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A Novel of Niflheim #1
Dark Warrior Rising
Orivon Firefist was captured as a six-year-old child by the Nilfghar--the dark elves--who attacked his village by night on one of their surface raids.
Fifteen years later, he is a moon-pale, scarred, muscular giant of a man, who has spent his days at forgework for a dark elf family. He is also forced to use his great strength to shift furniture in the grand rooms of their castle. He has been trained (and flogged and ordered about) by the beautiful Tsarnarra, a lash-wielding matron who is icily cruel, but proud of the slaves that she has trained. Through all of this, Orivon's spirit has never been broken. He longs to return to the surface world, even if that means destroying the entire dark elf empire along the way!
Fifteen years later, he is a moon-pale, scarred, muscular giant of a man, who has spent his days at forgework for a dark elf family. He is also forced to use his great strength to shift furniture in the grand rooms of their castle. He has been trained (and flogged and ordered about) by the beautiful Tsarnarra, a lash-wielding matron who is icily cruel, but proud of the slaves that she has trained. Through all of this, Orivon's spirit has never been broken. He longs to return to the surface world, even if that means destroying the entire dark elf empire along the way!
304 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2007
4 people are currently reading
332 people want to read
About the author
Ed Greenwood
364 books880 followersEd Greenwood is the creator of the Forgotten Realms fantasy world, which became the setting for his home D&D game in 1975. Play still continues in this long-running campaign, and Ed also keeps busy producing Realmslore for various TSR publications.
Ed has published over two hundred articles in Dragon magazine and Polyhedron newszine, is a lifetime charter member of the Role Playing Game Associaton (RPGA) network, has written over thirty books and modules for TSR, and been Gen Con Game Fair guest of honor several times.
In addition to all these activities, Ed works as a library clerk and has edited over a dozen small press magazines.
Invented the character Elminster from the popular Forgotten Realms RPG series. Currently resides in an old farmhouse in the countryside of Ontario, Canada.
Ed has published over two hundred articles in Dragon magazine and Polyhedron newszine, is a lifetime charter member of the Role Playing Game Associaton (RPGA) network, has written over thirty books and modules for TSR, and been Gen Con Game Fair guest of honor several times.
In addition to all these activities, Ed works as a library clerk and has edited over a dozen small press magazines.
Invented the character Elminster from the popular Forgotten Realms RPG series. Currently resides in an old farmhouse in the countryside of Ontario, Canada.
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Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews
June 21, 2009
Orivon Firefist was stolen from his village as a young child by the dark elves and turned into a slave.
15 years later he is one of the best blacksmiths and serves the Nifl-she, Lady Taerune Evendoom. Taerune trained Orivon and is very proud of all the slaves she has trained.But, Orivon hates living with the dark evles and has never given up hope of escaping.
Orivon wants to return home, even if it means he has to destory all the dark elves himself.
I loved this book. The characters are great, like Taerune; she is a great character. At the beginning I really didn't like her, she was so heartless, but as the book went on I really started liking her. Overall, this is a good book and one of my favorites. I'm looking forward to reading the sequel to this book.
15 years later he is one of the best blacksmiths and serves the Nifl-she, Lady Taerune Evendoom. Taerune trained Orivon and is very proud of all the slaves she has trained.But, Orivon hates living with the dark evles and has never given up hope of escaping.
Orivon wants to return home, even if it means he has to destory all the dark elves himself.
I loved this book. The characters are great, like Taerune; she is a great character. At the beginning I really didn't like her, she was so heartless, but as the book went on I really started liking her. Overall, this is a good book and one of my favorites. I'm looking forward to reading the sequel to this book.
January 25, 2017
This story reminded me a little bit of R. A. Salvatore's Dark Elf series. Makes me happy. :D
January 7, 2017
Enjoyable, but hard to read. It skips about ten to twenty years in the world time line in a few chapters with no clear indication of the passing of the years.
The main character Orivon is kidnapped as a child of about ten from his village by the dark elves called the Niflheim. About a chapter later we meet Orvion again through the eyes of a third party witnessing his 'training' by his Nifl mistress. We can tell he's older, but not how much older. I'm guessing about 5-10 years have passed between the two chapters.
After that, we come across Orvion once again from his perspective, and about 10-20 years have passed from his capture to this point. This is the only indication we have of the passing of time in the early part of the book, the sudden meeting of an increasingly older Orvion.
I like the characters Orvion and Tsarnarra, although they seem to be falling in love far too quickly. I mean, Orvion has been beaten, whipped, and enslaved by this female for roughly twenty years and he's softening towards her far too quickly, risking his life to protect her.
There are many similarities between the Niflheim of this world and the Drow of the Forgotten Realms. It took me a while to read this book for those reasons, the lack of clear time distinction and the similarities between the two races of dark elves. And if not for the poor time distinctions I would have enjoyed the book much more. Hopefully the next one is better.
The main character Orivon is kidnapped as a child of about ten from his village by the dark elves called the Niflheim. About a chapter later we meet Orvion again through the eyes of a third party witnessing his 'training' by his Nifl mistress. We can tell he's older, but not how much older. I'm guessing about 5-10 years have passed between the two chapters.
After that, we come across Orvion once again from his perspective, and about 10-20 years have passed from his capture to this point. This is the only indication we have of the passing of time in the early part of the book, the sudden meeting of an increasingly older Orvion.
I like the characters Orvion and Tsarnarra, although they seem to be falling in love far too quickly. I mean, Orvion has been beaten, whipped, and enslaved by this female for roughly twenty years and he's softening towards her far too quickly, risking his life to protect her.
There are many similarities between the Niflheim of this world and the Drow of the Forgotten Realms. It took me a while to read this book for those reasons, the lack of clear time distinction and the similarities between the two races of dark elves. And if not for the poor time distinctions I would have enjoyed the book much more. Hopefully the next one is better.
February 11, 2019
For me, this wasn't a book that kept me turning the pages, reading far into the night. For someone more interested in mythical creatures and more patient with long-winded world-building, it might be fascinating. The first third of the book was very slow going. Much of the world-building could have either been entirely omitted, or more effectively revealed throughout the story, instead of dumped in large chunks between smidgens of story unfoldment. I never developed the affection I suspect the reader was supposed to have for Taerune (who is misnamed on the back cover) and was disgusted with Orivon for his later behavior toward her. She gave him slight reason for forgiveness, but nowhere near enough. Though I love fantasy and otherworldly sci-fi, this book didn't measure up to my standard for satisfaction.
December 9, 2021
2.5 stars for me had to DNF halfway through though I for some reason don’t bode well with Ed Greenwood s writing style but if you do and enjoy the dark-elf race this new twist on R.A Salvatore’s work is at least an interesting take on the Dark-elves
July 1, 2017
Review is also on my blog at https://navigatingneverland.org/2016/...
Dark Warrior Rising was my first Ed Greenwood novel. For those of you that may not know he is the creator of the Forgotten Realms game world, though this book does not take place in it. I can't say that I hated the book, but it wasn't my favorite either. I know there is another book to this series and I liked this one enough to want to read the second eventually. Since this book can stand alone I will wait awhile to read the next one.
I really liked the story and thought it was interesting. However, it started and then ended to quickly. At first, I had a really hard time reading the book. There was so much information about these dark elves such as their history, relationships, social standings, magic, and culture, that I just felt overwhelmed. Greenwood failed miserably to explain all this and only in a few chapters. Everything was really complicated and with such strange names for people and places it was really difficult to make any connections. There was also a lot of time passing at first and no real indication as to how much time. From what I got out of it there are many different cities and within each city there are many different Houses. In this book we focus on Talaonnorn and Tarune is from house Evendoom. At least I figured all that out! I think...
Throughout the book Greenwood would introduce us to a character, you get to know them a little and they have the potential to be interesting characters, but he ends up killing them. It was really frustrating. There were also way too many characters. I had a hard time figuring out who was who and which of them would end up being important by the end of the book. Also, there were many character jumps within each chapter and sometimes I just couldn't figure out who they were and what they were up to. Better organization and less characters would have made this a much better book.
Taerune and Orivon are the main characters and I really enjoyed reading their sections of the book. I wish more time would have been spent with them. They have a very interesting relationship and I would love to know more about them.
I was impressed that the story was actually interesting because for almost the entire novel Orivon spends his time trying to escape, while there is a war going on in the city. The book is one big battle after another with Orivon in the middle of it. I found it very interesting because there were a lot of things going on. Orivon is trying to get back up to the surface, Taerune is being hunted by her brothers, the priestesses are up to something (that part was where a lot of the confusion was), and dark elves from other cities and houses are up to their own schemes. Really kept me interested despite the drawbacks.
