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The Elementals
Morgan Llywelyn, internationally acclaimed author of 1916 and Lion of Ireland, returns with a powerful fantasy saga that sweeps from the dawn of history to our own near future. It is the story of Earth and her elements, and of the men and women whose fate lies in her hands. . . .
Water. The ice caps melt, the seas rise, and Kesair, a woman of Atlantis, leads a handful of survivors on a desperate search for land – and a new beginning.
Fire. All the world centers around the empire of Crete, where Meriones, a humble musician, performs before the mighty in their palaces. Until the land shakes, the volcano speaks with a voice of fire, and Meriones finds his life changed forever.
Earth. Old beyond imagining, the Earth knows neither hate nor pity. And from Annie Murphy, a strong-willed New England housewife, it demands a sacrifice both unexpected and irrevocable.
Air. The ozone dwindles, and the forests dies, a new plague walks the world. And on a day just after tomorrow, thousands of years after Kesair’s struggle, another small party of survivors, led by George Burningfeather, comes together on a desolate Indian reservation. As the ice melts and the sea rises once more, they fight one last battle for the Earth – for mankind and hope.
The Elementals is the epic, ongoing tale of humanity’s turbulent relationship with the Earth – as only Morgan Llywelyn could tell it.
Water. The ice caps melt, the seas rise, and Kesair, a woman of Atlantis, leads a handful of survivors on a desperate search for land – and a new beginning.
Fire. All the world centers around the empire of Crete, where Meriones, a humble musician, performs before the mighty in their palaces. Until the land shakes, the volcano speaks with a voice of fire, and Meriones finds his life changed forever.
Earth. Old beyond imagining, the Earth knows neither hate nor pity. And from Annie Murphy, a strong-willed New England housewife, it demands a sacrifice both unexpected and irrevocable.
Air. The ozone dwindles, and the forests dies, a new plague walks the world. And on a day just after tomorrow, thousands of years after Kesair’s struggle, another small party of survivors, led by George Burningfeather, comes together on a desolate Indian reservation. As the ice melts and the sea rises once more, they fight one last battle for the Earth – for mankind and hope.
The Elementals is the epic, ongoing tale of humanity’s turbulent relationship with the Earth – as only Morgan Llywelyn could tell it.
305 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1993
23 people are currently reading
527 people want to read
About the author
Morgan Llywelyn
78 books987 followersMorgan Llywelyn (born 1937) is an American-born Irish author best known for her historical fantasy, historical fiction, and historical non-fiction. Her fiction has received several awards and has sold more than 40 million copies, and she herself is recipient of the 1999 Exceptional Celtic Woman of the Year Award from Celtic Women International.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 34 reviews
October 21, 2023
Entertaining, but above all and first and foremost, Morgan Llewellyn's The Elementals is a thought-provoking and often even quite tender and loving (bu fantastic) story about four inter-related and interlinked individuals (four specific human beings across time and space), their relationship to both one another and to the so-called four elements of human culture and lore (to fire, water, earth, air), and how we truly are by this and through this ALL part of this earth (linked to the four elements) and are thus also responsible or at least need to realise our requirement of protecting and helping our home, the earth.
Now the presented narrative of The Elementals (which is actually more a set of four individual but related short tales) might indeed be and feel a trifle one-sided and message-heavy with regard to especially environmentalism, but considering that author Morgan Llewellyn first published The Elementals in 1993, it is in my humble opinion both rather majorly frighteningly uncanny (and saddening) how close to actual and bona fide climatic reality in particular the last story of The Elementals in many ways is (tragic, but also ultimately hopeful, showing that this, that our planet might indeed yet be saved, albeit only by and through those of us with a mind and a connection to the four elements to do so, and only with great and painful sacrifices). Recommended, although the amount of propagandistic preachiness found in the author's printed words does somewhat leave a tiny bit to be personally desired (for while I do in fact and indeed absolutely and utterly support protecting the earth and fighting against man-made, human-caused climate change and environmental degradation, that all of this is rather thickly and with not all that much nuance dished out in The Elementals does make me cringe a bit at times and wish that Morgan Llewellyn had penned her oh so important story and messages in a less obviously didactic manner).
Now the presented narrative of The Elementals (which is actually more a set of four individual but related short tales) might indeed be and feel a trifle one-sided and message-heavy with regard to especially environmentalism, but considering that author Morgan Llewellyn first published The Elementals in 1993, it is in my humble opinion both rather majorly frighteningly uncanny (and saddening) how close to actual and bona fide climatic reality in particular the last story of The Elementals in many ways is (tragic, but also ultimately hopeful, showing that this, that our planet might indeed yet be saved, albeit only by and through those of us with a mind and a connection to the four elements to do so, and only with great and painful sacrifices). Recommended, although the amount of propagandistic preachiness found in the author's printed words does somewhat leave a tiny bit to be personally desired (for while I do in fact and indeed absolutely and utterly support protecting the earth and fighting against man-made, human-caused climate change and environmental degradation, that all of this is rather thickly and with not all that much nuance dished out in The Elementals does make me cringe a bit at times and wish that Morgan Llewellyn had penned her oh so important story and messages in a less obviously didactic manner).
September 18, 2012
On my fourth re-read of this book, I still feel strongly that the third story (reflecting the element of Earth) is the most compelling. In fact, three times in the past I've checked out this book from the library only to re-read the 3rd story in order to give myself strength. There are four stories total, each dominated by an elemental: earth, air, fire, water. The ending story is the second best IMHO; although tragic, it is ultimately hopeful that at the end, perhaps we are not doomed.
Here are my favorite quotes, beginning with the 3rd story:
"The stone sat on its hillside and thought. Its thoughts were not cerebral. It had no cerebral cortex. Nor were they visceral. Stones do not need viscera. The thoughts of the stone are the thoughts of earth, compacted, weighed down by the eons, thrust upward by cataclysm, encased in ice. Immobile for millenia. Then pushed, shoved, draggged, dropped . . .
"Two-legged mammals arrived. They recognized the stone as fearsome and holy and bowed in worship before it. In what served as its consciousness, the stone thought this behavior just and proper. It was part of the sacred earth."
My favorite section is when Annie becomes one with the rock/earth:
"You are thinking the earth's thoughts.
There was no love, no hate. The entity was incapable of either, as neither was required for its survival. Likewise, it had no understanding of birth and death as humans understood those things.
But it did have a sense of justice. In the vast planetary scale all things must be kept in balance.
The entity was aware of construction and destruction. Of exhaustion and replenishment.
Of give and take.
It took. It gave accordingly, in kind, as it perceived with its nonhuman intellect.
What it gave might be accepted by humans as a gift or a curse, a bounty or a famine. But on the earth's scale, it was always a matter of maintaining the balance.
The earth did not care how humans were affected. They were specks on its surface, apparently unable to make a lasting impression
Or could they?"
And the beginning of the chapter on Air:
"Everything that is, is alive.
Life did not come into this world. The life forms of the earth are a natural product of the earth, as the living planet is a natural product of the living universe.
Life in any form is part of life in every form. One, indivisible. The terrestrial spark is connected to the most distant star, just as the collective consciousness of the earth is one cell in the infinitely greater creative intelligence of the universe.
It is said no one can know the mind of God.
Yet we are the mind of God.
And so we dance for joy.
We dance to the music of life, which ripples and shimmers across the universe. Even in the coldest depths of space, something is dancing the dance. Something is part of the music.
Every molecule of air on earth has its part to play in the whole. Myriad life forms dance in what appears, to human eyes, to be empty air.
Air is not empty.
Air is alive.
The angels of the air sing the songs of the spheres."
Here are my favorite quotes, beginning with the 3rd story:
"The stone sat on its hillside and thought. Its thoughts were not cerebral. It had no cerebral cortex. Nor were they visceral. Stones do not need viscera. The thoughts of the stone are the thoughts of earth, compacted, weighed down by the eons, thrust upward by cataclysm, encased in ice. Immobile for millenia. Then pushed, shoved, draggged, dropped . . .
"Two-legged mammals arrived. They recognized the stone as fearsome and holy and bowed in worship before it. In what served as its consciousness, the stone thought this behavior just and proper. It was part of the sacred earth."
My favorite section is when Annie becomes one with the rock/earth:
"You are thinking the earth's thoughts.
There was no love, no hate. The entity was incapable of either, as neither was required for its survival. Likewise, it had no understanding of birth and death as humans understood those things.
But it did have a sense of justice. In the vast planetary scale all things must be kept in balance.
The entity was aware of construction and destruction. Of exhaustion and replenishment.
Of give and take.
It took. It gave accordingly, in kind, as it perceived with its nonhuman intellect.
What it gave might be accepted by humans as a gift or a curse, a bounty or a famine. But on the earth's scale, it was always a matter of maintaining the balance.
The earth did not care how humans were affected. They were specks on its surface, apparently unable to make a lasting impression
Or could they?"
And the beginning of the chapter on Air:
"Everything that is, is alive.
Life did not come into this world. The life forms of the earth are a natural product of the earth, as the living planet is a natural product of the living universe.
