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GRAVEN: A Gritty Tale of Parallel History and Dark Myth
Marked by a dark gift, a lone beast-slayer hunts a scarred killer through the blood and iron of a conquered land, but his pursuit is stayed by the plight of a young noblewoman. For readers of 'The Last Kingdom' and 'The Witcher'.
Some evils do not stop at the palisade.
Thirteen years since the Conquest, and Northanhame is still bleeding.
Eldred is a beast-slayer — marked in ways he keeps hidden beneath a deep hood. He takes work in the dark, guards livestock from things that shouldn't walk the land, and asks nothing of the men who hire him. He has one purpose now, and it lies in Dunholm: a crescent scar on a Normander captain's cheek, and a debt written in the blood of everyone he loved.
He takes quiet work at a lord's estate near the Normander stronghold, watches, and waits. But patience has a price, and the people of Lumlea are beginning to matter to him — which is exactly the kind of weakness that gets men killed.
And inside him, something older than any of this is stirring.
Graven is a gritty historical fantasy of vengeance, survival, and the cost of gifts you never asked for — set in a cold, fractured Yngland on the wrong side of conquest.
Historical Fantasy · Dark & Gritty · Young Adult — Adult
Genre
Parallel historical fiction with fantasy elements. The supernatural content is significant enough to place it in the fantasy adjacent space, but the historical grounding and literary tone will also appeal to readers who rarely read fantasy.
Tropes
The outsider with a secret. The revenge quest. The monster-hunter. The restrained almost-romance. Found family lost and mourned. The corrupted mentor figure. These are familiar tropes handled with enough specificity and restraint to feel fresh.
Target audience
Adult readers of historical fiction and low-fantasy. Fans of Bernard Cornwell's Saxon Stories, The Last Kingdom television series, and readers of Joe Abercrombie or Guy Gavriel Kay who prefer their fantasy grounded in historical reality. Not YA, though accessible to mature younger readers.
Prose style
Lean and atmospheric, with a historical texture that draws on Anglo-Saxon vocabulary and rhythms without becoming archaic. The prose is spare rather than ornate, but not cold — sensory detail is precise and carefully chosen. Closer to literary historical fiction than commercial genre prose.
Mood
Predominantly tense and melancholic, with a persistent undercurrent of something older and stranger beneath the historical surface. The supernatural elements darken the mood without overwhelming the grounded register.
Romance
The romantic undercurrent between Eldred and Algitha is entirely implicit — no physical intimacy occurs or is described.
Violence
Moderate to significant. The violence is never gratuitous or stylised, but it is present and real. Suitable for adult readers and mature older teens.
Emotional impact
Sustained and cumulative rather than operatic. The novel builds its emotional weight slowly — Skegg's death, Swen's last words, Algitha's grief on the riverbank — and the payoff is real for readers who give it the time it asks for. Readers wanting frequent emotional peaks may find the restraint frustrating.
Immersion
High for receptive readers. The sensory specificity of the prose and the consistency of the historical world create a strong sense of place and period. The close third-person narration through Eldred's heightened senses deepens immersion considerably.
Escapism vs realism
Sits closer to realism than escapism, despite the supernatural elements. The world is harsh, the violence has weight, and the emotional experience is one of cost rather than wish-fulfilment. The supernatural deepens the realism rather than softening it.
Some evils do not stop at the palisade.
Thirteen years since the Conquest, and Northanhame is still bleeding.
Eldred is a beast-slayer — marked in ways he keeps hidden beneath a deep hood. He takes work in the dark, guards livestock from things that shouldn't walk the land, and asks nothing of the men who hire him. He has one purpose now, and it lies in Dunholm: a crescent scar on a Normander captain's cheek, and a debt written in the blood of everyone he loved.
He takes quiet work at a lord's estate near the Normander stronghold, watches, and waits. But patience has a price, and the people of Lumlea are beginning to matter to him — which is exactly the kind of weakness that gets men killed.
And inside him, something older than any of this is stirring.
Graven is a gritty historical fantasy of vengeance, survival, and the cost of gifts you never asked for — set in a cold, fractured Yngland on the wrong side of conquest.
Historical Fantasy · Dark & Gritty · Young Adult — Adult
Genre
Parallel historical fiction with fantasy elements. The supernatural content is significant enough to place it in the fantasy adjacent space, but the historical grounding and literary tone will also appeal to readers who rarely read fantasy.