Overall, I did enjoy the book after I got 60 or so pages into it. If you like Greenwood or Salvatore then you will probably like this novel. If you want something different to read, or even like dark elves then you can give this one a try. Not my favorite, but still a pretty good read.
Dark Warrior Rising was my first Ed Greenwood novel. For those of you that may not know he is the creator of the Forgotten Realms game world, though this book does not take place in it. I can't say that I hated the book, but it wasn't my favorite either. I know there is another book to this series and I liked this one enough to want to read the second eventually. Since this book can stand alone I will wait awhile to read the next one.
I really liked the story and thought it was interesting. However, it started and then ended to quickly. At first, I had a really hard time reading the book. There was so much information about these dark elves such as their history, relationships, social standings, magic, and culture, that I just felt overwhelmed. Greenwood failed miserably to explain all this and only in a few chapters. Everything was really complicated and with such strange names for people and places it was really difficult to make any connections. There was also a lot of time passing at first and no real indication as to how much time. From what I got out of it there are many different cities and within each city there are many different Houses. In this book we focus on Talaonnorn and Tarune is from house Evendoom. At least I figured all that out! I think...
Throughout the book Greenwood would introduce us to a character, you get to know them a little and they have the potential to be interesting characters, but he ends up killing them. It was really frustrating. There were also way too many characters. I had a hard time figuring out who was who and which of them would end up being important by the end of the book. Also, there were many character jumps within each chapter and sometimes I just couldn't figure out who they were and what they were up to. Better organization and less characters would have made this a much better book.
Taerune and Orivon are the main characters and I really enjoyed reading their sections of the book. I wish more time would have been spent with them. They have a very interesting relationship and I would love to know more about them.
I was impressed that the story was actually interesting because for almost the entire novel Orivon spends his time trying to escape, while there is a war going on in the city. The book is one big battle after another with Orivon in the middle of it. I found it very interesting because there were a lot of things going on. Orivon is trying to get back up to the surface, Taerune is being hunted by her brothers, the priestesses are up to something (that part was where a lot of the confusion was), and dark elves from other cities and houses are up to their own schemes. Really kept me interested despite the drawbacks.
Overall, I did enjoy the book after I got 60 or so pages into it. If you like Greenwood or Salvatore then you will probably like this novel. If you want something different to read, or even like dark elves then you can give this one a try. Not my favorite, but still a pretty good read.
August 24, 2014
For anyone that didn't already know, Ed Greenwood is one of the co-writers of the Forgotten Realms setting, of Dungeons and Dragons lore. If you've read R.A. Salvatore then this will feel very familar. If I'm being honest, Greenwood does a better job with the drow, (which is an overall better name than the Nifl) painting them in a (slightly) more morally neutral view that Salvatore does.
The main characters and protagonists are both interesting, which is unfortunate because we don't get to spend anywhere near enough time with them.
What I realized while reading this, and the sequel, is that Greenwood does a better job of fleshing out his version of the drow, but at the expense of his main characters, whereas Salvatore does a better job of fleshing out his main characters, but Salvatore's drow feel like one-dimensional monsters that are evil just for the sake of being evil.
I really do like the main characters, and I wish that the story was more centered around the main characters and their goals. The entirety of the second half of the novel feels like a direct rip of Salvatore's Homeland. It's not a terrible book, it's honestly not even a bad book, it just leaves you with this sense of longing for what could have been a great book.
Sadly, for anyone that reads this before buying the sequel, don't buy it. While this one could be considered decent; though I feel the ending is extremely lackluster, the sequel is just crap. Don't waste the money, and if you find it for free, don't waste your time, you'll only be disappointed.
Simplest point, the setting's good, and the main characters have potential, but in the end, there's not enough here, which in a book that's about 400 pages (800+ on most e-readers) is really, really bad.
The main characters and protagonists are both interesting, which is unfortunate because we don't get to spend anywhere near enough time with them.
What I realized while reading this, and the sequel, is that Greenwood does a better job of fleshing out his version of the drow, but at the expense of his main characters, whereas Salvatore does a better job of fleshing out his main characters, but Salvatore's drow feel like one-dimensional monsters that are evil just for the sake of being evil.
I really do like the main characters, and I wish that the story was more centered around the main characters and their goals. The entirety of the second half of the novel feels like a direct rip of Salvatore's Homeland. It's not a terrible book, it's honestly not even a bad book, it just leaves you with this sense of longing for what could have been a great book.