Life in any form is part of life in every form. One, indivisible. The terrestrial spark is connected to the most distant star, just as the collective consciousness of the earth is one cell in the infinitely greater creative intelligence of the universe.
It is said no one can know the mind of God.
Yet we are the mind of God.
And so we dance for joy.
We dance to the music of life, which ripples and shimmers across the universe. Even in the coldest depths of space, something is dancing the dance. Something is part of the music.
Every molecule of air on earth has its part to play in the whole. Myriad life forms dance in what appears, to human eyes, to be empty air.
Air is not empty.
Air is alive.
The angels of the air sing the songs of the spheres."
October 12, 2012
da: http://www.webalice.it/michele.castel... Morgan Llywelyn e' una scrittrice conosciuta, divenuta abbastanza famosa sopratutto per i suoi romanzi basati sui miti celtici. Ho anche cercato di leggerne qualcuno, ma non sempre sono riuscito ad arrivare alla fine. Il romanzare vecchie e conosciute leggende limita molto la fantasia dell'autore, e i personaggi, dovendo in fin dei conti seguire un copione gia' definito, risultano facilmente unidimensionali, senza pofondita' ne' spessore emotivo. Un modo di intendere la Fantasy che mi attira molto poco, al pari della vecchia e mai rimpianta Sword and Sorcery che per tanto tempo mi aveva tenuto lontano da questo genere. Ho comperato questo romanzo proprio perche', almeno in apparenza, abbandona il ristretto mondo delle saghe celtiche e cerca di affrontare qualche tema piu' generale, ed ero curioso di vedere l'evoluzione di questa scrittrice. Purtroppo non avevo controllato la data di pubblicazione dell'originale, che e' il 1984, cioe' sostanzialmente al suo esordio letterario. Purtroppo la cosa e' evidente, perche' non si trattera' di miti celtici, ma pur sempre di miti, sebbene un poco piu' "universali", e trattati in modo estremamente semplice, quasi elementare. Personaggi scontati, tirati giu' con l'accetta, la narrazione che scorre a fatica (ma per questo bisognerebbe anche capire l'influenza del traduttore) e senza sorprese poiche', una volta capito il tema del romanzo, il racconto segue percorsi ovvi. Tutto sommato uno spreco di soldi, e nemmeno pochi, visti i prezzi dei libri Delos.
June 5, 2014
I really, really wanted to rate this book as a 5 star book. After reading the book's description, I was thinking this might end up being my all-time favorite book from Morgan Llywelyn, but I was incorrect.
One thing I love about her books is that her characters are so easy to get attached to, whether you love them or hate them. I did not find myself becoming attached to any of these characters. I mildly enjoyed 1 or 2 of the characters and I feel like this might be because the book is made up of short stories.
I think the message behind the book was important and clear, but the story didn't dazzle me nearly as much as any of her other books had so that was my only real issue with it.
One thing I love about her books is that her characters are so easy to get attached to, whether you love them or hate them. I did not find myself becoming attached to any of these characters. I mildly enjoyed 1 or 2 of the characters and I feel like this might be because the book is made up of short stories.
I think the message behind the book was important and clear, but the story didn't dazzle me nearly as much as any of her other books had so that was my only real issue with it.
August 20, 2011
I enjoyed rereading this book, but it didn't impress me as much at age 31 as it did when I was 20. I like the premise and the 4 different plots are pretty inventive and interesting, but I found the environmental message of the book to be kind of heavy-handed, in a hit-you-over-the-head kind of way. Also, not to split eco-spiritual hairs, but it seems like the message is "You should honor Nature, because it can KILL you." Um, yes, but maybe you should also honor Nature out of something more than pure self-interest?
July 8, 2021
Absolutely love this author! Characters are well developed & story researched! It’s an older book but my to read list is HUGE! Highly recommended if you believe we humans are one with the Earth! This will definitely go into my re-read pile!
December 27, 2007
I was highly disappointed by this book...it almost seemed to me like it was propaganda. I stuck with it, though, hoping it would get better but it never did. So sad...
November 27, 2018
La Terra non appartiene all’Uomo. La nostra presenza è a malapena tollerata. Per adesso.
Buongiorno lettori,
una frase a effetto per iniziare la recensione di un libro straordinario e terribile allo stesso tempo, con molti aspetti (quasi tutti al dir del vero) apocalittici.
