People can gain "sylphs" from another world or dimension to serve their families for generations. Most people fortunate to be connected to a sylph has connections to a gentle creature of the elements.

However, other people enact darker activities to weld a "battle sylph" to their desires. Battle sylphs are noted for their all-encompassing power, rage and hatred. All sylphs have certain rules enforced upon them: they may not speak, and they must not present themselves in human forms. They are servants, and they must remember they are bound to the whims of their masters. However, one ceremony to gain a battle sylph goes terribly awry, leaving a raging battle sylph connected to a young woman and free of societal constraints.

After a while, a lot of fantasy tales no longer merely "influence" each other, but appear to be melded from the same cloth. This can cause a happy familiarity in many instances, but in others, it can make one long for something original. THE BATTLE SYLPH, and, hopefully, future installments in the series, is something original. It is wonderfully written and vastly entertaining. In addition, elements of humor underscore the action and plotline.