Sadly, for anyone that reads this before buying the sequel, don't buy it. While this one could be considered decent; though I feel the ending is extremely lackluster, the sequel is just crap. Don't waste the money, and if you find it for free, don't waste your time, you'll only be disappointed.
Simplest point, the setting's good, and the main characters have potential, but in the end, there's not enough here, which in a book that's about 400 pages (800+ on most e-readers) is really, really bad.
September 23, 2011
This book had great cover art, with a lead in that promised a thrilling story about a different type of Drow. In the epilogue, Greenwood talks about this book being the story about the elves as he envisioned them when he created the Forgetten Realms (a realm that I love to visit).
The back cover told of a young man, kidnapped by the dark elves, the Nilfghar that roam the Lower Realms, with their numerous cities, backbiting people, and viciously opposing religions. Unfortunately the story didn't lead up to the hype.
The story revolved around Orivon, the male who is now about 21 (kidnapped at 6 and captive for 15 years) and the woman who enslaves him, Taerune (whose name is given as Tsarnarra on the back cover). Unfortunately there is so much going on that the characters don't have time to develop, and we are left feeling that they are shallow, posturing fools. The few we do get to know a little about wind up dead.
The back and forth between the different temples, the bars, the dark, the houses, the Lord's chambers, and the runaways meant that there was a real possibility that this should have been about 4 books on the topic. One to do the build of and create a background so we know the Firstbloods (oldest sons) one about the temples and the intercine murderous relationships there, possibly one about the Ravagers, and then the main story here.
This will definitely go in my discard pile - there was too much and not enough at the same time.
The back cover told of a young man, kidnapped by the dark elves, the Nilfghar that roam the Lower Realms, with their numerous cities, backbiting people, and viciously opposing religions. Unfortunately the story didn't lead up to the hype.
The story revolved around Orivon, the male who is now about 21 (kidnapped at 6 and captive for 15 years) and the woman who enslaves him, Taerune (whose name is given as Tsarnarra on the back cover). Unfortunately there is so much going on that the characters don't have time to develop, and we are left feeling that they are shallow, posturing fools. The few we do get to know a little about wind up dead.
The back and forth between the different temples, the bars, the dark, the houses, the Lord's chambers, and the runaways meant that there was a real possibility that this should have been about 4 books on the topic. One to do the build of and create a background so we know the Firstbloods (oldest sons) one about the temples and the intercine murderous relationships there, possibly one about the Ravagers, and then the main story here.
This will definitely go in my discard pile - there was too much and not enough at the same time.
September 14, 2008
Hmm, my first Ed Greenwood book. My husband is a big fan of his, and I actually bought this book for him. However, I'm a lover of fantasy, and thought to give this one a try...
I found it a little confusing. I liked the whole concept; I love Salvatore's Drow, and thought that Greenwood's Dark Elves were definitely on par with what I know of drow. However, the writing itself was disjointed and choppy. I didn't really connect with any of the characters. The story was hard to follow, the where's and why's and how's. I wasn't sure who was the villian and who was... not. I felt that Greenwood was too quick to kill off what could have been some incredible characters and I felt that once you became somewhat invested in a character, he would then take them out. Without giving away too much, one character in particular seemed that they would be pretty bad a$$ but wound up going out shockingly easily.
In short, I was never sure who was doing what and why they were doing what they were doing.
I gave it a two.
I found it a little confusing. I liked the whole concept; I love Salvatore's Drow, and thought that Greenwood's Dark Elves were definitely on par with what I know of drow. However, the writing itself was disjointed and choppy. I didn't really connect with any of the characters. The story was hard to follow, the where's and why's and how's. I wasn't sure who was the villian and who was... not. I felt that Greenwood was too quick to kill off what could have been some incredible characters and I felt that once you became somewhat invested in a character, he would then take them out. Without giving away too much, one character in particular seemed that they would be pretty bad a$$ but wound up going out shockingly easily.
In short, I was never sure who was doing what and why they were doing what they were doing.
I gave it a two.
October 5, 2008
This one was pretty good. It was a little disjointed at first, but once the greater plot came out it was great to see how all the different factions were responding to the same event. A new spin on the Dark Elves was definitely interesting. These elves are not the same kind of evil as the Drow in Salvatore's novels, where everyone schemes and backstabs. The Nifl are presented as more like ordinary people with ordinary relationships; they just have a much broader view of what is acceptable and what is not than most other races.
The only part I felt was out of place were the characters in the tavern. They may have been there to serve as the voice of the common people for the reader, but I felt they were unnecessary and did not contribute anything to the novel.
