Serpent's Kiss

Elder Races Series #3

By: Thea Harrison

Narrated by: Sophie Eastlake

Length: 13 hrs and 10 mins

Publisher's summary

In order to save his friend's life, Wyr sentinel Rune Ainissesthai made a bargain with Vampyre Queen Carling - without knowing what she would ask from him in return. But when Rune attempts to make good on his debt, he finds a woman on the edge.

Recently, Carling's power has become erratic, forcing her followers to flee in fear. Despite the danger, Rune is drawn to the ailing Queen and decides to help her find a cure for the serpent's kiss - the vampyric disease that's killing her.

With their desire for each other escalating just as quickly as Carling's instability spirals out of control, the sentinel and the Queen will have to rely on each other if they have any hope of surviving the serpent's kiss.

Listen to more Elder Races.

©2011 Teddy Harrison (P)2011 Tantor

chevelle

Again a great story. I love how the opposites attract. going to the next story.

Interesting Intellectual Mystery

Rune & Carling's story is primarily an interesting intellectual mystery and " love story" set in the world of the Elder Races. It's my 2nd fave story in the series, after Dragon Bound. Well written and believable in the context of Harrison's world building. Eastlake does a decent job with the narration, and is now the voice of the series for me. Yes, it's well worth the credit.

hold out through the 1st half - 2nd is worth it

If you are into paranormal I highly recommend book 1 & 2 of this series but this book, not so much. Thea Harrison created a fascinating world with an array of supernaturals. I was getting addicted in the first two novels but the addiction was broken with this one.

There is a good story here but you have to be VERY patient because it does not really start until the second half of the book after a very complex backstory is established.

In the last book Rune obligated himself to a pact to do whatever Carling chooses. He now must fulfill that pact whatever it may hold. Khalil, who we also met in the last book, is an old and powerful Djinn and he owes two favors to Carling.

This book turns out to be a medical investigation into the cause of becoming a vampire. This is totally different than the stereotypes found in other novels. There is more focus on the investigation than the romance which was refreshing and the background of Carling's Egyptian beginnings is very interesting.

If you can hold out through the first half of the book, the rest will be worth it. However, I now need a break from the series. I will return because I want to learn about the other characters' individual stories.

Go Ahead … Bite Me!

This is the third book in the Elder Races series, but it could have been listened to without hearing the first two books, Dragon Bound and Storm’s Heart. There are references to things that happened in the first two books but not enough so that you would have been lost if you didn’t read them.

I really, really enjoyed this story! The suspense was awesome! I feel like this story of Carling and Rune will go down as one of the best in this series even if Sophie Eastlake writes 100 more.

In this story, the countdown for the end of Carling’s life is slowly ticking toward the final hour. Rune is determined not to let her go quietly into the night. When Carling goes into a ‘fade’ Rune finds that he is able to travel into her personal dreamland with her. He will be visiting some of the key points of her past, thus learning about her in a most intimate way. The closer he gets, the more she wants to push him away. Neither knows the dangers traveling to her past will bring, or what it could mean for the future.

The Narration Review
This audiobook was narrated by Sophie Eastlake who was also the narrator for the first two books. I am getting used to her young sounding voice and she does do a good job on differentiating her character voices. I think I would classify her voice as tootsie pop drop, sweet like candy but chocolaty goodness in the heart of things.

can't stop listening!

I have nothing bad to say. The book is awesome. the story is amazing. The narrarater rocks! I hope this isn't the last book in the series. I just love the elder races!

Great story & intriguing storyline

What an imagination Thea Harrison has! And I do so enjoy Sophie Eastlake as the narrator. I find her very easy to listen to and understand.

This story was very enjoyable and surprised the heck out of me for where it went on why the vampire queen Carling is having problems with 'fading'. That was a story twist I would never have thought of! I do so love being pleasantly surprised by authors.

My pet peeve is simply too much sexual descriptions going on for ever and they're all so perfect and 'the one', etc., etc... I personally believe the media goes too far in perfection. NONE of us are perfect and we're never a perfect lover all the time, despite our best efforts. Reading stories that describe lovemaking perfection that I've rarely experienced, doesn't feel like it's helping anything, if that makes sense. It's like all the perfect bodies and teeth on TV, as it sets up the real folks for feeling dissatisfied about their real lives. I'd love to see less ultimate perfection and screaming orgasms, and more reality. Yeah, like that's going to happen. (But I think it should!) If you agree with any of this, write your own reviews and mention this too. If enough of us start saying something, maybe one author will change just a bit..

I also like how the stories in this series do intertwine. It would be nice to see more of the previous folks highlighted in each story, rather than just having a bit of a mention or showing up temporarily here and there.

This is a good series and I believe you'll enjoy it. Having the stories deal with the different races is pretty interesting, and you should read them in order.

Great new Author

Any additional comments?

I have enjoyed the first three books in this series. The characters have depth. The narrator is very good!

Really impressed!!!!!!!

Would you consider the audio edition of Serpent's Kiss to be better than the print version?

Thea Harrison is a tee totally awesome talented author. I can really enjoy her writings to the point that I find myself hardly able to wait until her next book to come out in print!

What did you like best about this story?

I find that there are many things that I truly enjoy reading in her series that she has taken great care in making sure that each book flows exactly as though it simply flows from one to the other.

What about Sophie Eastlake’s performance did you like?

Sophie's performance is very and extremely and carefully awesome in her way of interpretations that come through very clearly in her work!

If you were to make a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

What would the human who is an Oracle that has been transferred from mother to daughter never to a son, have to say to you?

Any additional comments?

I tee totally love Thea Harrison

Par for the course-enjoyable but not great

For me, this was the weakest book in the series so far, but that's not to say I didn't enjoy it. I really like Rune and Carling as characters and the plot of trying to save Carling from her degenerating fade outs was really interesting, but the romance parts of this story felt heavy-handed and forced. I had almost decided not to continue with the series, but Thea Harrison has a gift for introducing really interesting characters that will star in her next book, and the Oracle Grace looks to be a real winner to me. If you liked the previous books, you will likely enjoy this installment, but I was not as impressed with this book overall.

this searies gets better and better

"I will never leave you. I will never let you go. I will not let you fall or fail. I will always come for you if you leave, always find you if you're lost. Always."

THE STORY: In STORM'S HEART, Rune Ainissesthai, a Wyr Gryphon, promised to do a task for the ancient vampire, Carling Severan, in exchange for Carling saving the life of Rune's friend. Now Rune has come to repay his debt. Rune discovers that Carling is dying. In the process of the two trying to save her life, they discover that history and time are changeable and that they may need to alter the past to give Carling a future.

OPINION: I really enjoyed this book because of the intense emotional focus of the story. Rune and Carling have a really interesting story that reveals itself throughout the book. I recommend not reading the spoilers because much of the enjoyment of the story is the mystery of what is happening. Rune is protective and funny and also sweet in his own special way. Carling is a strong woman and her journey is a fascinating one. This book has one of the better-developed romances of the series so far.

WORTH MENTIONING: There are political intrigues in this book that are beginning to spin out and are clearly not meant to be resolved in one book but rather begin an overarching story that spans the series.

FINAL DECISION: I really liked this book because of the strong characters of Rune and Carling. This is a book that is really focused on the characters and romance rather than the political intrigues.

CONNECTED BOOKS: SERPENT'S KISS is the third novel in the Elder Races series. This book can be read as a standalone although there are overlapping characters and events.