Depths of Vanalf

De: Brady Hunsaker

Narrado por: Marisa Calin, Raphael Corkhill, Matthew Lloyd Davies, James Meunier, Shakira Shute

The first book of an epic progression fantasy series inspired by Scandinavian folklore, The Witcher, and Dungeons & Dragons, where a young man named Hallik has been training his whole life to become a magic-wielder, or Grimnir, to keep his island safe. But when monsters breach the shield protecting his realm, Hallik must venture into the mystical cave of Vanalf to hone his skills to protect everything he holds dear.

Hallik has been training his whole life to become a Grimnir, a magic-wielder who can aid in keeping their island safe from the monster hordes outside the shield protecting them. Hundreds of years ago, Grimnirs created a shield around their island. Hallik has waited his whole life to become one of the elite Grimnir who can keep their enemies at bay.

But when monsters start showing up on the island, it appears they aren’t as safe as they thought. They’ll need more Grimnirs to ensure their safety, but to become a magic-wielder, they’ll need to traverse the depths of Vanalf, a cave system that connects the realms, making it the most dangerous place imaginable. Fortunately, there’s one ragtag crew that’s up to the task.

An epic progression fantasy inspired by Scandinavian folklore, The Witcher, and Dungeons & Dragons, Depths of Vanalf is the first in an epic series that will leave you spellbound.

The story is as cool as the book cover

what I loved… Very inventive reimagining of Scandinavian folklore with a obvious nod and homage to DND

what I didn’t like…
This might seem nitpicky, because it is, but some of the spells that a couple of the protagonist used were a little on the nose “detect magic.” it kind of forced me out of the immersion for a minute, but that’s super minor compared to the collective hole of the narrative, which was scintillating and gripping from start to finish.

Fantastic story

I thoroughly enjoyed this book! For the most part the readers did well with voices and the pace they went at. The story itself, fantastic! I look forward to the next book, I’ve already pre-ordered the audiobook.

Good quick read/listen

The multiple narrators is a nice touch, generally good quality, but I personally didn’t like how one female narrator emphasized vowels. I got over it.

I disagree with the reviews that this is great world building. It’s not bad, but it’s not great. I’m 37 chapters in and other than one grimnir type having wings and what’s implied by their names I’m not sure what their differences are.

I like harder magic systems (Brandon Sanderson types) where there are rules, this is more Harry Potter where the magic is just accepted. I imagine it’ll be plot armor later.

Great epic fantasy story!

I saw on social media that the author was channeling D&D for this story and I definitely feel like he nailed the vibes! The narrators were incredible, I could tell every character separately. I also thought the world building and storyline were well done. It took some time to get momentum in the story due to the world building but once it was built, hold onto your seat because you're in for a ride!
I tried to guess what characters would come out of Vanalf with what magic and I was nearly spot on. It was fun to try to make the guess and helped me better immerse myself in the story as many characters were doing the same thing.

Sorry progress

Has a overall great experience and listen! Story progression is consistent does not drag out scenes and keeps a good progress!!!