look at the rest of their story, see our Folk of the Air series page. This book deals with bullying, physical abuse, toxic relationship, reference of fire, and abandonment.
Cardan had a crappy childhood, to put it mildly. Born to the High King of Elfhame, the youngest of what was already too many heirs. He was unwanted by his mother, he terrified his father due to a prophecy that accompanied his birth, was tormented or ignored by his siblings, and generally had to find his own ways to survive from the time that he was a baby. This set of short stories gives us some insight into the way he was treated as a child, how he coped, and how he became someone who liked the idea of being a villain more than the actual act.
These stories were surprisingly entertaining. I'm not a huge fan of short stories generally, I like a meaty story full of surprise and intrigue, short stories mostly just leave me wanting. But I had a really easy time with these. Cardan was always my favorite part of the Folk of the Air series, I was happy to see things from his point of view. The stories switch between shorter tales that show a quick moment in Cardan's life and longer sequences that are laid out as a story being told to Cardan by a troll woman he meets. It was cute and easy to follow, but nothing super substantial.
I'm giving How the King of Elfhame Learned to Hate Stories by Holly Black 3.75 stars out of 5. If you read the rest of the series, this is a short read that gives you a bit more perspective, but only read it if you really enjoyed the series.
For more from Holly Black, see her website at https://blackholly.com/
Pairs well with a grass jelly dessert and a story about a princess who makes a deal with a witch because she wants to be cursed
.