Other than that, it was great!
The only part I felt was out of place were the characters in the tavern. They may have been there to serve as the voice of the common people for the reader, but I felt they were unnecessary and did not contribute anything to the novel.
Other than that, it was great!
April 13, 2011
Dark Warrior Rising had such a good leading character who has the reader pushing for him on each and every page. A man that rugged and that masculine strutting around taking blows and dishing out ten times the crap given. His hardships and situations truly sucked and along with his slaver, for he actually works as a slave, he fought side by side? What a truly logical man, pushing emotions aside for opportunity. This book is one of those gems that you read and wake up the next day a little earlier to go to the gym. Its like a rocky movie you have to go pick a fight with someone after watching Rocky punch a meat bag. Maybe if we all watched Rocky more often we might be in better shape as a nation. The point is that if you have the time to pick up a novel that your not going to put down on several occasions, one read isn't enough, then buy this one today.
January 14, 2013
I may start writing reviews in the future, but let me just say I expected a lot more from a Greenwood book. This thing jumped all over, very little sense of time passing throughout the read. I also felt there wasn't enough character development. Where the book did shine was the relationship between the Firefist and his "captor", but, in my opinion, there wasn't enough of that. I felt it jumped around way too much and spent too much time on characters that left you feeling they never really mattered to begin with instead of spending more time with the characters that stood out from the rest.
March 28, 2014
It took me a while to get into this book. The writing and the amount of character changing per chapter really made it hard to read. I am glad that I stuck with it though because once you get past the first few chapters, it becomes much easier to read. That being said I still had times when I was lost. I really enjoyed the parts with Orivon and Taerune. That was when the book really shone. The overall story is creative and exciting. I just wish the amount of characters was toned down. I give it a 3.5 and I will read the next book.
April 21, 2016
Alright, alright...I give up. I made it to the 50% point and stopped. Life is too short to read shitty fiction. This is poorly written while, ironically, being well-imagined. Without calling them drow elves, Mr. Greenwood has written a book about drow elves. His vision of their society is fantastic: they are cruel, plotting, beautiful, merciless, and evil. His writing, though...meh. And don't get me wrong: Ed Greenwood is one of the most creative human beings I know of. His imagination is limitless, and I love him for it. This book though...not so goodly writed.
Pass.
Pass.
October 8, 2008
I have to agree with Guinhyvar's review. the story line held promise, but the text was too difficult to follow. many times while reading this book I had to stop and ask myself "who?!?" or "what?!?" just too much to follow and not enough to really get invested or even connected to the characters. add to that the amount of gratuitous violence, even as I began to build an excitement about a character.
July 9, 2016
It's a very slow to start book. Coming from the man who created Forgotten Realms I somehow expected this to be more similar to the Forgotten Realms universe. However, upon reading the afterword (which I think should have been the forward) I discovered that he was trying to set this universe apart from any other. I enjoyed the characters very much though the wording was sometimes awkward and there are passages I think should have been cut.
September 3, 2011
Greenwood is a great creator of worlds, and I found the reality of the Niflheim Dark Elves quite absorbing, but too much of the culture and history was explained through character conversation in a way that sounded very forced. There was clearly a lot the author wanted to cram into this book, and so the reader is assailed with a myriad of characters early on making it very difficult to keep tabs on which minor character is which. The plot itself was engaging and kept me reading.
November 2, 2010
Many stories, especially in the fantasy genre borrow from old world mythology. this was the first book, and I admit rather late in my reading life, where I specifically recognized references to a type of mythology,specifically Norse. I have always wondered if this kind of mythology could somehow overlay other types of fiction but no example comes readily to mind.
October 10, 2009
This was a solid dark elf sword-and-sorcery. Very much in Ed Greenwood's classic style. I particularly enjoyed the dynamic between the two main characters, and would have liked to see more focus paid to them.
November 8, 2015
Started reading it, but never really got into it. Updated 3-21-10,.. Tried reading it again, this book has really interesting prose....Its a little hard to follow at first, but it got better as the book went on...Im glad I came back to it :)
August 5, 2009
Ed Greenwood puts an interesting spin on what I know from Salvatore's dark elves.
January 15, 2012
It was okay. This is a D&D type book about the Drow. R.A.Salvatore has covered this subject much better.
August 14, 2015
Umm Kind of confusing. Interesting take on Dark Elves
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April 21, 2017A different look at dark elves, how and where they live.
Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews