Silk & Steel: Silk & Steel Series, Book 1

By: Ariana Nash

Narrated by: Cornell Collins

Length: 10 hrs and 16 mins

Publisher's summary

A tormented dragon prince. A captured elven assassin. Duty demands they fight for their people, but love has other plans.

Eroan, one of the last elven assassins, lives for one purpose: Kill the queen.

He would have succeeded if not for her last line of defense: Prince Lysander. Now, captured and forced into the queen's harem, Eroan sees another opportunity. Why kill just the queen when he can kill them all? It would be simple, if not for the troubled and alluring dragon prince. A warrior, a killer, and something else...something Eroan finds himself inexplicably drawn to.

©2019 Ariana Nash (P)2019 Tantor

My Heart

Maaaaaan. This book was STRESSFUL but like in a good way. I couldn't stop listening. I like a story that can make me feel and this did it.

Sex, sex, sex and too few interesting characters

Every time I am getting immersed in the book, a grotesque sex scene comes along and ruins the immersion. Further more the characters are kinda unintelligent and unpredictable. Eroan just annoys me Lysander is actually interesting along with the old Lady dragon. But most of the powerful characters end up sounding really disgusting because the narrator makes their voices deep and raspy in a really weird way, which actually make them sound like old perverts. It's strange because the story has begun, but in my head it feels like I am still waiting for something to happen. The descriptions of characters and of the surroundings mostly revolve around sensual and sexual aspects, which lets down the rest.

Get a new Narrator! Focus more on the story and characters! The universe is interesting, but tell us more about it! Less details in sex scenes, more description of how the relationship between the characters impact the sex.

Fantasy is all about good characters and relationships between those. If your book ignores any of those two aspects, it's doomed to be less than mediocre.

great job

I love your work and the pictures you paint with you words and the reader was great too

Gore, assault, action, and romance

I love unrequited love stories especially enemies to lovers theme! It's somewhat sad, but good.

Holy shit why is everyone so horny?

The story was all fuckin over the place and I swear to God every chapter had the word erection in it. Couldn't finish this for the life of me.

Great narration and entertaining story.

I didn’t dislike anything. Good world building and character development. Most books have some boring parts but this one kept my interest all the way through and made me laugh more than once. I loved the narrator’s “oooo I’m little and gross voice” that was used for the bronze dragon broods leader.

3rd read, this time audio

I really love this book. It is emotional and well written. Its a story of self discovery, love, hate, sacrifice, death, and life. Two individuals who should hate each other, an Elf and a Dragon, but find themselves saving each other. Ive read this story twice this year on my kindle, before the audiobook came out. I really want to support this talented author. I did enjoy the audiobook, the narrator was excellent. My only reservation, and not the fault of the narrator, is I already had a "voice" in my head from my previous reads. The narrator's voice was not mine. My issue, not anyone else. I still enjoyed it tho.

Having already read this book 3 times now, you have got to read the second book, Iron & Fire. If this book guts you, Iron & Fire will tear your heart out. Eroan and Lysander's story continues and the steaks are much much higher. I really love these characters and am waiting with baited breath for Blood & Ice later this year.

I want to read this again for the first time

I loved the writing , the world building, I want to devour the rest of the book now immediately

A truly moving story, equal parts love and anguish.

(I will attempt to write this without spoilers)
At first, I thought this book was going to be a fairly standard fantasy story with elves and dragons and humans. But as it went on, I found myself absolutely enthralled in the story. Lysander's shame and turmoil is something I have felt all too well as a queer person. The feeling of wrongness, the self-hatred, the desperation, the isolation, the hopelessness. I saw myself in him in a way I haven't seen myself in many other protagonists. His connection to Eroan was genuinely heartbreaking to watch unfold in the most painful and most beautiful way imaginable.

While there were several parts of the book that were truly difficult to listen to, it all felt necessary. It was needed. The pain I experienced as a reader listening to the things that happen to both Lysander and Eroan were integral in understanding these characters and their motivations. The book's words would ring hollow if it didn't include all the savagery, the cruelty, the pain.

The book is vulgar and doesn't pull its punches. It feels real. I haven't been this moved by a book and by the internal struggles of a character in years. The writing is brilliant, and the voice of the reader really makes it come to life. I cannot recommend this book enough. Definitely read at your own risk, though. If you are triggered by themes of sexual assault and violence, read with extreme caution.

Fantastic Narration

Oh my gosh! I am in love with Cornell Collins's narration! I felt like I was thrust into the world of Lord of the Rings or a Dungeon and Dragon's campaign, but, you know, with dirty elves and dragons. Collins has won over a fan.

Now for the book.

I generally really enjoyed it. I loved the characters. I loved the setting. I wanted Eroan and Lysander to be happy and together with flowers and sunshine. I was properly invested to find out what happened from beginning to end. And because I highly enjoyed the characters and plot, I noticed some things that I found to be a bit lacking (for me, I don't know about others.)

This book is definitely character driven. As such, many environments seem to be void of detail and culture. It feels like we only graze the surface of where the characters came from. We only find out about the world's history towards the end of the novel, which I felt like would have helped center listeners if this was explored at the beginning. I never really had a good idea of what was where, who was how old, and why characters did what they did in regards to their culture. Yes, there were some soft explanations, but I really wanted more. More depth. More details. More world systems.

Oh, and things do get uncomfortable. This is a dark fantasy after all. However, I really didn't like Queen Mama's...affections...towards Lysander, especially at the beginning of the novel. That almost made me stop the whole book and put it away. But guys! I was so happy that I decided to keep going and follow through with the novel because I would have been disappointed otherwise.

I am for sure picking up book two!