Once Walked With Gods

Elves #1

by James Barclay

The elves have fled to Calius, seeking to escape the overwhelming power of the demonic Garonin. A desperate last stand in their own dimension saved the race, at the cost of 100,000 elves lost to the Garonin. The elf who led that fight, Takaar, is blamed for the losses and has gone into hiding. Now the weakened elf race is tearing itself apart in civil war, human mercenaries have arrived in Calius and are ripping the continent apart. Only one elf can unite the elves. And only one elf believes in him. A young warrior named Auum sets out to bring back the shamed hero and save the elven race.James Barclay's ELVES trilogy will tell the whole story of his immortal elven race, and will appeal to all fans of Tolkien and fantasy - this is a uniquely entertaining take on a fantasy staple perfect to bring new readers to Barclay. And old readers of James Barclay will welcome a return to one of their favourite creations and will also love seeing one of their favourite characters again - the Tai Gethan warriror Auum destined to be one of the Raven.

Genres: Fantasy, Epic Fantasy, Fiction, Elves, Science Fiction Fantasy, Novels, High Fantasy

372 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2010

Reviews

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

Being a big fan of the Raven series , I was very keen to read this. I find that there is nothing better to help me unwind from the stresses of modern life than a bit of high fantasy.

Set in the same world as the Raven books, but at a point 3000 years earlier, the long-lived elves are on the brink of an all-out civil war.

After a great inter-dimensional battle against the demon Garonin, the elves suffer massive losses and stranded from their home world, the surviving refugees make their home in Calius. Blamed for the large death toll, their disgraced leader, Takaar, disappears. After an ill-fated coup, the fragile order of Elven society falls into chaos as the different castes(or ‘threads’) of elves, despite their dwindling numbers, fight amongst themselves in order to seize power. Former lovers of Takaar, Katyett – arch of the elite warriors the TaiGethen, and Pelyn – arch of Al-Arynaar, both endeavour to prevent the troubles escalating.

10 years after his disappearance, a low-ranking TaiGethen called Auum (who readers of the Raven series will find a familiar name) is tasked to find Takaar in a hope that he will reinstate order. When Auum finds the missing elf, he appears to have lost his mind and is found talking to an imaginary companion. Can Auum persuade Takaar to reunite the Elves against a new threat?

If you have not read the Raven series, you can still get an immense amount of pleasure from this book. I wouldn’t say that it was required reading before Elves, but I can assure you, you are missing a treat if you haven’t.

This book is fantasy definitely, but it is also so much more. Not just a simple ‘quest’ driven story, Once Walked With Gods is full of politics, racial hatred, love & loss. The main characters are extremely well fleshed out. Barclay makes it very easy for the reader to see the world through their eyes. The elves, and in particular our heroes, are painted as noble, yet flawed creatures that are struggling to rise above the disorder that surrounds them.

At times, the book is action heavy and is driven by that, and for me that is one of its strengths. Ravenites will expect fast paced and thrilling fight scenes, and I am happy to report that you won’t be disappointed. Experts with blades, these elves are also not averse to some dirty fighting with teeth and nails. If you are new to Barclay’s universe, don’t make the mistake of thinking the Elves in this world will be comparable to the gentle otherworldly creatures of Tolkien – Barclay’s elves can be brutal, ruthless, ambitious, and downright pissed. They have a particular hatred and contempt of humans, or blink-lives as they call them.

A dense, but tight, fast-moving script that reads almost like a film. I found it hypnotic in a lot of different ways, and difficult to put down. The well-plotted story keeps the reader guessing, and just when you think you have it sussed, there is a delightful twist. There are enough teasers thrown in for the next book, so I will most definitely be grabbing myself a copy. If this first instalment is anything to go by, the new series Elves promises to be as epic of scale as its predecessors. The second book, The Rise of The TaiGethen is due out August 2011.

[Marc Aplin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Elves Once Walked With Gods was perhaps one of the most raved about new series in 2010. Author 'James Barclay' is indeed one of the most accomplished British authors in the genre and when you add his name to the word 'Elves' perhaps it was inevitably going to be an intriguing novel.

