The Elf and The Princess

The Silent Warrior Trilogy, Book 1

By: Anna del C. Dye

Narrated by: George Tintura

Length: 6 hrs and 57 mins

Publisher's summary

A most thrilling and captivating tale for readers of all ages....

Menarm was a great and prosperous kingdom, known throughout the lands for its friendly, hard-working people and fair trade. But a bitter struggle of succession between brothers left the kingdom devastated, the people divided. Some stayed with Fenil, who had conquered the crown, others followed Renil to the wild lands of the north, founding a new kingdom.

Now Adren, the last princess of the vanquished realm of Menarm, finds herself alone in a world where women live in the shadows of men. Not only must she battle her enemies, but also a truth that could obliterate her last hope for happiness and bring dishonor to all those whom she holds dear. On her quest, she finds unlikely allies in a powerful prince and a defiant mercenary, only to be devastated by an ancient and wily elf. Will Adren be able to survive this final assault?

The Elf and the Princess is a brilliant tale of true love, high adventure, and medieval-style warfare between elves, men, and orcs. Drawing inspiration from the myths and legends of Europe and from such writers as J. K. Rowling and J. R. R. Tolkien, Anna del C. Dye spins a completely original tale that will leave the reader wanting more.

©2007 Anna del C. Dye (P)2012 Anna del C. Dye & George C. Dye

Sometimes tedious, sometimes good

I started this book with high hopes. I liked the book blurb description and was up for an Elven adventure. However, this story fell a little short. The beginning was easy to start with but then the timeline jumps around a bit and I had trouble following who did what when. Now, if you get past that, the story settles on 16 year old Princess Adren.

Initially, I really liked her character. Her mother dies shortly after we meet her and Adren’s kingdom is in ruins. I worried she wouldn’t be able to save herself let alone her kingdom! But she has been taking sword-fighting lessons from a master, Donian. Now he was a fun character! I loved his harsh nature and no-nonsense training. He’s merciless in her training and she picks up the art quickly. Now, I did find it a bit too convenient that she mastered sword training so quickly, but it’s necessary for the story to progress.

Adren must venture out on a quest to find allies but her little world is one where women are kept safe and secure and don’t learn to fight with swords and gallivant around the countryside. Initially, I found her solution to this problem endearing, because who wouldn’t want to put on a mask and pretend to be someone else, especially if you have to kill anyone? Still, I was a little dismayed that in this fictional world, ladies in general have very little to do with the plot.

Adren hasn’t spent any time with elves and now that she’s met some, she’s fascinated by them. Here’s another part of the story that didn’t work so well for me. We know that she was raised with stories about elves and there’s obviously contact and trade between humans and elves, and yet dear little Adren is totally blank on Elvish factoids. Really? Sigh… So I felt that contradicted what we learned earlier. Then when she learns why her ears are the shape they are…. well, it was just a lot of drama for no reason.
Still, there’s plenty of action and armor and sword fighting and heroes. I liked all those bits. Then we have the love story. Adren loves a certain person and then yet another person is falling in love with Adren (unbeknownst to her). Again, I felt the love story was a whole lot of drama for very little entertainment. Also, the wrap up to that romance in this book was a little cliched and I expected that twist well before it was revealed.
All together, the tale held potential to be a fun high adventure but fell short with some inconcise writing and over-done drama. 3/5 stars.

The Narration: George Tintura did an OK job with this narration. He sounded interested in the story all the way through the book. He does make an effort to do accents and keep character voices distinct but they kind of go in and out. His grumpy voice for Donian is pretty good and most of the time, he does a believable 16 year old Princess Adren. He also makes a believable snobbish elf. 4/5 stars.

➜ Susan received a free copy of this book from the author. Her opinions are 100% my own.

Engaging Elven Adventure!

A great combination of fantasy, war, romance and adventure. I love Princess Adren, the feisty heroine/mute Silent Warrior. There’s something for everyone-Princes, Warriors, Elves, Orcs, fast paced action, suspense, intrigue, twists, betrayals, fighting, complex characters, and romance all rolled into a captivating storyline. I received an advance audio book as a gift and enjoyed the narration by George Tintura. He did an excellent job on the variety of voices. I look forward to the next book in this trilogy. Enjoy!

Sweet, fun and enjoyable fantasy tale

This is the debut book of Anna del C. Dye. I don't generally read too much from the Fantasy genre, but this was a fun, different and "real seeming" book. The events included battles, romance, a little mystery and a little sadness at times when events caused difficult situations.

There was a lot of description in the book and if made for an interesting read.

The narrator, George Tintura had a pleasant to hear voice and each character was portrayed in a different way making it easy to know the speaker, even the female voices.

It was an enjoyable book with a few twists and turns along the way. I am sure book 2 will be an interesting read as well!

I received an ebook version from the author for my honest review which I have given.

STORY IS GREAT. LOVED IT. FUNNY & FANTASTIC

STORY IS WELL WRITTEN AND EASY TO FOLLOW.

ACCEPTABLE FOR TEENS AND UP

NARRATOR WAS GREAT AND WAS EASY TO FOLLOW.

beautiful story of hope, courage, & determination

fantastic story! it's a fine mix of Lord of the Rings meets Mulaun. it's got epic battles, fierce fighting, romance, and fantasy all rolled up in one.

Baskerville Book Reviews

This story starts off with a bit of backstory in the form of a story, before jumping forward 17 years. While that feels a bit janky, I much prefer it to other novels that just dump you into a world and expect you to know what the hell is going on.

It took me a while to get into this story. Though I’m probably just a bit burned out on fantasy at the moment, as I paused another story to listen to this. The second reason I zoned out a lot was the narrator, but I’ll get to that in the audiobook section at the bottom.

It clearly takes inspiration from Lord of the Rings or other fantasy novels of the like. (I’ve never actually read LotR). it has a lot of the fantasy staples we’ve all cum to know and love. it feels like a fleshed-out world full of interesting people and history.

The narrator is overall pretty damn good. His voice is very relaxing to listen to which led to me often zoning out, as I mentioned above. The only issue I had with the audio was the music that plays at the end of the story. It’s obnoxiously loud and plays over the narrator’s voice, drowning out everything he says.

I know “Cozy Mysteries” are a thing. I kept thinking while listening to this story that it should be in the “Cozy Fantasy” genre if such a thing exists. This is a quaint, charming little fantasy novel and I’m definitely interested in listening to the sequels sometime.

NOTE: This copy was provided to me free of charge as a digital review copy. The opinions stated in this review are mine and mine alone, I was not paid or requested to give this book a certain rating, suggestion, or approval.

PRINCESS AND HER ELF

A WONDERFUL CLEAN ELVEN ROMANCE! THE NARRATOR GEORGE TINTURA HAS A VERY GOOD VOICE, AND THE STORY IS FILLED WITH MYSTERY AND ADVENTURE! I LOOK FORWARD TO BOOK 2 !!!!!

Elves orcs warriors and chaste romance

This is a well told epic revolving around several characters that are made to feel special to the reader. It may be a tad predictable at times, but in the mix of familiar elements with foreign lands it becomes all the more endearing.

I like your Ears!

This book is a good book to read if you like romance and war. The characters are well written, and you can follow the story very easily. There were moments I laughed and also was in awe. Especially with the princess and the elf's ears.

I received this book free in return for my honest opinion.

An Intriguing Story

What did you love best about The Elf and The Princess?

The Elf and the Princess reminds me so much of The Lord of the Rings. It has the adventure, wars, mystery, and even a love story that was intriguing. Keeping her identity secret, I often wondered how the princess would reveal who she was to the man she loved so deeply. I thoroughly enjoyed this story. The narrator did a great job and I liked all his voices. If you’re a Lord of the Rings fan, then you’ll love this one.