The Tears of Amharic — Book One of the Aeloria Series
On this page: About the Book · Read as It’s Written · Chapters · About the Author · Why read The Tears of Amharic as it’s written · A story told the old way · The road ahead for The Tears of Amharic
About the Book
A messenger falls burning from the sky, and a boy who has never left his father’s forest learns that the gods his people have prayed to for two hundred years were something else entirely.
The Tears of Amharic is an epic fantasy with a science-fiction spine, told in a feudal northern kingdom where blood, faith, and honor bind every choice. It follows Bellator, a warrior caught between fury and mercy, after a prince dies in the snow and the King demands justice. Under the steel and the snow, it is about loss, fatherhood, leadership, friendship — and what all of it costs.
Read as It’s Written
The book is being written and published in public, one chapter at a time. New chapters drop every Friday, free on Substack. Read the full archive or subscribe.
Chapters
- Chapter One: Guts — A boy meets a falling god.
- Chapter Two: The Cost (Part 1) — Bellator reckons with what the snow took.
- Chapter Two: The Cost (Part 2) — The King demands justice.
- Chapter Three: The King’s Justice (Part 1) — Power answers a messenger’s fall.
About the Author
Nicholas T. Burnett is the author of The Tears of Amharic, Book One of the Aeloria Series. He is serializing the novel in public, chapter by chapter, as it is written. More about Nicholas →
Subscribe free to get new chapters every Friday.
Why read The Tears of Amharic as it’s written
Reading The Tears of Amharic as it’s written means you never wait for the finished book — because there isn’t one yet, and that’s the point. Each Friday, a new chapter lands the way the story demanded it that week: battles still ringing, losses still raw. You experience the serial the way the author does, one installment at a time, with no backlog to binge and no ending to spoil. The tension is real because the ink is barely dry.
There’s another reward for reading live: the conversation. Theories, questions, and reactions flow between chapters, and the story grows sharper with readers looking over the author’s shoulder. Start with Chapter One — a single evening catches you up — and from then on, every Friday brings the next part of the journey. The Tears of Amharic isn’t just a book you read; it’s a story you witness.
A story told the old way
Long before books were bound, stories were told around fires — one telling at a time, with the audience breathing along. The Tears of Amharic returns to that rhythm. It’s epic fantasy with a science-fiction spine, in the current of Red Rising and The Last Kingdom: rebellion at full speed, shield-walls and oaths, and the terrible cost of loyalty. Gods that were never gods. A warrior torn between fury and mercy.
But the oldest stories were also communal, and so is this one. Publishing The Tears of Amharic in public means the tale stays alive between Fridays — discussed, debated, and anticipated. You’re not catching up on a finished saga; you’re part of the first audience, hearing it as it’s told. That’s how myths were made.
The road ahead for The Tears of Amharic
The Tears of Amharic is Book One of the Aeloria Series, and the road ahead is long. New chapters arrive every Friday, free to read, building toward a saga of gods, warriors, and a boy from the forest walking into a war bigger than his world. The best way to follow it is to subscribe free — each chapter delivered the moment it’s written.
Want the wider picture? Start at the homepage for the quick tour, read more about Nicholas and the road to Aeloria, or get in touch if the story moves you. The book isn’t finished yet. That’s the whole point — and you’re invited to watch it happen.