James is most well known for his 'Raven' novels, which earned praise pretty much every fantasy blog/magazine going as well as highly complimentary blurbs from the likes of David Gemmell and Maggie Furey. If you haven't read those though, do not worry - for 'Elves' is a standalone novel that you need to prior experience of Barclay's work to enjoy. It is however set in the same world - all-be-it around 3000 years before the Raven series and on a completely different continent.

Back to why you should read Elves though!

When you first pick up Elves you can tell that there is something different about it. Straight away we are told that the big war has already happened, years ago in-fact. The Elves had fought the demonic Garonin. It wasn't exactly a resounding success though, seeing that it resulted in the death of around 100,000 of their own kind. At the final stand off - the Elves leader 'Takaar' fled, went into hiding and has played no part in the ruling of the race since.

The Elves we meet are all very, very different. In addition to having their own motives and personalities, they have split themselves into threads depending upon which God they follow. It comes time when a number of individuals within the threads have had enough of Takaar's representation of the Elven race. He has completely disappeared and yet still people call him 'their leader'.

Right, now, I'm going to try and take you a little bit deeper into the story now, but stick with me - because it is kind of difficult to explain to you within a single paragraph... Barclay does a far, far better job over a few chapters :)

Basically, the main reason that Takaar has been left as 'leader' seems to be that his God 'Yniss' also has the most powerful thread. Their elite warrior class - the 'TaiGethen', are basically too strong to stand up to and with them basically in charge anyway, the majority of threads seem happy with the current 'peace'. However, things are not quite as rosy as they seem. One of the TaiGethen has sought the help of men (humans) and with them has come a number of Mages. Together, the Elves could most likely destroy the humans with relative ease, however, it quickly becomes apparent that this single TaiGethen in fact has the support of numerous other threads... and highly influential people within them too.

There therefore isn't really an outside enemy as such. The main war seems to be between the threads of Elves and early in the book we can see that the humans are just pawns. Now, we must remember that the Elves are very few in number following their earlier war and now, to engage in civil war in such low numbers could quite easily end the race completely. A number of highly ranked Elves recognise this and see the need to re-unite the Elves with a figurehead. That figure head of course has to be 'Takaar'... there's a problem though... because when we catch up with 'Takaar' just a few chapters into the novel we find he is pretty much insane.

This idea of Elves engaging in a civil war caused me great conflicts as a reader... in a good way. I was looking at one side of the argument 'we need to unite' and then the other side 'we need to go our separate ways' and could really see both sides. Would I willingly follow a leader who is seemingly insane and ran out on me? At the same time, could I really go into war knowing that even if I win, I have probably destroyed my race... if the answer to both of these is no... then what? I loved the fact that throughout the novel I struggled to chose a side, in-fact, even at the very end of the novel I wasn't able to choose a side because of the huge changes in direction and reveals of more characters.

Barclay's ability to make the love-able characters love-able and yet still have us kind of supporting the baddies is a real talent and as a reader will leave you constantly feeling involved and re-thinking your stance.

In addition to a fantastic plot, the writing is fantastic. I read this book in just over 3 days and that is fairly quick for me. The short chapters and to the point writing style of Barclay will leave readers wondering why we have these 600/700 page novels. Elves in many ways has the complexity of a novel like A Game of Thrones and yet has slim-lined it and packed it with action. The result is a novel that is a quick read and yet one you will remember. Few books seem able to do that these days, they are either quick and forgettable or lengthy and memorable.

One point I would like to raise and bring to the attention of people considering Elves and a'problem' that Barclay himself mentions on his site is: 'the depiction of Elves'. We say Elves and we think 'Tolkien'. Sorry - that is just the way things are. Elves are pretty, pleasant and righteous... right? To write a book about Elves that completely re-writes what Tolkien has almost set in stone is brave... to make them almost opposites of the race we saw in Lord of the Rings and pull it off is damned heroic.

In Barclay's work, we still see them as 'Elves' and we do believe that they are of higher status than us mere-humans. (I love the phrase - Blink-Life - that refers to our short human life span when compared to their centuries of life). Yet, they are obviously pissed off, broken, brutal and seeking revenge. From now on, when people mention Elves I think I will instantly reply: "What kind of Elves? Are we talking Barclay Elves or Tolkien Elves?"

