The Land of the Silver Apples
Nancy Farmer
 In this novel, we find Jack back in his village, at the start of the new year. The Bard calls for a "need fire", a ceremony that must be performed by a young girl, to reverse the bad omens of the past year and to help the sun come back out on this day of the year where night is the longest. Lucy, Jack's younger sister, is to be the girl, but she breaks the bard's rules and spoils the ritual by wearing a silver necklace. Pega, a terribly ugly slave, inferior to everyone in the village, is chosen to hold the candle and finish the ceremony. The sun did come out, but there was still danger to the village. Jack is kicked out of his house after freeing Pega, with the silver he received from past adventures (see The Sea of Trolls) but hid from his angry father. He now lives with the Bard. Jack continues his training as a bard; however, just when his bardic skills are growing, his mother calls him back home. Lucy, his beautiful, otherwordly little sister, has become uncontrollable. Because her father always told her that she is a lost princess, Lucy is acting like one and is treating her parents like peasants. Father, under horrible guilt and mental anguish, admits that Lucy isn't his real daughter at all.. His real daughter, Hazel, was stolen by hobgoblins while Father was in the forest, and replaced by Lucy. Lucy was "the most beautiful infant he [Father] had ever seen," and he fell under the sin of "temptation" and brought Lucy home. The Bard suggests that even if the uncontrollable Lucy isn't Jack's real sister, they should cure her. To cure Lucy, the Bard, Jack, Pega, and a monk named Brother Aiden take the girl to Father Swein's (St. Fillians) monastery, near the fortress of Din Guardi. When they arrive, Jack is horrified by the brutal methods of exorcism at the monastery and he tries to rescue Lucy from the monks. Using his magical powers, he accidentally causes an earthquake, in the course of which Lucy is kidnapped by the Lady of the Lake and the holy well at St. Fillians becomes dry. Yffi, the half-monster king of Din Guardi, imprisons Jack's father and orders Jack to go underground and call upon the Lady of the Lake to restore water to the well. A slave named Brutus, whom Jack believes is good at nothing but grovelling, accompanies Jack and Pega as they travel through the tunnels. They travel for several days, and come across a small tunnel that has no air current. Forgetting the Bard's warning of these tunnels, they go in, and encounter a horrific monster called a Knucker. The Knucker takes on the shape of whatever one's greatest fear is--for Jack, the Knucker appeared to be a dragon, and to Pega, it appeared to be a gigantic bedbug. Jack's magic destroyed it, but Brutus is separated from them. Jack and Pega awaken on the outskirts of Elfland, an enchanted, perfect place with loving, trusting animals, delicious fruits from lush trees, and teeming life all around. The two travelers continue around, looking for Brutus, and find that each morning after they wake, food appears nearby. As they journey on, they come across Jack's old friend, Thorgil (met in The Sea of Trolls), a Norse shield maiden who was encased in moss by the Forest Lord, after killing a fawn that trusted her. Jack and Pega free her and learn her story. Thorgil had been raiding with her friends when they came across a beach. On the beach was an entrance to the Elfland, and Thorgil was chosen to explore the tunnel. The nephew of their King was also along; he was a spoiled raider who demanded the highest honors, an undeserved title, and the best plunder. He led the way, heavily armed, and found a tunnel with no air current. Thorgil warned him not to go in, but he ignored her and ventured in. Thorgil heard him screaming and saw a Knucker kill Heinrich "The Heinous", the spoiled raider. At this point, the earthquake that Jack caused struck, and the Knucker was crushed while Thorgil was swept into Elfland. She wandered around, and a fawn lay down in front of her. Oblivious to the rules of the land, Thorgil swiftly slit its throat. However, she was incapable of snapping any branches off trees for a fire, and when the forest started to attack her, she fled, terrified. After she exhausted herself, she was slowly buried under the moss. It wasn't able to completely cover her, since her Rune of Protection saved her, but she was starving to death when Jack and Pega arrived and saved her. At this point, the trio go to sleep, but after a fight between Pega and Thorgil, Thorgil and Jack sleep close to each other while Pega goes off alone. Jack wakes up in the night and finds that Pega is surrounded by ugly creatures. He quietly wakes Thorgil up, and the two go to see what's going on. The creatures reveal that they are hobgoblins and were supplying the group, and that their King, Bugaboo, is in love with Pega. They take the trio underground with them, where they hold them captive. However, some of the hobgoblins, led by Nemesis, Bugaboo's closest friend, release the captives so that Pega doesn't stop Bugaboo from ruling well. The hobgoblins send the three to the heart of Elfland, where the Elves hold them captive. There, they meet Father Severus, a monk who had been captured along with Jack by Thorgil several years before. They also meet the Abbot of the monastery of St. Fillians, and one of his victims. During the feast Jack sees Lucy who when he tries to remind her about his parents, she instantly responds that they were crude and ugly and that she is really the Elf Queen's daughter. Sadly, Jack realizes that there is nothing that he can do. He accepts the fact Lucy is an elf that when and if she dies, she'll go to neither heaven or hell. Brutus is also encountered, as a servant to the elves. The elves soon choose Father Severus as a sacrifice to what Severus calls Satan. While the elves lead the captives to be sacrificed, Brutus passes a single inflammatory mushroom and firemaking tools to Jack. The elves begin cruel games while they wait for Satan to appear. He appears at the zenith of the moon in the sky, and begins to pick a sacrifice - Thorgil runs forward and punches him when he considers her, distracting him, but setting her hand on fire. As she frantically begins attempting to put it out, the victim of the Abbot runs forward and throws the Abbot to Satan. Satan, enraged, consumes the Abbot and slays the victim as well. At this point, Jack lights a the mushroom, and the flames, which are the only real things in Elfland, dispel the elves' illusions and reveal who they truly are. Satan seizes an elf instead of the captives, and withdraws into the earth, while the Elves attempt to recreate their illusions and hide their horribly aged forms.Then the hobgoblins arrive with King Bugaboo and rescue them. The captives escape to the surface, taking Ethne, the Bard's daughter with the Elf Queen, who later strives to earn a soul with the Christians. But when they are in safety they find that Thorgil's right hand has been covered with silver, paralyzing it. At first she is inconsolable, but when Jack compares her brave deed to the Norse god Tyr who sacrificed his right hand to imprison Fenris, the great wolf. He promises he will sing a saga about it, pulling her out of her moping. Brutus has already gone, bringing water with him, to conclude the quest. However, the captives are captured by Yffi; he is half-Kelpie, and loves the taste of hobgoblin. While he is distracted with them, Jack escapes with Thorgil and Pega, to get aid from below the fortress. They come across creatures called Yarthkins, which they free by sacrificing Jack's staff; breaking the bound of Unlife. As the creatures swarm into the castle and break its defenses, first Pega displays her affection for Jack by kissing him, then Jack kisses Thorgil. The hobgoblins, Jack, Thorgil, and Pega then escape as the Forest Lord begins to rip the fortress apart. They go to the village, where Brutus, a descendant of Lancelot, has taken charge. Jack notes Thorgil's beauty as they retrieve Jack's father and begin to return home. Thorgil, who was abandoned by the Northmen, who thought she was dead, accompanies them. The hobgoblins then leave, as Pega rejects Bugaboo, and the book concludes with Jack relaxing alongside Thorgil, his father, the Bard and Pega.