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Elf Saga: Doomsday #1
Elf Saga: Doomsday: Part One: Blood of the Dragon
ELF SAGA: DOOMSDAY - Part 1 of 5:
This is not your typical epic fantasy. Five very dangerous elven women from five very different countries are on a quest to save the world, and when they're not kicking ass, they're driving each other crazy.
As Jenavelle and her friends search for a way to stop the coming dragon apocalypse, they'll have to deal with witches and curses, bounty hunters and refugees, portals in time and of course, more than a few dragons. So this is a particularly inconvenient time for Jena to learn she's adopted. And when she returns home and discovers the truth about her parents, it will leave her changed forever. (And that change involves a pair of very large horns.)
Explore an epic fantasy world that's as classic as it is bizarre with JENAVELLE, a knight who's sick and tired of fantasy clichés, AMINA, a princess with a fondness for pirates, NIYA, a hard-drinking mercenary in search of a her next ex-girlfriend, TOMOE, a shaman who is coping well with her recent resurrection, and LOZEN, a hunter whose hobbies include fine cuisine, high fashion, and excessive violence.
Discover the world of Vaenos, where dragons are weapons of mass destruction, faeries are pests, mermaids are monsters, and everyone has long pointy ears! With five heroines inspired by historical warriors and leaders, this modern twist on old-school fantasy mashes up classics like Lord of the Rings with the funny, sexy, self-aware style of Supernatural, Buffy, Archer, and Rat Queens.
Keywords: epic fantasy, sword and sorcery, elves, fairies, unicorns, dragons, women, coming of age, feminist fantasy, lesbian fantasy, funny fantasy, African fantasy, Asian fantasy, Native American fantasy
455 pages, Kindle Edition
First published December 17, 2014
118 people are currently reading
252 people want to read
About the author
Joseph Robert Lewis
68 books97 followersJoseph R. Lewis enjoys creating worlds in which history, mythology, and fantasy collide in unpredictable ways. He also likes writing about heroines that his daughters can respect and admire. Joe was born in Annapolis and went to the University of Maryland to study ancient novels, morality plays, and Viking poetry.
www.josephrlewis.com
www.josephrlewis.com
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Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews
December 12, 2019
Amazing and fun
Elf Saga, Book 1 is one of the best fantasy novels I've read. It's funny, adventurous and well written. The characters are well thought out and i love the changing 1st person narrative. You really feel like you get to know each one intimately. I can't praise Mr. Lewis enough. Well done. Highly recommend.
Elf Saga, Book 1 is one of the best fantasy novels I've read. It's funny, adventurous and well written. The characters are well thought out and i love the changing 1st person narrative. You really feel like you get to know each one intimately. I can't praise Mr. Lewis enough. Well done. Highly recommend.
February 6, 2018
Exciting read
Adventure full of action, adventure, and fun characters you can’t help but root for. Like a mix of fantasy and modern world combined. Fun read!
Adventure full of action, adventure, and fun characters you can’t help but root for. Like a mix of fantasy and modern world combined. Fun read!
October 18, 2023
Doomsday of What Exactly
This story starts with young elven women on a journey searching for a solution to stop an apocalypse foreseen of dragons on the world they live in. But each part has a different adventure for them to solve as they hunt for the Alcari people and their unicorns. By the end of the last section of the book there is a revelation of giant proportions which will change the game in the next book.
This story starts with young elven women on a journey searching for a solution to stop an apocalypse foreseen of dragons on the world they live in. But each part has a different adventure for them to solve as they hunt for the Alcari people and their unicorns. By the end of the last section of the book there is a revelation of giant proportions which will change the game in the next book.
November 15, 2019
This novella is an extract from a larger work. It’s a collection of connected short stories, essentially a fantasy spoof about a group of wordy sarcastic female warrior elves and their male servant on a quest, carrying out side quests as they go, in the manner of a computer game. Rather jaded stuff. Not much incentive to follow the series.
January 7, 2018
MUST READ😀
Hilarious read for those who love adventure with a bunch of action. Also, the twist of all female fighters. You get to hear from all the important characters from their point of view. Superb!!!!
Hilarious read for those who love adventure with a bunch of action. Also, the twist of all female fighters. You get to hear from all the important characters from their point of view. Superb!!!!
October 30, 2020
Impressed. Very enjoyable!
Wonderfully complex characters and captivating adventures. I could not stop reading. I loved it! Looking forward to the next! (Thanks for sharing this story)
Wonderfully complex characters and captivating adventures. I could not stop reading. I loved it! Looking forward to the next! (Thanks for sharing this story)
January 6, 2018
A very good story
Excellent read; this is second time I have read it AND I really enjoyed it. Better yet, there were few grammatical errors or misspelled words.
Excellent read; this is second time I have read it AND I really enjoyed it. Better yet, there were few grammatical errors or misspelled words.
July 6, 2016
3.5 Stars.
I had a rough start with this book. It drops you in the middle of an adventure, and you have to piece together who all of the characters are as you go. I almost gave up during the first "episode," since I had such a hard time keeping them straight, but their dynamic personalities definitely makes it easier as you get a feel for them.
That being said, I don't really see how we're supposed to get "diversity" from this? I can't recall a single mention of the characters' physical appearance besides the protagonist (who is white). There is one character who is into women, and there are a few dropped hints about an ex-girlfriend. But otherwise, this is about a bunch of elves. Other countries/cultures are mentioned but I know nothing about them or what their people look like, so.... I mean. This book is heavily promoted as being a group of 5 super diverse women, but on the page I didn't really pick up on it, and would've assumed they were all white if it hadn't been promoted otherwise.
The story does one of my absolute biggest pet peeves - it's about a bunch of characters wandering around, and things just sort of happen to them. The plot pushes the characters around instead of the characters driving the plot. Given the setting and the writing style, this reads like a DND campaign. If you accept that as what the author is intentionally going for, it becomes less annoying. This isn't supposed to be a character-driven novel, it's a series of episodes of a group of adventures. K. I can live with that.
The characters aren't people so much as character types. There's the sweet one, the aggressive one, the strong silent one, and The Leader. The leader is our protagonist, and she really doesn't have a personality aside from "I am in charge and we must Do The Thing," complete with tense "are you with me? can I trust you? Good, then let's keep moving" soldier-style asides straight out of every war movie I've ever seen. Which. I just. BLEH.
All those negative things were largely my own personal taste. Like there was so much harping on my pet peeves in this book, haha. But the writing is evocative, and it's well-edited. The characters face some morally grey decisions, and the author doesn't organize the narrative to "punish" them for not choosing the Good and Perfect Option every single time. I especially appreciated the complex political situation, and how there is no one culture that is held as The Heroes above the others, making this a much more interesting variety of high fantasy novel than the ones I typically run into.
For what it is, it's great. I just don't happen to particularly enjoy what it is. :P I picked it up because it was promoted as a diverse fantasy novel with a lesbian lead. That's... not really what it is. There's a lesbian, yes, but aside from two sentences hinting at an ex gf, there's really nothing there, and it's not at all what I thought I was signing up for, haha.
I had a rough start with this book. It drops you in the middle of an adventure, and you have to piece together who all of the characters are as you go. I almost gave up during the first "episode," since I had such a hard time keeping them straight, but their dynamic personalities definitely makes it easier as you get a feel for them.
That being said, I don't really see how we're supposed to get "diversity" from this? I can't recall a single mention of the characters' physical appearance besides the protagonist (who is white). There is one character who is into women, and there are a few dropped hints about an ex-girlfriend. But otherwise, this is about a bunch of elves. Other countries/cultures are mentioned but I know nothing about them or what their people look like, so.... I mean. This book is heavily promoted as being a group of 5 super diverse women, but on the page I didn't really pick up on it, and would've assumed they were all white if it hadn't been promoted otherwise.
The story does one of my absolute biggest pet peeves - it's about a bunch of characters wandering around, and things just sort of happen to them. The plot pushes the characters around instead of the characters driving the plot. Given the setting and the writing style, this reads like a DND campaign. If you accept that as what the author is intentionally going for, it becomes less annoying. This isn't supposed to be a character-driven novel, it's a series of episodes of a group of adventures. K. I can live with that.
The characters aren't people so much as character types. There's the sweet one, the aggressive one, the strong silent one, and The Leader. The leader is our protagonist, and she really doesn't have a personality aside from "I am in charge and we must Do The Thing," complete with tense "are you with me? can I trust you? Good, then let's keep moving" soldier-style asides straight out of every war movie I've ever seen. Which. I just. BLEH.
