The Sword of Maiden's Tears by Rosemary Edghill

This book was recommended to me because 5 of the 6 main characters are librarians. Fantasy! Elves! and butt-kickin' librarians? Sign me up!

And it was a nice diversion. It was nice to see a depiction of librarians where we aren't stodgy bun-wearing spinsters (there are even MALE librarians in this book!).

But 15 years have not been kind to this story, which was first published in 1994. As the characters struggle to locate one another, struggle to find accurate maps, and delve deep for elven lore - you want to shout: Get a cell phone! Go on Mapquest! Just Google it! One of the characters is a "hacker in training" - a setup to ensure all other characters mistrust him ... because he uses a computer.

This is just the first book in Edghill's "Twelve Treasures" series. I'd be curious to see if the others have fared better.