Tropes
The outsider with a secret. The revenge quest. The monster-hunter. The restrained almost-romance. Found family lost and mourned. The corrupted mentor figure. These are familiar tropes handled with enough specificity and restraint to feel fresh.
Target audience
Adult readers of historical fiction and low-fantasy. Fans of Bernard Cornwell's Saxon Stories, The Last Kingdom television series, and readers of Joe Abercrombie or Guy Gavriel Kay who prefer their fantasy grounded in historical reality. Not YA, though accessible to mature younger readers.
Prose style
Lean and atmospheric, with a historical texture that draws on Anglo-Saxon vocabulary and rhythms without becoming archaic. The prose is spare rather than ornate, but not cold — sensory detail is precise and carefully chosen. Closer to literary historical fiction than commercial genre prose.
Mood
Predominantly tense and melancholic, with a persistent undercurrent of something older and stranger beneath the historical surface. The supernatural elements darken the mood without overwhelming the grounded register.
Romance
The romantic undercurrent between Eldred and Algitha is entirely implicit — no physical intimacy occurs or is described.
Violence
Moderate to significant. The violence is never gratuitous or stylised, but it is present and real. Suitable for adult readers and mature older teens.
Emotional impact
Sustained and cumulative rather than operatic. The novel builds its emotional weight slowly — Skegg's death, Swen's last words, Algitha's grief on the riverbank — and the payoff is real for readers who give it the time it asks for. Readers wanting frequent emotional peaks may find the restraint frustrating.
Immersion
High for receptive readers. The sensory specificity of the prose and the consistency of the historical world create a strong sense of place and period. The close third-person narration through Eldred's heightened senses deepens immersion considerably.
Escapism vs realism
Sits closer to realism than escapism, despite the supernatural elements. The world is harsh, the violence has weight, and the emotional experience is one of cost rather than wish-fulfilment. The supernatural deepens the realism rather than softening it.
238 pages, Kindle Edition
Published April 21, 2026
About the author
D.M. Andrews
23 books58 followersD.M. Andrews has been drawing maps, writing stories, and coming up with weird ideas since the age of twelve. Although fantasy features in most of the author's writing, he also has a keen passion for history (especially for his native land of England), genealogy, mythology and even political philosophy.
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
May 6, 2026
ARC Review 3.5 ⭐️ I enjoyed the concept behind this story and the world it tried to build. I hope there will be second book so we get more insight into the “Fuath” and see if this world expands more. It almost felt like reading an episode of The Last Kindgom.
If you’re looking for an old English feel, this book will be for you.
However, it felt like scenes abruptly ended or we didn’t get enough information about characters. It felt rushed! I had a hard time keeping track of the supporting men and women. There are a lot of questions unanswered but I’m hoping to read more about Eldred!
If you’re looking for an old English feel, this book will be for you.
However, it felt like scenes abruptly ended or we didn’t get enough information about characters. It felt rushed! I had a hard time keeping track of the supporting men and women. There are a lot of questions unanswered but I’m hoping to read more about Eldred!
June 10, 2026
The narrative is dark, gritty, and stark. I liked Eldred. He's complicated and intriguing. The author pulled off a "to be continued ending" that wasn't quite a to-be-continued ending. All in all, I was entertained and would read the next book to find out more about Eldred. He is the driving force in the story. All the other characters are just swirling about and don't seem to contribute much but the author built a believable world and a captivating main character. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
May 27, 2026
Graven by D. M. Andrews delivers a dark, gritty fantasy atmosphere with strong Norse-inspired vibes and a constant sense of tension. The world feels harsh and lived-in, and the story balances action, mythology, and character struggles well. I especially enjoyed the immersive setting and the heavier tone throughout.
If you enjoy darker fantasy with brutal worlds, ancient lore, and morally complicated characters, this is worth checking out
If you enjoy darker fantasy with brutal worlds, ancient lore, and morally complicated characters, this is worth checking out
June 3, 2026
2.5⭐
Started off decently but didn't really go anywhere too exciting. This also could have used some more polish/editing as I found several mistakes in it. I found it hard to keep track of the large number of supporting characters with very similar names and only briefly introduced - many of them having little to nothing to do with the overall plot. I spent a good part of my time bored and/or confused.
Started off decently but didn't really go anywhere too exciting. This also could have used some more polish/editing as I found several mistakes in it. I found it hard to keep track of the large number of supporting characters with very similar names and only briefly introduced - many of them having little to nothing to do with the overall plot. I spent a good part of my time bored and/or confused.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews