The Elven
#2214.11 adjusted 4.10 for sample size in the official ranking · full ranking
Books 2 books Status Ongoing 2004–present Reading commitment Medium Bernhard Hennen Last reviewed 2026-08-30
Overview
The Elven (Die Elfen) is a German epic fantasy sequence by Bernhard Hennen, with James A. Sullivan credited as co-author on the first volume. A genuinely new author to this canon, Hennen built the sequence around elves, humans, and old gods in a secondary world, opening with Die Elfen (2004) and continuing with Elfenwinter (2006). Die Elfen is Hennen's best-known work internationally, and has been translated into a number of European languages beyond its original German, including Dutch, Italian, French, Czech, Spanish, Portuguese, Russian, and Ukrainian, as well as English, giving it a wide readership across the continent's fantasy markets well beyond its home country. The sequence sits within German-language epic fantasy's own long tradition of elf-centered secondary-world storytelling, distinct from the Anglophone strand of the genre, and Hennen has continued to write further novels set in the same world beyond the two books catalogued here.
Epic fantasy · For Adult
Core Canon: Reading Order (2 works) counts toward ranking
The Elven Bernhard Hennen
| Work | Year | Internal chron. | Canon | Rating | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Die Elfen | 2004 | 1 | core | 4.10 (9,627 ratings) |
 | Elfenwinter | 2006 | 2 | core | 4.14 (2,430 ratings) |
Core Canon is the two German novels with a confirmed, unambiguous English translation as "The Saga of the Elven": Die Elfen (2004, tr. "The Elven") and Elfenwinter (2006, tr. as two English volumes, "Elven Winter" and "Elven Queen"). Hennen's own continuation of this same continuity (Elfenlicht, Elfenkönigin, Elfenlied, and later volumes) plus several related prequel/spin-off sequences (Elfenritter, Drachenelfen, the Schattenelfen-Saga) remain German-original and untranslated, and are not itemized as Expanded Canon this pass pending a closer look at how tightly each connects to this core continuity.
Quick answers
- How many books are in The Elven? The Elven's Core Canon is 2 books.
- What is the reading order for The Elven? Publication order, starting with Die Elfen. Full list and years in the Core Canon table above.
- Is The Elven finished? Ongoing (2004–present).
- How much reading does The Elven take? Medium reading commitment (estimated from 2 Core Canon books · ~1,806 pages).
- How is The Elven ranked? #221 in this site's official ranking, based on 12,057 reader ratings across 2 Core Canon books. See the full ranking for how this is calculated.
Why is it ranked #221?
Ranked #221 in the official ranking.
- Average reader rating of 4.11 across 2 core books.
- A smaller readership (12,057 ratings), so the score carries less weight of numbers.
- Remarkably consistent across the whole series: all 2 rated core books rate within 0.04 of each other.
- Less than 0.01 behind #220, The Founders Trilogy (a finer tie-break level decides the order).
- Below the top-10 average of 4.45.
Why explore this universe?
Highly rated · 2 books · Ongoing · 12k ratings · Ranks #221 overall
Good choice if you want a moderate-length epic fantasy universe that's still ongoing, with new books still coming.
Reading order
Publication order (2 Core Canon books)
- Die Elfen (2004)
- Elfenwinter (2006)
Documented internal/story chronology is recorded for every Core Canon book here, and matches publication order exactly, with no divergence to show separately.
Awards (verified)
- No awards found for this universe.
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Official resources
Research details
Ranking metrics: weighted average 4.11 across 12,057 ratings on 2 Core Canon books. See Why is it ranked here? above for the full breakdown, or the full ranking.
How do we know this?
Admission: Admit The Elven / Die Elfen (Bernhard Hennen) accepted 2026-08-30
Sources: (see source tier definitions)
Last reviewed: 2026-08-30
Rule: Core Canon is the two-novel sequence with a confirmed English translation, published as "The Saga of the Elven": Die Elfen (2004; English: The Elven) and Elfenwinter (2006; English: Elven Winter / Elven Queen, across two volumes).