Crystal Thief — Steve Elliott

tephen is faced with a philosophical problem. He doesn't believe in fairies, elves or pixies but he discovers a creature, improbably belonging to at least one of those categories, sprawled unconsciousness on the ground. She's all tiny, glittering, winged and remarkably female, but if she isn't a fairy/elf/pixie, then what the hell is she? He names her ‘Thorn', and a thorn she is. She's prickly, temper-prone and aggressive, and he soon learns not to call her a ‘fairy' because she regards all fairies as wimps. She begs for his help and so Stephen allows himself to be shrunk to fairy size in order to track the thieves who have stolen the Power Crystals from Thorn's city. As if that wasn't bad enough, Stephen and Thorn meet Nix, a fairy-hating goblin, who reluctantly accompanies them on their quest. They survive imprisonment in a goblin jail (escaping in an almost laughable fashion), face a final confrontation with fairy guards, and generally stumble around until the surprising solution to the stolen crystals finally reveals itself. However, there's a further complication in the shape of Thorn's sister, who bats her gorgeous eyelashes at Stephen. A human and a fairy? Impossible? Maybe not. At the very least, Stephen is willing to give it a damn good try. However, how will Thorn react if Stephen tries his luck with Tracey? Life can be very complicated indeed for a confused human in this land of fairies.