Il romanzo narra il delicato e fragile rapporto tra l’uomo e la natura. Diviso in quattro parti, rappresentate dai classici elementi alchimistici – Acqua, Fuoco, Terra e Aria –, si presentano quattro diverse storie apparentemente senza legami tra loro (infatti leggendolo attentamente si possono cogliere dei collegamenti), in cui i protagonisti devono lottare contro i mutamenti del pianeta causati dall’uomo stesso. Devono sopravvivere all’innalzamento del livello del mare, all’eruzione di un vulcano, a una pietra magica e misteriosa, per finire (per così dire) all’inquinamento e malattie trasmesse con l’aria.
Storie che percorrono un ampio lasso di tempo – da un passato remoto a un futuro prossimo – come prova che gli uomini non cambiano, e che il ciclo di distruzioni e tragedie si perpetua all’infinito.
Ogni narrazione è scorrevole e avvincente, che incolla il lettore alle pagine, lasciandolo alla fine col fiato sospeso e col timore che tutto ciò un giorno possa accadere veramente.
Un romanzo che non delude nessuno, neanche coloro che non amano particolarmente i generi fantasy epico.
E chissà che qualcuno non possa imparare anche qualcosa d’importante da questo libro?
Buongiorno lettori,
una frase a effetto per iniziare la recensione di un libro straordinario e terribile allo stesso tempo, con molti aspetti (quasi tutti al dir del vero) apocalittici.
Il romanzo narra il delicato e fragile rapporto tra l’uomo e la natura. Diviso in quattro parti, rappresentate dai classici elementi alchimistici – Acqua, Fuoco, Terra e Aria –, si presentano quattro diverse storie apparentemente senza legami tra loro (infatti leggendolo attentamente si possono cogliere dei collegamenti), in cui i protagonisti devono lottare contro i mutamenti del pianeta causati dall’uomo stesso. Devono sopravvivere all’innalzamento del livello del mare, all’eruzione di un vulcano, a una pietra magica e misteriosa, per finire (per così dire) all’inquinamento e malattie trasmesse con l’aria.
Storie che percorrono un ampio lasso di tempo – da un passato remoto a un futuro prossimo – come prova che gli uomini non cambiano, e che il ciclo di distruzioni e tragedie si perpetua all’infinito.
Ogni narrazione è scorrevole e avvincente, che incolla il lettore alle pagine, lasciandolo alla fine col fiato sospeso e col timore che tutto ciò un giorno possa accadere veramente.
Un romanzo che non delude nessuno, neanche coloro che non amano particolarmente i generi fantasy epico.
E chissà che qualcuno non possa imparare anche qualcosa d’importante da questo libro?
May 30, 2020
Enjoyed the cyclical aspect of the book where the first story may have actually been the last story. The last story in the book with the numbers of references to the various viruses which are threatening humanity [together with global warming and an enlarged hole in the ozone layer] was particularly timely given I read it during the Covid-19 lockdown.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 3, 2019
TheElementals
This is a Great warning book .The end chapter made me cry.I wish it would be required reading for high school children.This will be our future of we do not stop global warming.This book moved me and will move any person who loves our Earth.
This is a Great warning book .The end chapter made me cry.I wish it would be required reading for high school children.This will be our future of we do not stop global warming.This book moved me and will move any person who loves our Earth.
October 27, 2017
Profound
December 30, 2022
Didn't age well.
March 22, 2023
It certainly didn't age well.
October 13, 2024
"As the ice caps melted, the seas rose."
The Elementals is essentially a book about consequences for human actions. Every "wipe" is born from humankind's abuse of the planet, and as such Mother Earth is forced to eliminate her pathogens, leaving enough people alive to save herself.
This book was such a great read in my opinion. Very thought-provoking and eye-opening. Each part of the book told a story of connected people, living in vastly different times, sharing the same fate.
I also loved how the story was circular in the way that the end of the book can be the start of the book. The end of the final story teased that a seemingly neverending storm was brewing which could be the cause of the great flooding to come in the start of the novel.
This novel shares a greatly important message without forcing it unto its readers. For that reason, I can say that this book is worth the attention of people.
The Elementals is essentially a book about consequences for human actions. Every "wipe" is born from humankind's abuse of the planet, and as such Mother Earth is forced to eliminate her pathogens, leaving enough people alive to save herself.
This book was such a great read in my opinion. Very thought-provoking and eye-opening. Each part of the book told a story of connected people, living in vastly different times, sharing the same fate.
I also loved how the story was circular in the way that the end of the book can be the start of the book. The end of the final story teased that a seemingly neverending storm was brewing which could be the cause of the great flooding to come in the start of the novel.
