Keeper of the Lost Cities is an upper-middle-grade fantasy series by Shannon Messenger that has appeared on the New York Times Best Seller list^[1] for a total of ten weeks.

Plot summary

Sophie Foster, a twelve-year-old high school senior with telepathy lives in San Diego, California with a human family.

While on a school field trip, another elvin teenager, Fitzroy Avery Vacker (nickname Fitz), tracks her down and reveals to her that she is elvin. He discusses the reality of their world with Sophie, and tells her that she must move to the Lost Cities, a place unknown to humankind where elves, trolls, ogres, gnomes and dwarves live in harmony. She is forced to leave her human family behind and stay with an elvin couple, Grady and Edaline Ruewen, who later adopt her. She starts school at a noble elvin academy named Foxfire.

The main conflict in the series is between the Black Swan, a rebel organization, and the Neverseen, a group of criminal extremists. Sophie learns that the Black Swan are her creators. She learns that her old neighbor from the human world, Mr. Forkle, is the director of the Black Swan's Project Moonlark, the project in which she was created. Sophie's biological parents are unknown due to catastrophes that could be created if she finds out. The parents could face scorn and be punished for being involved in Project Moonlark due to its secretive and illegal nature. Later in the series, Sophie is desperate to find out who her biological parents are, otherwise she would be unmatchable, a status that could change her life. Being unmatchable meant she would face scorn and be looked down upon if she married someone who was not on her match list; the elves have a very delicate system put together to uphold the fragile world of the Lost Cities. Interfering with the system could be disastrous, thus leading to the conclusion that finding her biological parents would be the best solution.

The Neverseen are a group of criminal extremists who believe that the Lost Cities, the home of the elves, are in dire need of major leadership and political changes. One of the many goals of the Neverseen is to overthrow the Council, the leaders of the Lost Cities.

Series

Film adaptation

On January 11, 2021, it was announced that Ben Affleck would be directing an adaptation of Keeper of the Lost Cities for Walt Disney Pictures. The release date has not been announced, neither has the cast list. ^[3][4] No new information has been released as of September 21, 2023.

Characters

• Sophie Elizabeth Foster: The main protagonist of the series. She is a Telepath, Inflictor, Polyglot, Teleporter, and Enhancer. Her genes, sourced from Councillor Oralie, an unknown elf, and alicorn DNA, were tweaked by the Black Swan, giving her powerful abilities. One of her parents is revealed to be Councilor Oralie in Legacy, but the name of her father is not known, just that her father is not Councillor Kenric Fathdon, Councillor Bronte, nor Mr. Forkle. She was raised by humans after her experimentation and brought back to the Lost Cities at the age of twelve to complete her education at the Foxfire Academy in addition to being adopted by Grady and Edaline Ruewen.
• Keefe Sencen: Sophie's close friend and second kiss, who is an Empath, allowing him to detect others' feelings. Unlike other Empaths, he is able to sense emotions without physical contact. In Unlocked, he also becomes a Polyglot, capable of speaking all languages, and manifests an unnamed ability of emotional manipulation along with an unnamed ability allowing him to sense and trigger abilities. His mother is one of the main antagonists of the series. He is known for his mischeivious ways, such as "the Great Gulon Incident" which is mentioned multiple times throughout the series, and can often be found in the hallways of Foxfire after ditching his lessons.
• Fitzroy "Fitz" Avery Vacker: Sophie's close friend and first love. He is a highly skilled Telepath and becomes Sophie's Cognate, making them a close telepathic pair. After he and Sophie broke up, their Cognate relationship was damaged. He belongs to a prominent family of elvin nobility. He is sometimes known for his temper issues, relying on anger when he is not sure how to feel, almost murdering his brother Alvar at one point.
• Dexter "Dex" Alvin Dizznee: Sophie’s best friend and first kiss; also a talented alchemist with Technopathy, the ability to manipulate technology. He was sometimes forced to make devices by the Council, like the Ability Restrictor in Everblaze, and the tracking device he made for Alvar in Flashback. He is a member of Team Valiant.
• Biana Amberly Vacker: Sophie's enemy turned friend and Fitz's younger sister. She is a Vanisher, allowing her to turn invisible. She is often found sneaking around and listening in on people's conversations. She is shown to be popular in the series, yet slowly loses friends after many of her family's secrets get revealed in the later books. She is an expert on fashion, and can look good when no one else can. She is also a member of Team Valiant.
• Tam Dai Tong "Song": Sophie's friend, a previous student ("Wayward") at Exillium, a school for banished and or "unruly" elves, who is a Shade, capable of manipulating shadows. Because of his ability, he is rarely trusted by strangers. In Flashback, he is shown to be able to manipulate an element called "Shadowflux," showing to be very powerful through the later books.
• Linh Hai Tong "Song": Tam's twin sister, also previously a student at Exillium, who has the ability of Hydrokinesis, the ability to control water. She is known as "the girl of many floods" due to that fact that she caused many floods while mastering her Hydrokinesis, causing her to be banished from the Lost Cities. She later saves the city of Atlantis along with Sophie and Keefe.
• Marella Adene Redek: Sophie's gossipy friend with a rare and illegal special ability, pyrokinesis, letting her summon fire and bend it to her will. In more recent books, she has been mentored by Fintan in the ability.
• Wylie Zoran Endal: The son of Prentice Endal, a key member of the Black Swan. He is a Flasher, which means he can sense and manipulate colors of light. He also lived with his adoptive father Tiergan after his father's memory break. He is a member of Team Valiant.
• Mr. Forkle: He is the leader of the Black Swan, along with the rest of the collective, and a fatherly parental figure to Sophie. When she was small, and still in the human world, he consumed ruckleberries, giving him a bloated look that reeked of feet. He signs his name as Errol Loki Forkle (E.L.F). Secretly, he is two people. They were twins, but their parents were ashamed of having more than one child; an unusual occurrence in the elvin world. As a result, they shared memories and identities. Sadly, one of the Forkles died, after being stabbed by Gethen, a Telepath in the Neverseen. Since his later revelation, Sophie has learned the truth about his twin identity.
• Grady Howell Ruewen and Edaline Kelia Ruewen: A couple who are Sophie's adoptive parents. Grady is a Mesmer and part of the Nobility, working as an Emissary. Edaline is a Conjurer and rehabilitates animals.
• Councillor Oralie: Sophie's biological mother, an Empath, and has taken part in Project Moonlark.
• Councillor Bronte: Besides being known to have a cold attitude, he is one of the Lost Cities' only Inflictors (besides Sophie) and is part of the Council. He is currently the oldest member of the Council.
• Lady Gisela Minette Sencen: Keefe's mother, the former leader of the Neverseen, and one of the main antagonists of the series. She is a Polyglot, and she hid the fact that she is a Conjurer for many years.

References

External links

Official website