I think I've pretty much said all there is to say on how great the novel is. It's readable, it's thought provoking and it won't feel like something you've read before. Book 2 is due out in February 2012 - sadly it was recently put back until then for whatever reason. Book 1 left me hopping onto Amazon and checking the date to pre-order though and I'm sure you'll be doing the same once you've finished this one... Enjoy!!!

[Guy Haley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kung-fu rainforest elf mega-betrayal.

Barclay returns to the world of Balaia with the first in a new series concerning his Elves. Barclay’s extra-dimensional refugees aren’t the usual pointy-ears, they’re caste-ridden, unmagical creatures whose savage ancestry lurks just underneath their civilised exteriors. Barclay’s original approach so buckles the archetype’s trammels his elves might as well be called something else, but such are the strictures of modern genre fiction. ‘Elf’ is such a handy label for publishers, you’d wonder if Moorcock could get away with ‘Melnibonean’ these days.

None of which detracts from Barclay’s book, you understand. Once Walked With Gods is a ripping fantasy yarn. A coup by the Ynissul, the longest lived elves, to return themselves to the top of the pecking order goes woefully wrong when they are betrayed by their human mercenaries, who set about a program of genocide. The elves, still reeling from the loss of their original home ten years earlier, are few in number and have no army. Only the elite TaiGeneth, elf super ninjas, stand in the way of utter ruination for the race, and there are but 90 of them. Perhaps disgraced hero Takaar can help, but he’s gone missing, and gone nuts, so perhaps not…

Massive conspiracy has become top trope the second for high fantasy (all-out war remaining all-out favourite). Barclay’s is a little hard to swallow, but once the story gets going, we’re treated to a welter of pulse-pounding action. The endless descriptions of elven-war acrobatics manage to avoid becoming dull, and although it is sometimes hard to keep track of the numerous characters amidst the magical explosions, Barclay makes us feel the loss of each and every one. An elf action movie on paper, we recommend it.

[Marilyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5
The whole story seemed to take a long time to get going. There wasn’t enough of Takaar! But the battle at the end of amazing. These are a species of elves never seen before. They act like men. Prejudice, envy, arrogance, greed.
But here the human is their enemy. However this isn’t understood for quite a while. Hithuur, a priest of the temple, espouses well why some elves have risen up against their brethren: “He had committed crimes. But they had been for the good of the elves. To advance the nation by returning to the way of life they all knew instinctively was the best one. Yes, it had inequality but it had certainty and security. It worked. Yniss knew it worked. But this. This was hideous. And he had helped perpetrate it.”
Now it will be interesting to watch how the remaining elves pull together to overthrow the men and mages. Two things the elves have in their favor as related to Auum by Serrin: “We have the rainforest and know it is untameable. And time. Lots and lots of time.”

[Noelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

A 5 star rating is certainly not overrated. In previous books, I always loved Ilkar. His character had just that itsy bitsy more than the others to get me, and keep me hooked. I Elves Once Walked With Gods, i could but continue to love the elves. This book is good. It is really good. It's got everything, love, action, betrayal, and politics. Lots of Politics. It is very clear from the very beginning that the elven world faces problems identical to the ones existing in the human world. I could go on and on, but I probably would spoil it for many who read this review. So, I will just end by saying this. A MUST READ! I am now impatiently awaiting Book 2.

[Lady K · Rating 3 out of 5]

http://antredeslivres.hautetfort.com/...

Il est difficile de donner un avis sur un tel livre ! Je dois avouer que je suis assez mitigée … Le début est difficile à comprendre, le milieu est très entrainant et captivant, mais la fin est trop lente à mon goût. Je vais quand même essayer d’expliquer tout ça le plus clairement possible.

L’action commence tout de suite, seulement nous n’avons pas encore tous les éléments en main pour bien comprendre ce qui se passe. En effet, l’auteur nous éclaire seulement une centaine de pages plus loin, lorsqu’il explique dans un flashback – qui d’ailleurs est écrit d’une façon très émouvante – ce qui s’est passé dix ans auparavant. C’est de cet événement que tout part. Mais on se rend très vite compte que ça va beaucoup plus loin. Au début, il semble que ce soient les elfes entre eux qui se déchirent, mais on s’aperçoit bien assez tôt que les hommes ne sont pas étrangers à la tragédie qui est en train de se passer. J’ai même été surprise par la tournure des événements !