This novel shares a greatly important message without forcing it unto its readers. For that reason, I can say that this book is worth the attention of people.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Read
May 3, 2013This is a book that everyone should read. It has a valuable message but it is not preachy....definitely in the story telling vain that a bard or the keeper of a peoples history would tell. It's a story of mother earth reflected in her elements: water, fire, earth and air. The story about 'air' hits very close to home....meaning it has some warnings that we should take heart and react to, now.
It's the book that I often recommend to my friends, usually by gifting it. Go out and read this book....and then respect our planet!
ps...I made the mistake of lending my copy which was never returned to me. It's not always easy to find; I know I need to replace my lost copy. Hence the reason why I gift it rather than lend it.
It's the book that I often recommend to my friends, usually by gifting it. Go out and read this book....and then respect our planet!
ps...I made the mistake of lending my copy which was never returned to me. It's not always easy to find; I know I need to replace my lost copy. Hence the reason why I gift it rather than lend it.
January 3, 2015
I had read this novel once before several years ago and found it one I could not put down. When I found a used library copy on Amazon I snapped it up and read it again. The second reading was just as inspiring as the first. The novel is divided into four short stories based in each of the four elements. Water in Atlantis, Fire in Crete, Earth in New England and Air in the Dystopian future. Each story is a comment on the destructive forces of nature and the human ability to adapt. It is also a commentary on climate change and how we as tenants on the planet both harness and destroy our home.
October 26, 2010
This book is actually four stories which follow people who are (presumably) linked by a genetic inheritance of affinity/control over each of the four basic elements: earth, air, fire and water. The characters are very compelling and so well written that I kept looking at the cover and wondering why I had never heard of Llywelyn before. Some readers may find it too preachy; the author basically hits you over the head with the environmental message.
March 28, 2014
At first, I almost gave up on this book...about half way through the first section - but I persevered..and was glad I did. The book is more like 4 short stories - each one based on a primal element - water, fire, earth, air -but in some ways there is an underlying unity to the book that stays with you. I especially enjoyed the last section.
January 21, 2015
strange little critter, this book be. Llwelyn us a fantastic writer, but this was just strange. the focus on climatic destruction just seems so dated, and the 4 stories disjointed. definitely was not expecting this type of book from her; and certainly not after having read so many other fantastic historical novels by her. Disappointed.
May 28, 2016
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An interesting read, but it didn't really grab me. I've read better tales from this author. I know the point is our destruction of the earth, & it does give hope for a future existence, as long as one happens to be indigenous to the land of one's birth. Hmm!
An interesting read, but it didn't really grab me. I've read better tales from this author. I know the point is our destruction of the earth, & it does give hope for a future existence, as long as one happens to be indigenous to the land of one's birth. Hmm!
Read
September 25, 2016I've been reading and re-reading this book for years. It's one of my favorites. It could have descended into the moralistic and ridiculous, but instead, her skillful storytelling just carries you along to the delicious conclusion. It's almost required reading for historical fiction or environmental geeks.
July 31, 2025
The Elementals by Morgan Llywelyn wasn't quite what I was expecting it to be. The four interconnected stories it features can get a little heavy handed at times, but knowing this was released in 1993 puts that a little more in my favor. Overall, I'd say the best stories were the 1st and the 3rd ones. I think I'll have to try more from this author in the future.
April 5, 2008
Each of these four stories has an element as the main catalyst for the events which transpire in each separate tale. "Mother Nature cannot be tamed" is the running theme throughout the book and the final story is very apropos to today's global warming crisis.
August 17, 2008
I thought this was a really good book. It has some aspects of fantasy to it. It is in three distinct segments which at first do not seem to be connected. However the pattern slowly reveals itself as one goes on. A really great read.
July 30, 2009
This book, with its four stories linked by Earth's elements of water, fire, air, and earth, spans thousands of years and delivers an ecological warning. Worth it for the terrifying last story alone, though they're all good.
September 9, 2010
Well written. Would have given it 4 stars through the first 3 segments. Lost me on the fourth, Air. If you are into the humans are unwittingly destroying 'Nature' then this is probably a 4-5 star book.
September 20, 2014
I absolutely love this book. I believe I have reread it a couple of times now. If you are concerned about what we as a race of people are doing to out planet, this is a must read. It really should be on every high school's reading list!
May 24, 2008
Llywelyn wrote this in 1993, but it is fitting today. It is a mythic tale based on the earth changes from history and through present day.
July 19, 2008
I read this book years ago and still think about it...probably not for everyone, but I loved the ideas this book made me think about.
September 9, 2008
Wow. I picked this book up because I liked the cover and the author's name was vaguely familiar. Surprise. I liked it.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 34 reviews