Ash, The - Stained Crown

This audiobook is narrated by a digital voice. They call him the Sun-Slayer, the legendary hero who ended the long night by butchering a god-in-waiting. But for Caelum Dravenscar, victory tastes like ash and sounds like a deafening, soul-crushing silence. Five years into a fragile peace, the man behind the myth is a ghost drowning in cheap ale-until the kingdom he saved starts rotting from the head down. Summoned back to the viper’s nest of Aethelgard, Caelum is no longer a weapon of war, but a pawn in a lethal game of perception. His opponent is not a screaming monster, but Duke Isolden Rathmore, a chillingly pragmatic mastermind who conquers hearts with grain and "necessary measures" rather than blades. Alongside the disgraced spymaster Wisteria Stormveil, Caelum must navigate a court where a hero’s reputation is a resource to be squandered and trauma is an indulgence the realm can no longer afford. In a world where the choice lies between a fractured monarchy and a velvet-gloved tyrant, the Sun-Slayer must perform his final, most impossible task: reforge the shattered sun-not by drawing his sword, but by finally having the courage to lay it down. Perfect for fans of: A Practical Guide to Evil, Lord of the Mysteries, and Shadow Slave.