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A review by ssgoosecookie
The Elven by James A. Sullivan, Bernhard Hennen
4.0
This was our driving audiobook, so we finally finished this after almost a year of listening at 1x speed! 28 hours. Woof.
The first thing I'll say is that this is not your conventional fantasy, even epic fantasy. It's also not written in what I would say is a modern style. I'm not sure if it's the translation (it's originally in German) or if it's the original author's style, but it's very stripped down. There's not much beauty in the prose, and everyone does a whole lot of looking at things and a lot of stepping forward and back and recalling past conversations and a whole lot of monologuing. There's also a lot of adverbing.
Another non-modern aspect of this novel is that plot drives this book, not character. Quite often, the characters act in ways you wouldn't expect in the name of plot.
Despite all these drawbacks, I found myself fascinated by the slow train wreck of the world. The three adventuring companions jump repeatedly through time, usually hundreds of years at a time (only forward) and so we get to see a thousand years of anti-Albenkin sentiment turn into a religion and eventually a war. The search for Noroelle was kind of a fizzle, though I liked Nuramon and, occasionally, Faradin. (Noroelle was nice at the beginning of the story but she really, really annoyed me at the end. Not because of her choice, but because of her monologuing and). The perspective of Mandred and by extension the Fjordlanders was by far the most interesting part of this story.Mandred was funny and genuine, and I found myself imagining him in all of these bizarre settings to be extremely satisfying. Just imagine a gigantic, red-headed viking, complete with enormous battleaxe, in an enormous library, or amongst the delicate and beautiful elven city, or drinking with centaurs. Hilarious.
This book gets 4 stars from me because it's something new. I've read lots of fantasy, epic and otherwise, and I haven't read anything like this before. It wrapped up neatly and I wasn't even (too) mad about the final deposition of the characters.
The first thing I'll say is that this is not your conventional fantasy, even epic fantasy. It's also not written in what I would say is a modern style. I'm not sure if it's the translation (it's originally in German) or if it's the original author's style, but it's very stripped down. There's not much beauty in the prose, and everyone does a whole lot of looking at things and a lot of stepping forward and back and recalling past conversations and a whole lot of monologuing. There's also a lot of adverbing.
Another non-modern aspect of this novel is that plot drives this book, not character. Quite often, the characters act in ways you wouldn't expect in the name of plot.
Spoiler
One notable example is when Nuramon and Faridin argue and split up about halfway through the book. Their argument is tepid and nothing that would normally break up this adventuring band, but plot demands it. Another is Emerelle's non-reaction when Nuramon and Faridin return to Elfmark near the end of the book despite her rage and exile. Why did Mandred enter Craghammer by himself? What was he supposed to accomplish, other than getting himself traumatized and captured?Despite all these drawbacks, I found myself fascinated by the slow train wreck of the world. The three adventuring companions jump repeatedly through time, usually hundreds of years at a time (only forward) and so we get to see a thousand years of anti-Albenkin sentiment turn into a religion and eventually a war. The search for Noroelle was kind of a fizzle, though I liked Nuramon and, occasionally, Faradin. (Noroelle was nice at the beginning of the story but she really, really annoyed me at the end. Not because of her choice, but because of her monologuing and
Spoiler
immediate insistence on going into the moonlightThis book gets 4 stars from me because it's something new. I've read lots of fantasy, epic and otherwise, and I haven't read anything like this before. It wrapped up neatly and I wasn't even (too) mad about the final deposition of the characters.