Wings Setting

Present-day Northern California (With Glimpses of the Faerie World)

Wings takes place in the here-and-now, assuming here is northern California and now is this year, last year, next year, or sometime in the recent past or future. And also assuming that our present-day world contains faeries and trolls and magic, which is totally doable if you accept that faeries have elixirs that can erase people's memories. Under this premise, faeries are able to make humans forget they've ever seen them.

So think of a version of our world that has room for a little bit of magic hidden there and there—or not so hidden, if you know where to look. We'll take you on a tour of some of the important spots that Laurel visits and learns about.

Orick

This is a teensy-weensy town where Laurel spends the first fifteen years of her life (well, as far as she knows). She characterizes is as "seriously small. Like five-hundred-people small" (1.49). Once she has to move and start school in the larger town of Crescent City, Laurel gets kind of nostalgic for Orick. After complaining to her mom on the first day about how much school stinks, she says, "I miss Orick" (1.81). We're not sure if Laurel actually misses Orick a ton, or if it's jut that the grass is always greener on the other side.

Since Orick is a forty-five-minute drive from Crescent City, Laurel and her parents don't go out all that often. When they do, though, we get this neat little description of their house there: "The log cabin was small but quaint, nestled in a large circle of thick green grass surrounded by a rickety fence" (8.2). Sounds great, right? And apparently the land is worth a lot; as Tamani tells Laurel, the possibility of selling it "would be too tempting if your mom found out how much this land is worth" (14.207). Moreover, the land that the cabin is on is really, truly beautiful:

The forest was filled with both broad-leaf and pine trees that shaded the soft green foliage carpeting the ground. Most of the tree trunks were covered with dark green moss that hid the rough bark. Everywhere you looked was green. It had rained lightly that morning and the sun was out, turning the millions of droplets of water into sparkling orbs that made every surface sparkle like sheets of emeralds. (4.14)

We wouldn't mind taking a trip to Laurel's parents' house for, say, a weekend. Throw in a hot tub, and we'd be set.

Of course, Laurel doesn't know just how magical the land is until she meets Tamani and learns about the gateway on the land… but more on that later.

Crescent City

It's not hard to have a larger population than Orick, apparently. Crescent City has a public high school (Del Norte High), a downtown area, and enough people in it for Laurel's dad to own and operate a bookstore there. That is, in fact, the main reason Laurel's parents decide to move there.

As Laurel gets used to living in Crescent City, we get to hear a bit more about it:

It was bigger than Orick, of course, but there was still plenty of open space and none of the buildings were more than about two stories high. Tall pine and broad-leafed trees grew everywhere, even in front of the grocery store. The grass on the lawns was thick and green, and flowers blossomed on the vines that crawled over most of the buildings. (3.2)

Oh—and it's near the ocean. Crescent City doesn't sound too shabby itself, and even though Laurel isn't thrilled about having to be around a ton of people in her school, there's enough nature in Crescent City to keep her happy. It helps that her family's new house is in a wooded area:

Despite the small size of the house, the lot was fairly large and Laurel's parents had talked of possibly adding on someday. The yard had several trees that shaded the house […] like many of the homes in Crescent City, their backyard ran into undeveloped forest. Laurel usually took her walks into the twisting paths of the small glen and to the creek that ran through the middle of it, parallel to the line of houses. (4.3-4)

Yeah… there are worse places for a faerie to end up in than Crescent City.

Avalon

We only get a glimpse into this mystical faerie homeland, but it's enough to convince us that Avalon is pretty darn magical. Laurel experiences some of the magical vibes from Avalon when she talks to Tamani about her faerie heritage; to her, it's a "comforting feeling" (14.29) that surrounds her as though by magic. At first, she thinks that it's the result of Tamani bewitching her again, but it turns out to be something else entirely. As Tamani explains:

It's the magic of the realm. It seeps in from the world of the faeries. Helps the sentries feel at home when we can't be […] It's the realm calling you home, Laurel. (14.36)

That sounds kind of like a mystical hug, right? But more importantly, what is Avalon? According to Tamani, "It's such a perfect piece of earth that nature is not the only abundant resource there. Gold and diamonds are as common as sticks and stones" (20.97). Um, we want to go there.

This is where the faeries live, when they're not using the four gateways that connect Avalon to the human world to explore, that is. Trolls, drawn to treasure the way they are, keep trying to get into Avalon, and thus the gates were created to protect the land. They were created by mythical figures like King Arthur, Oberon, and Merlin, which is an interesting twist on how human legends turn out to be true for the faerie folk.

Apparently there was once another faerie land, Camelot. We only hear about it briefly, though, and we're not sure if it still exists. Tamani mentions it by saying, "We have records of the terrible revenge the trolls took on Camelot, and we can only imagine the similar fate that awaits Avalon if they find their way in" (20.112). So, yeah. Don't invite the trolls over for dinner—they'll leave your place a wreck.

Laurel learns all of this information about Avalon, but only gets one glimpse into it, after Tamani is shot and brought through the gate to Avalon in order to be healed. This happens through a gateway in a tree:

Then the tree began to sway and Laurel gasped in surprise as a crack appeared at the base. It widened and grew, pushing the trunk out, molding it into an archway. The air glimmered and sparkled until it was almost too bright to look at. Then a brilliant flash shone and Laurel had to blink. In the instant it took to close her eyes and open them again, the shimmering air had turned into a golden gate snaked with brilliant white blossoms and glittering with millions of sparkling jewels. (23.66)

First, that is pretty amazing. Second, can the faeries come and help us decorate our, well, everything?

Unfortunately, we don't get to see much of the world inside. Sentries with spears bar Laurel's way:

Laurel couldn't see much as she strained against the spears, but her eyes found an emerald-green tree, a sliver of cerulean sky, rays of sunshine that sparkled like diamonds. The thick aroma of fresh earth rolled over her, along with a heady, intoxicating scent she couldn't identify. (23.69)

It seems like Avalon is a heart-breakingly beautiful place, and we can see why sentries like Tamani are willing to give their lives in order to protect it.

But then, many parts of the earth are also stunningly beautiful. Aren't they worth protecting, too? Maybe we should take a cue from the faeries and start protecting the nature of our homeland. Seeing as she's vegan, Laurel already lives a pretty eco-friendly lifestyle. We're curious about whether she'll get to see more of Avalon in future books in the series, and how that might impact her feelings about nature.