Titan's Nest

De: T. D. Orel

Narrado por: Jared Walters

One boy trains to join the Bitten Knights. Another boy trains to kill them. Their paths, and their blades, are destined to collide.

No one in the north was surprised when Maximus Duskfell found his hand between the fangs of a dragon hatchling. Maximus proved to be fearless, unyielding, and physically gifted—the ideal Bitten Knight. Maximus’ younger brother, however, is the opposite in nearly every way. But when a freak accident on his way to the capital, Titan’s Nest, prevents Maximus from fulfilling his calling, Darren is forced to secretly inherit his brother’s dragon, identity, and destiny. Darren may not have the skill, muscle, or even the support of his brother’s dragon to help him survive the training, but he may just have the wit and the will.

Clear on the other side of the world, a mysterious cult has been quietly rising to power. Darren’s own friend, Ryker, has found himself entangled in their ranks. Their purpose? Butcher the Bitten Knights.

This story is told in first-person from the perspective of two friends, both unknowingly being trained to kill the other. The listener is forced to choose for themselves which character they believe is on the "correct side" of the conflict as both parties inch closer and closer to an inevitable war.

©2022 Tanner Orel (P)2023 Tanner Orel

Riveting story! Incredible character development and scope! Multi layered plots that are woven together beautifully!

This is a masterpiece! It’s detailed nature makes the magnificent scenes and characters come to life inside your minds eye! The characters are so well crafted and each have so much depth to them that they all add significant elements to the storyline. There are some amazing unforeseen developments that will enthrall your mind and heart! I am so excited for book two and whatever else T.D. Orel has up his sleeve!

An excellent beginning

The story asks the question: What if you made dragon riders work kind of like werewolves? More mature tone than most draconic fiction and TD Orel manages to bring an original take on the magic of dragon riders. The protagonist is genuinely introspective and unique. This book is the first book in the series, and the characters develop throughout. Red Rising + Eragon + Unique Magic System with a dash of Lovecraft thrown in for good measure.

Engaging and original

A book that’s easy to jump right into. The characters are fascinating and it’s action packed. The main character is definitely not the archetypal hero and so many times the story has me wondering and guessing where it’s going to go next. Not an obvious plot, but a great one. The world building is so fun and different. Can’t wait for the second book! I’ve listened to the audible a couple times. Fun different voices that bring the characters to life. Well done!

Great narration and story!

A super fun dragon fantasy about the underdog finding his courage. Loved it! And the narration is excellent!

A very underrated fantasy!

Not only do I have a paperback, but the author offered me an audible code to check out the audiobook! I just wish I had listened sooner.

This is a dragon rider novel that features an underdog, found family, academy-like training, and uneven odds. The characters are fleshed out and the world feels real. I particularly liked that the novel does not tell you which side is the “correct” one to root for.

The dragons imbue their riders with fury, giving them enhanced strength, speed, and dragon scale-like skin. I enjoyed the slight dragonrider twist in that each dragon gives their rider a unique gifted power. Whether it’s lightning, water, fire, or air, the elemental powers felt like The Last Airbender on dragons. The dragons can grow large to riding size at will by their riders imbuing them back with their own pool of fury. It is a 50/50 relationship.

The world could use some additional building, especially because they take up a big portion being trained. But it is only because I am interested that it could use more. I didn’t really find it lacking, just interesting.

I cannot fathom why more of my SFF friends have not picked this book up yet. I know what side I’m choosing. I wonder if you’ll agree.

Personally a 5/5*. Cannot wait for a book 2.

A story that just keeps building!

For me, reading and listening to fantasy novels has brought me so much joy. Titan's Nest scratched this itch and then some. The character growth and development was excellent. I also love how the world is built and revealed to us. The Deeper you get, the more you understand the lorem Definitely give this one a listen!

Dragon Rider fantasy done right!

A debut novel with a lot of heart. Titan’s Nest does a lot right, the characters feel real, the dragons and magic system is a lot of fun and the action is spot on. My only complaint is that it wasn’t longer! I can’t wait for book 2!

Great Book, Definitely Recommend

This book was excellent, anyone who liked Eragon will definitely enjoy this book. The book has excellent characters, Gerard is definitely my favorite, he felt like an extremely well crafted DnD NPC. The book has some very emotional moments as well. You can tell the author is very intelligent and knows how to get you emotionally invested. I am certainly a fan and can’t wait until book 2 releases. You should definitely listen to it as well. With all that being said though I do have a few complaints. Very minor spoilers ahead. I didn’t really care much at all for Ryker’s chapters, he felt too much like a Murtagh clone, and it would be very hard for anyone to make a character as cool as Murtagh. His power definitely made him come across as a little bit of a Mary Sue as well. Also, the ending felt extremely abrupt. There were some very well written twists that I did not see coming, but it felt like there were some chapters missing from the ending. I was definitely surprised there wasn’t a Ryker chapter for the ending to wrap up his side of the story for book 1. Also, the narrator did a great job but he wasn’t perfect, there were two or three times he repeated lines. Like I said though, great book, and I’d certainly recommend getting it.

A great story and great voices

This book is a great listen the voices of each and every character come to life through this narration along with the fact that the story didn’t go as I had expected and left me wandering what was to happen next. I took little time to finish the listen and will be awaiting the release of the second book in this series

An interesting listen hoping for another soon.

The narrator has a good voice for the characters, though I did have to slow it down a little bit to catch some of his words. There are many twists and revelations that keep you guessing. I’ve listened to this twice and I’m still not sure which side is good and which is evil. I’m excited to see where the story goes. On the negative side there are a couple time jumps that left me confused which is why I had to listen to it again to make sure I understood the story before leaving a review. Eager for the next installment!