The Archduke

A Daindreth's Assassin Novella

By: Elisabeth Wheatley

Narrated by: Elisabeth Wheatley

Length: 2 hrs and 8 mins

Publisher's summary

Daindreth had spent most of his life learning to ignore the voice in his head, but that didn’t stop the demon - the cythraul - from speaking.

Daindreth Fanduillion has learned to live with it after inheriting the curse that drove his father mad, but a sorceress’ assassination attempt changes everything. She fails, but temporarily frees him from the demon that has plagued him for more than half his life.

To his surprise, Daindreth learns that she is Amira Brindonu, half-sister to his betrothed and daughter of a sworn enemy. Guilty of high treason, she should be sent to the gallows, but Amira is his only hope and Daindreth is willing to pay any price for the chance at a cure.

Against the advice of his friends and advisors, he becomes determined to do whatever he must to win her over into his service - if she doesn’t kill him first.

Then again, losing his life seems a small price to pay for the chance to save his soul.

The Archduke is a 18,500-word companion novella telling the story of Amira and Daindreth’s meeting from Daindreth’s point of view. It can be listened to before or after Daindreth’s Assassin.

©2021 Elisabeth Wheatley (P)2021 Elisabeth Wheatley

Loved it but…

I loved it but there where repeating sentences like they accidentally left in there during editing. Otherwise really enjoyed the Archduke’s point of view of the starting events of Daindreth's Assassin. I would personally do that book first though.

just enough

This was an excellent prequel book! It had a good amount of plot and character development. in fact, just enough plot and character development to make me go and reach for the next book without a massive cliffhanger :). The audio editing however really needs to be looked at. I want to say there were at least a dozen, maybe two dozen places where sentences were repeated and in such a short story, it's very very noticeable and rather annoying.

Daindreth's Point of View

I loved listening to Daindreth's side and the nuance it adds to the series. I'm reading this series now, and it is fantastic. I appreciate that Amira can take care of herself and she doesn't need to be rescued by the male protagonist. If you enjoy slow burn romance and want to read about a woman who can hold her own and rescue HERSELF, read this series!

Great Accompanying Piece

The account of the story from the Archduke’s perspective is such a clever addition to Daindreth’s Assassin! Loved it. It was however pretty distracting when the narrator reads some lines twice, presumably this is a recording accident, but it happens at least four times in the entire narration and is quite distracting, it could do with a final listen-through to edit these out.

Editing Editing Editing

The number of repeated lines in this story is awful. Did anyone actually listen to the recording through before publishing? Especially when the Author is recording her own story, she should care more about the final product. I purchased this and the first book at the same time, so I'm hoping the full books are edited with more care.