The Elven (The Saga of the Elven Book 1)

One of the best fantasy novel I read...ever! (And I have read a lot of them).Very repeatable and deep characters with all shades. Once you start reading you don't wanna stop until you reach the end. Every character is developed and rendered in such fine nuances that you actually start seeing them as one among you!The events are fast paced, edge of the seat. Love stories finely interwoven with tales of valor, characters with whom you fall in love and characters whose guts you hate. I thoroughly loved this roller coaster of an epic.

The Elven by Bernhard Hennen and James A. Sullivan is a science fiction fantasy with elements of mythology and fairies which will delight fantasy and science fiction lovers. Originally published in German as Die Elfen in November 2004, and running to a mammoth nine-hundred-plus pages, it has been translated into English by Edwin Miles, who has an impeccable record rendering German language works into English.Authors Bernhard Hennen and James A. Sullivan have combined well in an ambitious venture which depicts the epic struggles between the forces of evil and good. When I started with the book I had my doubts. I was not sure how I could finish this tome of nearly 800 pages. But as the story progressed, it captivated me in ways I never thought a novel of this nature could. The world building was impressively done. What a stupendous magical elven world of Albenmark the authors have created for their equally fascinating and endearing characters! Nuramon and Farodin zipped through the worlds and centuries to dare the impossible, and to challenge a fate from which there seems to be no escape. Together with Mandred, the Son of Man, they lunge at dangers, and tasted defeats as they inch closer to the final battle and to their destiny. What an incredible characters!If I were to choose one character that I feel really outshines the others, it would be Nuramon. As soon as he appeared on the scene I felt an instant liking for him and his amazing journey through the story is the stuff legends are made of. Unlike many other books where the secondary characters are ill-conceived, The Elven’s array of supporting characters are wonderfully designed, with each of them playing a special part in the story. Each of them specially planted into the story to fulfil the larger purpose of the story. The Library of Iskendria occupies a special place in my heart. It was impressively mounted, and it would be nice to visit such a place.One of the most touching scenes in the story was the --spoiler alert-- death of Mandred. It means the end of a friendship that withstood conspiracies, battles and the eternal eye of fate. Mandred’s friendship with Nuramon and Farodin was not only based on mutual trust and understanding, it was a friendship based on the need to destroy the common enemy. But Mandred, Nuramon and Farodin were all poles apart. They were as different from each other as it possibly could be, and yet they were friends and were for one another. One for all, and all for one. You will be overcome with emotion as this wonderful friendship comes to a close.If you are in for an epic fantasy which is a mishmash of science fiction, fantasy, fairy tales, and mythology with all kinds of creatures populating a world which is truly out of this world, then The Elven by Bernhard Hennen and James A. Sullivan is the novel that you have been waiting for. A book on this scale in terms of size and imagination is not to be missed. But if you are the type that always go for a quick read, then do not bother with this one.

Insanely, good epic fantasy. I was initially put off reading this because of all things in fantasy I'm put off by Elves. Give me Boromir. Give me Gimli. But stuff Legolas.All of that aside, I took the plunge and pleasantly found that this was less an elf adoration book and more of a Norse Mythological Saga before Tolkien took and ruined elves. When I was done reading it, I'd felt like I'd read an entire series of books covering the arc of a wonderful epic song. This is not a small book and it has more than enough meat to sate the most voracious of literary appetites.Get it and read it now, because you'll regret having waited as long as you did.

The Elven is a well thought out book. Even though it is a hefty 800 pages I never lost interest in it and even when I wasn't reading it I was still mulling over it.There are two main plots to the book, the first is Nuramon and Farodin searching for their lost love, they are join by Mandred who owes them a debt and who is looking to avenge his family. The second is the threat of the Devanthar; who is set on taking revenge amongst all of the Albenkin (Elves, trolls, dwarves etc.).The characters were well drawn out and I found myself rooting for them. Even Mandred, who I found so annoying, grew on me. I only wish we learned more about Farodin as I still felt as though he was a secondary character as I felt like I knew a lot more about the two other main characters, while he remained a bit of an enigma.The only reason that I gave this book four stars, which is just me, is that I wish the ending wasn't so abrupt, or if so maybe there could have been an epilogue so we could see what happened to certain characters. That was the only thing that really annoyed me otherwise this book is definitely worth a read!

This is truly an enjoyable and engaging adventure that encompasses three worlds and many different characters spanning a period of quite a few years.The story interweaves Humans, Elves, Centaurs, Dwarves and several other magical or mythical creatures, some of which I was unfamiliar with, in a plot that takes some very interesting twists and turns, that keeps you wanting to read more.The main characters are Farodin, Nuramon and Mandred, which the story follows, but there are several more that span most of the way through the book and a number that only appear briefly, but no matter the length of time they take up in the story they are written in such a way that you are invested in them, a case in point is Aigilaos, the Centaur, whose fate was truly shocking to read.Defiantly a book I would recommend if you enjoy fantasy adventures..

One of the longest and most entertaining books I have ever read. Mandred is a legend. The story is a romp, an adventure that never stops. I laughed, screamed & cried. I read it twice & once for my daughter as a bedtime story (slighly censored). Once she realised a sequel was available we got very excited.Fingers crossed its as rip roaring, pulse racing adventure as the first. Do not let the length of book intimidate you. It is so worth the effort & time. Thank you

I bought this years ago and stashed it in my kindle, to then discover this brilliant tale that encompasses a wealth of different characters and enfolds to tell their stories as well as the larger story was set to make an enthralling read. The length of the book enabled the author to do the storytelling well and to draw you in to the main and the sub plots without losing you along the way.His ability to set the scene and use of descriptive prose means you easily visualise what you are reading and I found this a book very easy to fall back into when I came back to it. A book not to miss