Pour résumer, c’est comme si en France deux camps se combattaient pour savoir si le concept d’égalité a vraiment sa place dans notre constitution. Et évidemment, ce serait le camp qui est contre l’égalité qui l’emporterait (sinon ce n’est pas drôle !). Imaginez ensuite le chaos qui régnerait, la résistance qui s’organiserait et l’oppression qui sévirait. C’est exactement ce qu’il se passe dans le livre.

Je dois dire que l’intrigue est intéressante. Cependant j’ai un peu été déçue car l’auteur privilégie surtout les descriptions de combats sanglants – plus que nécessaire et avec des détails macabres dont on se serait bien passés ! – au détriment de l’intrigue en elle-même. J’ai trouvé que cette dernière aurait peut-être pu être un tout petit peu plus creusée et approfondie.
La violence est donc omniprésente puisqu’on parle d’une guerre entre les différentes races elfiques. C’est un aspect que je n’attendais par forcément dans un livre de Fantasy. C’est, pour moi, trop proche de la réalité, de ce que sont vraiment les hommes : des bêtes civilisées et apprivoisées pour vivre ensemble. Comme je lis principalement pour m’évader loin du réel, ça m’a un peu gêné, mais quand on regarde l’intrigue du roman cette violence est « nécessaire ».

Ce qui est dommage c’est qu’il n’y a pas vraiment de personnage attachant. Ils sont tous très héroïques ou alors détestables, selon les camps. Mais aucun n’a le petit quelque chose en plus qui fait que l’on s’attache tout de suite à lui. Peut-être que ce n’est pas le cas quand on a déjà lu les autres œuvre de James Barclay, car d’après ce que j’ai compris, cette trilogie en devenir suit la jeunesse d’un des personnages, Auum, que l’on retrouve dans les Chroniques. C’est pourquoi je pense qu’il est mieux – même si ce n’est pas nécessaire – de lire cette trilogie seulement après avoir lu les Chroniques de Ravens. D’autant plus que certains termes elfiques sont utilisés sans véritable explication, on doit donc se faire une idée de leur signification au fil des pages.

Malgré une atmosphère générale assez lourde – une guerre et ce qu’elle implique ce n’est jamais marrant – il y a tout de même certains passages qui font sourire, des situations comiques et d’autres qui sont émouvantes.

En conclusion, c’est un roman que je recommande aux personnes qui ont déjà lu les ouvrages précédents de James Barclay et qui veulent en apprendre un peu plus sur la jeunesse d’Auum. Tout le monde peut bien entendu le lire en comprenant ce qui se passe, mais cela risque d’être moins clair par moment. Si l’occasion m’est donnée, je lirai la suite, mais je ne me précipiterai pas non plus pour me la procurer …

[Ruth · Rating 3 out of 5]

c2010. Mr Barclay - what are you doing to me? Where did the humour go? I did find some humour when Takaar came onto the scene but much less is evident than in his previous books. This is a very dark tale with lots of fight action, great characterisation and an original world. For the first couple of chapters, I was, quite frankly lost, feeling that I should know the names and the belief system etc. However, perseverance paid off and the story started to gallop along. The moral of the story or theme is not hidden at all and reading about the two points of view through the various POVs was great. I think I like poor old Takaar but I am sure that there is more to come with this character as he has been written fairly sympathetically in this book with only a few clues of the ugliness that I think will be revealed in the next book or so. I believe that the next book, The Rise of the TaiGethen, will only be published in Feb 2012 - so a bit of a wait is necessary. "The rainforest has bounties we still know nothing about. Man thinks he can rule the lands of the elves. He is sorely mistaken."

[Faith · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story is complex but it held my attention. I love Takaar and Auum! Takaar constantly talking to himself cracked me up.

[Lel · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is so completely different from The Chronicles of the Raven. It has none of the humor, such a disappointment

[Eva Müller · Rating 4 out of 5]

First of all: It would have been great if OWWG had had a cast-list like Barclays other books. It has at least as much characters as the Ascendants and if possible the names are even more strange and exotic. It makes sense for them to be that, as the elves are portrayed as very different from humans, but it just confused me a lot and I often needed some time to place the names corectly.