All those negative things were largely my own personal taste. Like there was so much harping on my pet peeves in this book, haha. But the writing is evocative, and it's well-edited. The characters face some morally grey decisions, and the author doesn't organize the narrative to "punish" them for not choosing the Good and Perfect Option every single time. I especially appreciated the complex political situation, and how there is no one culture that is held as The Heroes above the others, making this a much more interesting variety of high fantasy novel than the ones I typically run into.
For what it is, it's great. I just don't happen to particularly enjoy what it is. :P I picked it up because it was promoted as a diverse fantasy novel with a lesbian lead. That's... not really what it is. There's a lesbian, yes, but aside from two sentences hinting at an ex gf, there's really nothing there, and it's not at all what I thought I was signing up for, haha.
January 6, 2015
The first part of Elf Saga: Doomsday introduced me to a dynamic and very diverse cast of female characters. This band of adventurers seemed a bit like a modern troupe of action heroes - just in the guise of elves in a fantasy world. While it may sound a little weird, it was actually quite awesome.
I really liked the characters. Lozen's and Niya's remarks offered good comic relief, as did Amina's at times. I could also sympathise with the leader's, Jena's, feelings of sometimes being the only sane one in their group. All in all, the cast of lead characters are a well-written group of female protagonists, something I haven't encountered too often in works of fantasy.
The modern language and references, combined with a detailed fantasy world and the tense setting provide a nice breath of fresh air to the genre. Indeed, Lewis writes with an unique style, giving classic fantasy a much-needed touch of modernity.
I do have to mention that this first book's ending seemed quite hurried as important revelations were just pouring out into the open within the space of a few pages and the reader was left with little time to process them before the book ended. Due to the pace of these revelations some of the characters' actions and reactions at the end of the book also seemed somewhat... off. Hopefully the sequels will offer more closure and explanations at a slower pace.
I really liked the characters. Lozen's and Niya's remarks offered good comic relief, as did Amina's at times. I could also sympathise with the leader's, Jena's, feelings of sometimes being the only sane one in their group. All in all, the cast of lead characters are a well-written group of female protagonists, something I haven't encountered too often in works of fantasy.
The modern language and references, combined with a detailed fantasy world and the tense setting provide a nice breath of fresh air to the genre. Indeed, Lewis writes with an unique style, giving classic fantasy a much-needed touch of modernity.
I do have to mention that this first book's ending seemed quite hurried as important revelations were just pouring out into the open within the space of a few pages and the reader was left with little time to process them before the book ended. Due to the pace of these revelations some of the characters' actions and reactions at the end of the book also seemed somewhat... off. Hopefully the sequels will offer more closure and explanations at a slower pace.
August 9, 2015
Overall a great story with a few issues.
The story itself was interesting and I read it straight through. The concept is not new but has a twist due to the parties make up. I like how the male was the domestic person in the party which is usually help by the only strong female. The story moved along but seemed to jump a little to much for me. The action sequences were too short for my taste. It seemed that they encountered a monster or a problem and the next few sentences it was over or solved. I did not feel a sense of accomplishment in it. It left me wanting some more information.
The only other problem for me was the end. All of the sudden she just kills the queen and her prisoner. With all the value that was put on justice and help the innocent when she turned all that seemed to go out the window. I do not see the queen just telling all the bad things like a comic book villain during monologue.
I did enjoy the way through character interacted with each other and with the world around them. The banter was a nice humorous touch. Again over all a great story. Thank you Mr Lewis for the story.
The story itself was interesting and I read it straight through. The concept is not new but has a twist due to the parties make up. I like how the male was the domestic person in the party which is usually help by the only strong female. The story moved along but seemed to jump a little to much for me. The action sequences were too short for my taste. It seemed that they encountered a monster or a problem and the next few sentences it was over or solved. I did not feel a sense of accomplishment in it. It left me wanting some more information.
The only other problem for me was the end. All of the sudden she just kills the queen and her prisoner. With all the value that was put on justice and help the innocent when she turned all that seemed to go out the window. I do not see the queen just telling all the bad things like a comic book villain during monologue.
