The Various

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This is a book about a young girl named Midge who has gone to stay with a relative on a farm, sort of, in a rural area. The farm is in bad shape and her relative is considering selling the woods off, maybe selling the entire farm, because all his other plans to make money have failed.

Things become quite complicated when Midge discovers a small horse with wings trapped in a barn. She takes care of the horse while keeping it a secret, and ends up getting introduced into the world of fairies.

Which aren't exactly what traditional fairies are like. They are bigger, almost hobbit-sized. They are divided into a series of tribes, based on what they do for a living, and the tribes don't all get along; in fact, there's fairly strong discrimination against two of the groups by the other groups.

There's also a sort-of military wing of the fairies that are having their own problems, including a group of dissidents who have no problem with the idea of killing anything that gets in their way, including Midge.

It's a complex story that sort of drags in the first third, roughly, but then gradually picks up speed and ends up overall a pretty good book.

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