Now for the book: I really liked the premise: Elves not as a big unified mass but -at least in that aspect- a lot like humans. There are different races (with different life-spans) and there is distrust and even hate between the races. Lots of hate. But of course for Barclay simply a full-ranging civil-war with betrayals, rape and murder isn't enough. Humans being humans (and bastards) decide that this is the opportunity to conquer Calaius and enslave the elves.
And here we come to an issue that bothered me a bit. There aren't any scenes set in Balaia, but from the discussions, the humans on Calaius have, you can get a vague impression about how Balaia is. And I got the impression that the Balaia here isn't very different from the Balaia in the Raven-books, but as I understand, OWWG is set about 3000 years before the Raven. So in this time there was no developement at all? The only thing that is different is that there still was the One Magic (though the split of the colleges already seems to be starting), but they even already seem to have most of the spells that are in use in the Raven-books: ShadowWings, FlameWall, IceWind...with all the research-magic going on in the books, I had perhaps expected that they had much fewer spells at that time, or perhaps weaker ones.
Admittedly, Barclay isn't the first author to fall into that trap (I'm looking at you George Martin), so overall it didn't bother me that much, but now that I've started complaining I can es well get my list off:
It took me a while till I really liked the characters, yes I did eventually, especially Katyett and Pelyn, but it was no 'love at first sight' as with the Raven. In a way, of course they have to be, because Barclay makes the point of elves not just being humans with pointy ears and also both have a job where they can't afford to show to much emotion, but it just made it difficult to get into the book at first.
Then they're the TaiGethen. Yeah, Rule of Cool, and I don't deny that they are awesome but their fighting-skills almost seem to be a bit to phantastical...a group of them seem to have little problems with taking out a group of humans more than three times their number. It wouldn't have hurt to beginn with a couple more TaiGethen-warriors, they'd still been just as awesome.

Now I spent quite a lot of time complaining, but overall I liked it very much. As said, it took some time, but eventually I grew very fond of the characters, especially Pelyn. I also think that Takaar might be one of the most fascinating characters Barclay ever created, the way he is dealing with his past and the guilt, or perhaps rather with the fact that he can't deal with it, not all the time is just impressive, and his speech towards the elves towards the end was really awesome.
Talking of awesome: Auum obviously continues to be so (or rather begins, as it's before his appearance in Elfsorrow) and I quite enjoyed his interactions with Takaar.

Now I can't wait till the next book appears.

[Robin Carter · Rating 5 out of 5]

When the last Raven was complete i thought it was the end of an era, where would, where could James go next?
Don't get me wrong he is no one trick pony, his Du-ology Cry of the New Born and shout for the dead are brilliant. But while more accomplished technically as pieces of writing, they lacked the heart and soul of the Raven.

Once walked with Gods is a return to that passion, this is obviously where James love of writing comes to the fore, this isn't a Job for him its a passion, and it comes across in every word, paragraph, page and chapter.

If you love fantasy buy the book, if you love Fiction then try the book. This isn't little twee elves in the woods, this isn't mysticism and confusingly named fantasy, this is Blood battle, politics, betrayal and conflict on an epic scale. and not to be missed at all.

Having read this back in May im already desperate for the next book and its all the longer to wait for having read it so early...so i hope your getting on with it James
(Parm)

[Paul Nelson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a fast paced and relentless action novel. Some interesting concepts a warrior cast elven race called the TaiGethen against the human mages and swordsmen. A past hero returning to aid in the battle and the turncoat elves who assist the humans until they find out man wants to rule and destroy some of the elven clans.
My only small critisism would be the lack of feeling created for the characters, theres no exploration of the characters and you dont really care who lives or dies.
That aside the battles and description of the action are incredibly well done and I have purchased the second novel as soon as the first was finished

[Richard Kellum · Rating 5 out of 5]

A superb read that lets up only long enough for you to take your next breath before plunging you headlong back into dizzying action. Having said that, some of the fight sequences do at times become so kaleidoscopic as to disorient. Nevertheless, this is grown up fantasy at its best. The characters are fully realized and faced with difficult choices that will challenge your loyalties. And don't be fooled by the title. These elves have nothing airy about them; unless, that is, they're leaping into that air to land behind you and lay you waste with a swift kick the head or a blade to the back. Highly recommended.

[Cat · Rating 1 out of 5]

Did not finish: Also winner of the title: Book that made me the Most Angry 😠. I love elves, I love books with elves in them, I don’t mind what kind of elves – traditionally LOTR elves, faery elves, I’ve even read a version of steam-punk-ish elves, I’ve read them and enjoyed them. They’ve all got the pointy ears and magic and that’s about it for essential elvish-ness. I do have my limits however: Elves are NOT a thinly veiled version of Inca/Mayan civilisation, in the tropics, with (?) alien technology and no magic. No, just nope. I don’t know what that is but you can’t call your character an elf just because you gave them pointy ears. Wrong. Fantasy fail.

[Mark Farbrother · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you are a fan of the world of The Raven, and loved the TaiGethen Elves introduced in Elfsorrow, you will love this book. Set 300 years before the events portrayed in The Raven books, but does contain a few familiar Elven faces, Auum being one. It is true Heroic fantasy at it's best, a real page turner. I won't give too much away, as the book isn't released until August 19th 2010, but you will love some Elves, hate some Elves, and hate the humans, especially the magic bearers. The best heroic fantasy i've read in some time!

[Colin · Rating 3 out of 5]

When I started reading this I thought it was going to be another slow plodding book that I was going to put down and NOT pick up again. However once I'd read more and the characters got sorted and you knew who was who it really picked up.

These elves are not like any elves I have read about before, IE: from the likes of the Lord Of The Rings, they are bunch of violent viscous cast ridden race.

By the end of the book I was left wanting more but I don't think Im in any hurry to read any sequel.....

[Fainne Firmin · Rating 1 out of 5]

I finally gave up on this. I didn't even finish it. I got a hundred pages in and there was simply no reason to keep going Takaar was the only one interesting, but he'd didn't get enough time to make the book worth my while.
It felt like I needed a book that takes place before hand. There were a bunch of references that were kinda interesting, but I'd have liked some explanation by the point I reached. And people kept on appearing and then dying, and that was just annoying. It was like "here's this person, here's a bunch of info on them, oh they're dead".
I was just so bored I have up.

[Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Disturbing. Amazing. Barclay's elves are really well crafted: they have different races, and Barclay has carefully created their culture. Parts of it are different based on the race of the elves, and parts are the same for all elves. What sets this book really apart from almost all the other fantasy books is how Barclay portraits the elves. They are not amazingly good and kind, but can instead be cruel, vindictive and irrational. He also describes well how this isn't something exceptional but instead everyone is capable of cruelty and group pressure plays an important role in this.

[Matt · Rating 3 out of 5]

Starts quite slowly with a lot of PoV characters; once the scene is set it picks up the pace into something more like I would expect from Barclay - lots of action.

Hampered by:
- being the "setup" book for a new series
- none of the elves being that likeable ... They are all so traditional, noble and self sacrificing
- not giving very clear signposts to what's different between these elves and those of the raven's time (no magic, no claw bound etc).

[Nancy · Rating 2 out of 5]

David Gemmell had high praise for this series, and I enjoyed many of his books, so bought a copy of Barclay's Elves #1. I am trying to like it, but it hasn't grabbed me, and I am close to half way through. I do not think I will finish it. If you are looking for some action-oriented fantasy, try Gemmell instead.

[Beth Schluter · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed Barclay's style and it has spurred me on to read more of his books.

[Nerine Dorman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Elves: Once Walked with Gods by James Barclay is a book I wanted to like, and certainly the premise was solid enough to catch my fancy, but I struggled to finish the story. It’s not that the writing is terrible – it’s just that the author’s style seems to be adequate rather than enchanting, if that makes sense.

The bare bones of the story is that the elves once suffered a terrible defeat on their home world, and only barely escaped to a new world. Except their leader, one Takaar, shamed himself by running away during that first conflict and has spent the past while going quietly mad out in the forest while his people continue without him.

