The Heir of Ash and Thunder (The Shattered Veil #1) by Elijah Stepanovich

Some destinies burn their way into the world. Ilija Dragović has carried a presence within him his entire life. A pulse beneath the heartbeat. A second life behind the eyes. A memory older than the body he inhabits. Now a professor of mythology, he walks among ruins and artifacts with the familiarity of one who has already lived them. In quiet moments, the world leans toward him, as though recognizing something it once knew. A name. A vow. A power that once shaped empires. When that power stirs, it rises as memory. Heat in the blood. Light beneath the skin. A voice that returns home. Danica Madsen carries the same echo. Her steps align with his. Her gaze holds the weight of shared lifetimes and the cost of remembering. Their paths draw toward one another with the gravity of ancient stars. Devotion forms as a wound they both remember bearing. The world begins to shift in response. Across sea and stone, old gods wake and turn their attention. Each remembers Ilija in their own way—beloved, rival, sovereign, ruin. They are coming. To witness him. To challenge him. To kneel. To kill. The fire he once commanded returns to his hands. And the world prepares to burn with him. The Heir of Ash and Thunder is a tale of devotion and defiance, where memory is a weapon, grief is a summons, and love may be the spark that topples empires. Perfect for readers of Neil Gaiman’s American Gods, Madeline Miller’s Circe, and Katherine Arden’s The Bear and the Nightingale.

New Adult • Fantasy • Fantasy/Mythic, Retelling, and Folklore • Fantasy/Epic and High • Fantasy/Romantic and Erotic • Fantasy/Dark

Content Warning: Death, Gore, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Vomit, War, Injury/Injury detail, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Torture, Grief, mentions of Genocide.