Free Preview: 3 Chapters + World Guide
He lost everything.
Then he found them.
The Breath of Ash & Flame is an epic fantasy of broken heroes, woven magic, and the family you choose when the world tries to unmake you. Read the first three chapters for free, no strings.
Perfect for readers of
Wheel of Time · Stormlight Archive · Name of the Wind · First Law · Realm of the Elderlings
Inside the Preview
Three chapters. One world. Zero obligation.
The preview includes a world guide + the opening three chapters and everything you need to decide if this is your next obsession.
World Guide
Entering the World of Shikari
The Weave is not just a magic system, it's the living architecture of reality. This exclusive primer explains how breath, intention, and elemental threads interlock before the story begins. For readers who love deep lore before the action.
“Beneath all things, the Weave breathes.”
Prologue
Shadows in the Flame
The Sundering of Flame. One night that unmade everything. Watch Alaric - a Veilwalker of the Moon Order, make a desperate choice that will echo through centuries, as his brother-in-arms Vorrath commits the betrayal that broke the world.
“Some fires are not meant to give warmth. Some fires remember.”
Chapter 1
Before the Flame
Meet Kaelen - a restless teenager in the hidden village of Willowbrook who doesn't yet know that his quiet life is built on secrets. His father forges blades he can't touch. His mother carries power she doesn't speak of. And the wind is starting to taste wrong.
“When the thread knows your name, the rest follows.”
Chapter 2
Ash on the Horizon
Breath is not just air, it is intention. As Kaelen begins learning the art of Woven Breath, a prophetic nightmare becomes morning reality: the Ashbound are coming. His mother stands with a glowing Weaverstaff. His father draws twin blades. Everything is about to break.
“Breath is not just air. It is intention.”
Why This Preview?
If you've been looking for your next series
These are the things epic fantasy readers keep asking for. This is what's waiting in the preview.
A magic system worth obsessing over
The Weave has rules, costs, and consequences. Thread-based magic channelled through intent and breath - systematic enough to theorise about, strange enough to feel alien. For readers who love Sanderson's internal logic but wanted stranger imagery.
A found family you'll carry with you
Kaelen, Sylah, Alaric, Arin, Seriah - each broken in their own way, each finding in the others a reason to keep pulling threads. If Bridge Four made you cry, you know exactly what this is.
Epic scope without the slog
Massive worldbuilding. Tight pacing. The preview moves from quiet village to catastrophic assault in two chapters, with no filler. For readers who want WoT's scale and Rothfuss's density but none of the 800-page narrative stalling.
Prose that makes you pause
Written in a cinematic, emotionally resonant style, the kind of prose where you re-read sentences not because you missed something, but because you wanted to feel it again.
A series you can trust to finish
No abandoned storylines. No decade-long waits. In a market still mourning The Doors of Stone, a debut author with a clear completion plan is a genuine promise.
Morally complex, but not nihilistic
Power in this world changes the wielder, and the characters feel every consequence. For readers who want moral complexity without despair, stakes without invincibility.
Is This Your Book?
The Breath of Ash & Flame is for you if…
You'll love this if you…
- Cried over Kaladin and Bridge Four, or Kvothe's time at the University
- Want a magic system you can theorise about, not just watch
- Love coming-of-age arcs where the protagonist earns every victory
- Read WoT, Stormlight, or Kingkiller and immediately hunted for the next one
- Track your reading on Goodreads and finish 20+ books a year
- Want cinematic action AND prose that makes you pause mid-sentence
Maybe not for you if you…
- Want a standalone — this is Book 1 of an ongoing series
- Prefer pure grimdark with no hope or found-family warmth
- Need a short, fast read — this is a doorstop fantasy world
- Skip prologues and world guides — this preview rewards curiosity
Early Readers
What they're saying
“The opening line alone gave me chills. This is fantasy writing at its finest - mythic, profound, and utterly compelling. I'm already desperate to read more.”
“The breath-based magic system is unlike anything I've read before. It's both deeply personal and cosmically significant. Brilliant world-building, the kind I want to map.”
“I read Chapter 2 twice in a row because I couldn't believe the pacing. It moves like a film. When Seriah raised her Weaverstaff I actually got up from my chair.”
Free Download
Chapter 2 ends on a cliffhanger. Just saying.
Your next obsession starts here.
Download the preview now - three chapters, one world guide, and everything you need to know if this is your next 1,000-page commitment.
World Guide: Entering Shikari
The Weave, elemental orders, and the history that broke the world - explained before you need it.
Prologue + 2 Full Chapters
From the catastrophic Sundering of Flame to the moment smoke rises over Kaelen's village. ~80 pages of story.
PDF & EPUB — your choice
Read on your Kindle, phone, tablet, or print it. Works with every reader app.
Occasional updates only
When Book 1 has a release date, you'll know first. No newsletters, no spam.
The Author
“Power is not claimed.
It is consumed.”
Thalen Runehart is an Australian author of epic fantasy. The Breath of Ash & Flame is the first volume of the Breathwoven Saga. A planned series set in the World of Shikari, where magic is drawn from the Weave: the living architecture of breath, intention, and consequence.
The series is in active development. Readers who download the preview will be the first to know when Book 1 has a release date.
Thalen Runehart
Author — The Breathwoven Saga
Some threads, once pulled,
can never be rewoven.
Download the preview. If Kaelen's story doesn't hook you in the first chapter, you have nothing to lose. If it does — welcome to the Weave.
Download Free — No Strings