A concept I quite liked was that Barclay’s elves aren’t all immortal - there are different lineages or threads, as he calls them, that have different lifespans. This is also a source of internal conflict for the elves, obviously with the more longer-lived threads lording it over the ones with briefer lives. And it’s this very same conflict that makes them vulnerable when humans invade.

While the elves have elite warriors, who’re absolutely super in battle, the humans have access to devastating magic. It’s pretty clear early on that things are going to go wrong, in a bad way. The setting was pretty interesting too – Barclay decided on a rainforest where the primary conflict takes place. So that was a bit different from the usual offerings. I do admit, however, I’m an old-school team elven – so I’m not nuts about the idea of elves growing beards, but that’s Barclay’s world building for you. At least they shave, I guess. (Yes, yes, ruined by Tolkien; I admit it freely.)

Another gripe I had with the story was that I don’t feel as if Barclay delved deep enough into characters’ motivations or emotions – he has a large cast, some of whom only have brief appearances. So it’s difficult to keep track of who is who, and who did what to whom. Also, there’s a lot of history and special terms tossed about, so it takes a while to get into the flow. Mostly, I just felt frustrated, because I couldn’t really get into any of the characters fully.

Look, this is not a bad story. If you prefer your fantasy action packed and fast paced, with loads of combat, you’re most likely going to be reading this story for those exact reasons, and then this book is fine. Unfortunately, I’m not that reader, and I wanted more. This is also clearly book one in a series, so don’t expect a grand ending with all the loose ends neatly tied with ribbons. Unfortunately I’m not invested enough to pick up the rest.

[C.F. · Rating 5 out of 5]

J'ai découvert cette série grâce à une autre du même auteur, Les Chroniques et les Légendes des Ravens. J'ai adoré ces livres donc j'ai regardé les autres livres de James Barclay et j'ai découvert Les Elfes qui se déroulaient avant Ravens. J'ai tout de suite décidée de les lire et j'avoue que j'ai été un peu déçue au premier abord. Je trouve que le début est long à se mettre en place mais après c'est compréhensible, il faut poser l'histoire pour bien comprendre (même si j'ai lu les commentaires sur ce livre et je rejoins l'avis disant que si on commençait par lire Les Elfes on serait un peu perdu, il y a beaucoup d'informations mais finalement ce n'est peut-être pas assez si on n'a pas lu les Ravens avant). Je ne pense pas qu'avec les Ravens c'était aussi long à se mettre en place, ce n'est pas le souvenir que j'en ai en tout cas. Ensuite on arrive en pleine guerre et on ne sait pas dans quel camp se placer, quel camp a "raison". Après cela peut être délibéré de la part de l'auteur pour un effet de suspense, ne pas le savoir jusqu'à la fin. Ensuite, je n'arrive pas à m'identifier aux personnages. On parle de plusieurs personnages qui reviennent souvent mais on ne les connait pas vraiment finalement, que ce soit mentalement ou physiquement.

Ce début de commentaire était écrit à chaud, pendant que je lisais le livre et que j'en étais encore au début voire à la moitié. J'ai finit le livre (c'est pourquoi je fais un commentaire) et j'ai vraiment adoré la fin, finalement c'est bel et bien au niveau des Ravens. On finit par s'attacher aux personnages par leurs actions et on découvre vers la fin qui a "raison" et qui a "tord", et on a également les raisons d'agir de chaque camp même si elles ne sont pas toujours les meilleurs. Il y a beaucoup de scènes de combat et c'est notamment ce qui m'avait plus dans les Ravens, c'est tellement bien décrit que j'avais les scènes de combat qui se déroulaient dans ma tête. Les décors aussi sont en général bien décrits et possible à s'imaginer. Et le tome 1 finit sur une phrase qui nous donne envie de savoir la suite des aventures que j'ai commencé directement après le tome 1. J'aime beaucoup les traces d'humours disséminées dans le livre et le mélange de tournures de phrases plutôt poétiques/ imagées (comme "Sildaan sentit la première lame de culpabilité s'enfoncer dans son âme") comparées aux phrases "familières" des hommes (du type "Cela ne vous inquiète peut-être pas mais, comme on dit dans votre langue, moi ça me fait chier dans mon froc").

