The Office of the Lost, by J. Scott Coatsworth and Kim Fielding.

Office of the Lost by J. Scott Coatsworth

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Crispin Eladrin Moss’caladrin is a “by-the-numbers, check-all-the-boxes-kind-of-fae, the only desk fae in the Office of the Lost with a ten-point-two perfecality score” (7). He is well-organized, always punctual, and as a Curator for the Office of the Lost in the Connected Worlds, he get things done and on time, in an orderly, no-nonsense fashion. And at the end of the day, he goes home to his “tree bole in the Greatwoods on Torevor—and his pet squirrel, Minkis” (9).

Until one day, his supervisor, Bidulla Krönk, informs Crispin “something urgent has come up, a task” suited for the best Curators in the Office of the Lost. The Oracle itself has “specifically asked for [Crispin].” Bidulla, an “ogre of a woman, with sallow skin … the color of a rotten lemon … and two pointed yellow teeth” (9), tells him this mission has “top priority” and is of the utmost importance” (10). He is ordered to go to Earth, retrieve Leopold Lane, bring him back.

So begins Crispin’s quest. This quest, however, turns out to be more than a typical fantasy quest, with the usual trials, monsters, the crossing of thresholds, coming to terms with authority figures, and the like. Crispin knows things are very different. This “recovery mission [is] for a being,” which is unheard of. There is also an unexpected love story, and one comic misadventure after another, and lots of satire.

Trust me, this funny fantasy romp works.

The quest underway, Crispin finds himself in a Sacramento, California, apartment that really belongs in a student neighborhood. An untidy and messy flea trap is truly an understatement. He finds Leopold Lane, a walking disaster. His life is one mishap after another. Crispin uses Thea, his portable transport device, to take Leo back to the Office—but something goes wrong. They wind up in one strange and goofy world after, transformed at first into deerlike creatures. That doesn’t lasts, but there are enormous giants—at least the one they meet is a vegetarian—and archosaurs who keep “human-like” pets. A pet squirrel turns out more than just a squirrel. Oh, did I mention that Crispin has family issues? His mother is a queen, the Mother of the Fae, his brother is an obnoxious jerk.

Complications keep ensuing. Nothing goes as planned.

Crispin and Leopold fall in love. They are classic total opposites, One is super-neat and organized, the other, anything but. The course of true love never did run smooth. Leopold, it turns out, isn’t strictly human: he is Chaos, literally. People out there want him restrained. Leopold is taken away—and so the second quest begins. It turns out, we need chaos. Leopold has to be found, or Chaos will be sucked out the world, and the worlds, all of them, need chaos and order. “Chaos only works if there is Order, and Order can only exist with Chaos to be organized.” 265). “Order without Chaos was flat and dead and boring. And Chaos without Order was insanity” (267).

Will Leo and Crispin get their happily ever after? Stay tuned. This book is a lot of fun. Even so, it is more than comic misadventure and a love story with echoes of Beauty and the Beast. It is a story of family: the one we are born into, the one we find. It is about identity and self. Can someone transcend their origins? What happens when we step outside of our comfort zones?

I can’t wait for Book 2





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