Ashes & Rubble

A Kingdom Cast in Shadows Trilogy, Book 1

By: Dartanyan Johnson

Narrated by: Sami Ro

Prince Aeveus Fehlik, heir to the throne, is a wanted man.

No one knows why the second most powerful man in the kingdom murdered his own father, but the reward for his capture is enough for Karessa Auruchie to move out of the slums. Determined to change her fortune, she teams up with a tracker named Clyde—a handsome, charismatic elf with a disarming smile—and together, they venture across monster-ridden forests in search of their quarry.

Aeveus is accused of a crime he didn’t commit. The only problem: everyone saw him do it. Now he’s a man on the run, hoping that his one clue—the sigil of a long-forgotten territory—leads him to the true culprit. With the royal guards hot on his trail, and a sizeable bounty looming over him, time is not on his side. If he’s apprehended before he can clear his name, he’ll face trial and be swiftly executed.

Ashes & Rubble is an action-packed romantic fantasy, a gripping tale of secrets, heartache, friendship, and love, that will keep listeners on the edge of their seats, eagerly waiting to uncover the mystery.

©2025 Dartanyan Johnson (P)2025 Dartanyan Johnson

5 starts across the board

This story was so great. I didn’t see the ending coming. The narrator was amazing at all the different voices. The characters were all really captivating and I can’t not wait for the next book!

Phenomena!

Loved it. I was a little bit worried at first, because I was having a hard time following all the story pieces at first… but by chapter 5, I was completely hooked!

Such a great mix of fantasy and mythology!

I laughed and side-eyed, giggled and kicked my feet swooning. I had no idea where the author was going with this book when I first opened it, another than what he’d posted online, but now that I’m here, I need to take the whole journey!

Beautifully written Story

This book deserves more than five stars.
First, so let me say that the way the narrator went from narrating to character was beyond superb . It is hard to go from narration to a character‘s voice at least in my few years of listening to voice narrations.
I think my utmost favorite is when spoiler alert let me put that in there.

The narrator goes from one character to another. I decided not to put the spoiler in there. I love the female marrying character. I love her and Clyde’s banter. It’s action field story driven , world building. I could literally see as every scene played out as it was being told.

I believe Dartanyan Johnson wrote a beautiful book one to a series that I cannot wait to complete. I have had the luxury of reading other books by him but this by far because it’s not the genre I love is my upmost favorite. being let into his brain and how he thinks about the world building is crazy the build up to see Carissa and Clyde interaction is beautifully done again. I just I don’t know how to put all of this into words. This book will get a five out of five stars for me and if you could get more, it would probably be a 10 out of 10 I would recommend so if you’re looking for adventure, fairies battles, banter, sarcasm. This is the book for you also on the chase to find who really killed The High King . Then again this book is for you.

May you enjoy the read like I did.

A fun jaunt into a new magical world

For starters, I loved this book.

I usually listen at work and multiple times I found myself laughing out loud(literally) and wondering who would hear me.

All of the characters are masterfully written and brought to life by Sami Ro.

The world building gives you just enough to want more. You can see the wheels turning in Dartanyan's head as the world comes to life.

If you are looking for an adventure into a new magical world, I HIGHLY reccomend Ashes and Rubble.