[Gavin Wask · Rating 5 out of 5]

Once Walked with Gods – James Barclay
Yet another series I’ve been sitting on for years (one day I’ll explain why I’ve been playing catch up with all these books). James Barclay’s – The Raven series spread over 7 books is one of my favourites all time reads, and I’ve read them multiple times. So, I was really looking forward to starting this series.
And I’m so happy to be back in Calius and hearing about Balaia, the story is set several thousand years before Dawnthief, but it’s a good job that our favourite double hard elf – Auum is pretty much an immortal(apart from the usual, beheadings, eviscerations, poisonings, drowning – in fact he has to be really careful!). Here he is a young Tai Gethan, just staring to make his name, he’s surrounded by new elves, his and other Tai’s are your usual bunch of fleet-footed elven killing machines. The Al-Arynaar are a fairly new fighting force and the elves don’t have any magic (how would Ilkar feel about that!). The once great (and someone who once walked with gods) Takaar is slightly disturbed, slightly dangerous, slightly furious and a massively guilty for abandoning his race in their darkest moment.
The elven nation is betrayed by its own current leaders and attacked by humans and now it’s up to Auum, Takaar and as many elves that survive the onslaught of magic and swords to save their race!
I loved it, I absolutely loved it, James Barclay’s world is like home, he writes characters that you get attached to(which can be unfortunate with the amount that go to Shorth in his books), action scenes that create striking visuals in your mind and has a story that makes you want to read on and on. And that’s what I’m doing, straight into the second book as of 30 seconds after finishing this one.
If you’re a fan of sword and sorcery fantasy or humans, elves and magic, I cannot recommend this series (and I’ve only read 1/3) and The Raven series highly enough.
Alright, time to finish writing this and get reading again.

[Shaun "AceFireFox" · Rating 4 out of 5]

I would have said 5 stars because honestly it was amazing. However the fact I originally didn't really know what was going on and how it kept jumping about brought it down for me a little bit. I understand that it's natural when coming into a new series and world that things may take time to make sense but it took me a good 50-100 pages to finally really have an idea what was going on.

Another thing I'm still not entirely sure about is the threads of elves and what makes them unique really. It's not overly a massive gripe but it would be nice what makes Ynissul different from Tuali other than being followers of Yniss and Tual, respectively.

To be honest though it was a really great read. The tension and the stakes felt high, the revelations came at the right times and the mass of characters helped. Characters can and would be killed off, including one main, and deaths could and would be brutal and bloody.

Can't believe it's taken me so long to track this book down and finally read it. I'm glad I did because I don't think I would have enjoyed it or stuck with it properly when I first found about about it. I can't wait to read more!

[Andrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

This one took me a while to get through but it was by no means a chore, I just got distracted. This is a world where elves know virtually nothing of magic and, while in the beginning they live together in what is known as The Harmony, there are different 'Threads' of elves denoted by faith, skills, and lifespan. It's a really interesting concept and a good read, but you are dropped in the middle of this world and have to figure out what is going on as you go. First in a trilogy and I look forward to starting the next one!

[Céline · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book was a really chore for me, a pain in my ass.

I have never read such a boring, dull and confusing book in my entire life.

It was just endless fighting page after page, and people kept on appearing and then dying, and that was just irritating. It was like "here's this person, here's a bunch of information on them, oh no wait they're dead". 

It was just so boring at the end, that I almost gave up which I never do, I forbid myself to ever do "DNF".

Takaar was the only one interesting, but he didn't get enough time to make the book worth my while.

Verdict : Fantasy fail. 

[Tim Bolitho-jones · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was hoping for a grandiose and elaborate fantasy, instead it was just endless fighting for page after page. I love a bit of slaughter as much as the next Sharpe fan but there's only so many times you can read about lightning fast Elves crushing windpipes before it gets monotonous. Don't think I'll bother with the sequels.

[Darren Lead · Rating 2 out of 5]

Twice I tried with this book and twice failed. Managed to get over 100 pages in and still not hooked. I found I had no interest in any of the characters. I have read similar books in the past but this one is just bland.

[Lake County Public Library · Rating 4 out of 5]

A little tough to get into but after understanding the elves more I couldn't put it down.

-- Anonymous staff member