Review of The Elven (Die Elfen), by Bernhard Hennen and James Sullivan

This video explores The Elven, a translation of Bernhard Hennen and James Sullivan’s Die Elfen, which is in German. It’s a classical fantasy tale of elves and other creatures interacting with humans, involving a love triangle, a quest, and a war that threatens to destroy the world of the elves.

[christophermuller]

Really great to hear somebody who isn´t from germany talk about these books. The Series has 4 mainline titles, 3 spinoffs in "Elfenritter" 1 novella another prequel which is 5 books long in "Dragonelves" and 1 extra book elevenmight which i haven´t read. The other books also fill in the gaps. Elfenritter is shortly before the end and the last book even ends at the end of the elven if i remember correctly. The dragonelven are a prequel, but you get charackters in their old selves like Farodin or Emerelle and it tells you more about the albae and deventhar. Its fascinating how long the series is running, started it in 2007 i think and it was my introduction to fantasy in general.

[TheSonicTooth]

I really love the way the plot is structured in this book (quite different from the rest of the series, which is more "traditionally" structured, but also fantastic).
I think it's a mistake to focus too much on the "bigger" narrative - it really is handled more like a constantly changing backdrop, while the core of the novel is more of a travelogue/quest type of story.
Love this book. It's among my absolute favourite fantasy novels. I really, really dig Hennen's style - high fantasy meets fairytale meets Greek tragedy meets Germanic mythology). The tragic elements are particularly strong in some of the other books in the series - few characters get a lasting happy end. Still though, there's a sense of wonder and unpredictability mixed with danger here that other fantasy series lack IMO.
And yes - Emerelle gets explored a LOT more in the other books. She's quite the complex character.

[slirix]

Well I am one of those German listeners who has read the whole series of Bernhard Hennen books and I have read all the books five times already, because the way they are written in German really captivates me. I can only recommend the books to everyone, admittedly I haven't read the translation into English yet, but apparently the realization of the story is quite successful.

[Camie]

I enjoyed this book too. I read tbook 2 and I haven't gone back since to see if there are any additional books.

[devinmccarthy]

Another great German Fantasy series is The Dwarves by Markus Heitz’s, also feels pretty old school! Great review

[BergerFett]

my WoW guildy recommended this book to me. I read it and fell in love with it. I gave it to my uncle at a party and he read it in a weekend. hes an English teacher and loved it.

[morrigan]

Started reading this recently because I was so much in the mood for what you describe as "unabashedly old-school fantasy" (1:32). And so far, I really enjoy it. It really *is* old-school fantasy influenced by Tolkien but obviously also written by a contemporary writer who read the same stuff about rebirth and Norse mythology etc. as we did. And despite being "unabashedly old-school fantasy", it doesn't feel as terribly "young-adulty" as other fantasy novels. Also better than some of the DND novels I tried out first to find that old-school vibe. It's probably as good as it gets as old-school fantasy novels that often feel like an RPG campaign are concerned lol.

[Niekvw]

The gaps in The Elven feel, with all the ''time travel'' or ''fast passing of time'' is essential to the three heroes' journey. It is that mystery that makes it so memorable and fascinating to read.

[WorkingManReads]

This is the first time I am hearing of this series. Sounds great 👍 thank you

[rastrich]

The Prequel Series "Drachenelfen" / "Dragonelves" is the true main-story, change my mind.
Seriously, Drachenelfen is insane in every aspect. One of my absolute favorites while The Elven isn't up there. To me it really feels as if the series has been written in the wrong order somehow 😅 Feels more like a Main Series than The Elven...
The setting and scale of the story alone beats this one imo... I find it a bit weird how this has been translated instead of the way more Modern and Grandiose Fantasy of the "Sequel" series...
But hey, at least someone talked about this.
I'm still sad that little to no American reader will be able to read the awesome Drachenelfen 😪

[theserpent]

Nice review. I’ve never heard of this series before but it sounds intriguing

[chrisgibson]

I love book 1. Bought it for like 99 cents and wasn't expecting much but it really stuck with me. Super under rated series.

[JZETH_]

Imagine just moving through time centuries at a time and losing everything each time. That’s such a scary thought. I’ve never heard of this series but it sounds interesting.

[Danny_Matson]

This book sounds interesting with the character dynamics that you describe especially, but hard to include on a crowded TBR. Excited to hear yours in the next video!

[FineReads]

I’m so glad you liked this series. I read the first ones in German (back when I was still living over there) and still have to catch up on the Elfen Ritter (elven knights) series. Thanks for the reminder :)

[janniskoberstein]

I'm so happy you liked it! I had a bit of a doubt, since despite loving the book when I was reading it at the age of 16 for the first time, reading it 12 years later after having read the 13 other books, I realized that it is quite a bit weaker than the following ones.
I really hope that you will find a way to read the whole series. Starting with “Elven winter” Hennen will display a phenomenal character work, dropping good and evil completely, introducing characters on opposing fronts with their own convincing motives. The 3 Elfenritter Books as well as later Drachenelfen books are my favorites. There are quite a lot of characters which I didn't like very much in the first book and got to love in the later ones, one of which you are calling a demon! :P
The sheer scope and organic feel of what Hennen created still blows my mind! To me this series is more grandiose than the Cosmere!

[holytribunal]

Ah, Bernhard Hennen. Definitely one of the best german fantasy writers in my opinion. The Elves is one if the first books I have read an although I don't think it's Hennens strongest book, it's still a really interesting story. It's sad that the Prequel books, Dragonelves, have not been translated. The play between the three different worlds and their cultures is explored really well and it surely doesn't lack in epic battles and magic either.

[gerdforster]

It isn't surprising that some of the characterisations reminded you of your D&D days. Berhard Hennen started out writing modules for Germany's big rpg, the Dark Eye. Later, he also wrote a few novels set in that world after being encuraged to so by Wolfgang Hohlbein (at that point the most successful german fantasy writer).
The Elven series developed from some of his ideas that did not make it into the game's setting.

[slowlyred]

I've never even heard of this. It looks pretty stout.
Great review 👌

[lazarusreads]

Wow, sounds like my kind of book, thanks.