I did enjoy the way through character interacted with each other and with the world around them. The banter was a nice humorous touch. Again over all a great story. Thank you Mr Lewis for the story.
January 14, 2017
Jena and her team can kick some serious as, when their not on the verge of kicking each other's.
All the characters have very strong personalities that conflict constantly. It makes for a fun read.
The story drops you right into the middle of the quest, but there's enough to fill you in on the details and get the basic premise: they're looking for unicorns to fight off an oncoming dragon scourge.
Each episode deals with its own mystery that's tangentially related to the main plot. And each episode gets slightly more bizarre than the last.
I really enjoyed this and am going to jump right into Part Two. I'd recommend this if you're interested in foulmouthed, butt kicking, monster slaying, badass elf ladies.
All the characters have very strong personalities that conflict constantly. It makes for a fun read.
The story drops you right into the middle of the quest, but there's enough to fill you in on the details and get the basic premise: they're looking for unicorns to fight off an oncoming dragon scourge.
Each episode deals with its own mystery that's tangentially related to the main plot. And each episode gets slightly more bizarre than the last.
I really enjoyed this and am going to jump right into Part Two. I'd recommend this if you're interested in foulmouthed, butt kicking, monster slaying, badass elf ladies.
June 11, 2015
offbeat fantasy
fairly well told. no complaints. it wasn't among the most spectacular, riveting books i've ever read, but enjoyable. it's a bit of a modern take on the old fantasy. not the setting, but the dialogue and attitudes of the characters were very 21st century, giving it a bit of a sarcastic, almost parodic feel. if fantasy is your thing, I can safely recommend this. only real downside: it's part of a series, so when you finish, there's necessarily an "unfinished" feeling, which may or may not prompt you to purchase the next book.
fairly well told. no complaints. it wasn't among the most spectacular, riveting books i've ever read, but enjoyable. it's a bit of a modern take on the old fantasy. not the setting, but the dialogue and attitudes of the characters were very 21st century, giving it a bit of a sarcastic, almost parodic feel. if fantasy is your thing, I can safely recommend this. only real downside: it's part of a series, so when you finish, there's necessarily an "unfinished" feeling, which may or may not prompt you to purchase the next book.
August 11, 2019
Awesome epic fantasy story. What I love is that the characters feel like real people. They cursed, they talk dirty, their flaws were upfront. The fighting scenes were beautifully written. The world was imaginable and luring. I think anyone that loves high fantasy and is looking for something good to take the to a new height will find this book enjoyable.
Read
October 14, 2021An interesting start to the series with fun characters. Lozen is my favorite so far. The conclusion to episode three was a little rushed. Also, you don't quite get a standard introduction to the world or characters, you kind of have to pick it up along the way through dialogue between characters and for me, it works fine here but, i know not everyone is a fan of that.
March 19, 2015
Amazing
So much more than I was expecting from a free book. The group of elf girls are hilarious. I love that it has everything you would expect from fantasy genre without retelling the same old tale. Read part 1 in a day and will be continuing with the rest of the epic saga.
So much more than I was expecting from a free book. The group of elf girls are hilarious. I love that it has everything you would expect from fantasy genre without retelling the same old tale. Read part 1 in a day and will be continuing with the rest of the epic saga.
June 22, 2015
One of my favorite authors. Keep em coming please!
May 6, 2016
Great book
The book was well thought out. Not much action or adventure but introduction to characters well done. A bit more spice and it would have been perfect
The book was well thought out. Not much action or adventure but introduction to characters well done. A bit more spice and it would have been perfect
September 27, 2016
I like how the book is written, you get the prospective from each character. It is an enjoyable read.
December 14, 2016
Action
There are a lot of twists and turns in the story. The main characters are interesting as the group of women warriors bull their way to the conclusion of their purpose.
There are a lot of twists and turns in the story. The main characters are interesting as the group of women warriors bull their way to the conclusion of their purpose.
September 12, 2017
Original and well written. I like it a lot.
April 29, 2017
Subpar
The story was pretty good at first, then it starts to drag towards the end and becomes a commercial for the series. This is not a stand alone.
The story was pretty good at first, then it starts to drag towards the end and becomes a commercial for the series. This is not a stand alone.
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews