Book Review of Ashes of the Sun by Django Wexler

Name of Book: Ashes of the Sun 

Author: Django Wexler

ISBN: 978-0-316-51954-0

Publisher: Orbit 

Part of a Series: Burningblade & Silvereye (Blood of the Chosen and Emperor of Ruin are sequels) 

Type of book: Fantasy mixed with science fiction, magic, hidden cities, survival, under mountain, powers, secrets, adventures, politics, betrayal, LGBtQIA+ relationships 

Year it was published: 2020 

Summary:

Long ago, a magical war destroyed an empire, and a new one was built in its ashes. But still the old grudges simmer, and two siblings will fight on opposite sides to save their world, in the start of Django Wexler’s new epic fantasy trilogy

Gyre hasn't seen his beloved sister since their parents sold her to the mysterious Twilight Order. Now, twelve years after her disappearance, Gyre's sole focus is revenge, and he's willing to risk anything and anyone to claim enough power to destroy the Order.

Chasing rumors of a fabled city protecting a powerful artifact, Gyre comes face-to-face with his lost sister. But she isn't who she once was. Trained to be a warrior, Maya wields magic for the Twilight Order's cause. Standing on opposite sides of a looming civil war, the two siblings will learn that not even the ties of blood will keep them from splitting the world in two.

Characters:

 Main characters include Gyre and Maya, siblings of farmers. Gyre is the protective older brother who has lost his sister and eye in one afternoon and who grew angry and disenchanted with the Order that stole his sisters away. He is very determined, willing and a big risk taker as well as loyal. All Maya has ever known is the Order and her beloved mentor Jaedia who focused more on outside rather than internal politics. Maya also possesses a rare fire gift. She is curious, questioning and always stands up for the underdog. Kit is a secondary character who is impulsive and takes extremely big risks in living and loving. She also doesn't seem to realize the meaning of the word patience. At the same time she struggles against time and in first book she is Gyre's love interest. Beq is a woman who has very little experience with other people and who is very intelligent and will do whatever she can for those she cares about. She's is Maya's love interest. There are numerous other characters such as another magic fighter that Maya can't stand versus the scout who brings bad luck and other characters as well. 

Theme:

Nothing is as it seems

Plot:

The story is in third person narrative from Gyre and Maya's points of view, and it begins early in childhood when we meet them as children and learn about the fateful day when Maya gets taken away from her family. The author is definitely a master with plotting, letting the readers get to know the characters and the world as well as including plenty of action scenes. So yes, a wonderful blend of characters stories, the world and action scenes without sacrificing quality. This definitely surprised me of how much I enjoyed it and loved turning its pages. My favorite part of the novel are definitely the characters I have met from Maya to Gyre to Kit to Beq and so forth.

Author Information:
(From goodreads)

Django Wexler graduated from Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh with degrees in creative writing and computer science, and worked for the university in artificial intelligence research. Eventually he migrated to Microsoft in Seattle, where he now lives with two cats and a teetering mountain of books. When not planning Shadow Campaigns, he wrangles computers, paints tiny soldiers, and plays games of all sorts.

Opinion:

I am revising my opinion: the reader definitely does need to read the first two books before reading the third one, EMPEROR OF RUIN. In my case, I read the third book first and then went back to the first. Even if one read either second or third first, its definitely worthwhile to go back to the first one because its in this book that one gets attached to the world and characters that the author creates, which is what happened to me, and its in here that numerous things made sense and how it tied up to next two books. So yes, I highly enjoyed this one from start to finish and I loved going back to the world and learning more about our protagonists. 

This was given for review

4 out of 5
(0: Stay away unless a masochist 1: Good for insomnia 2: Horrible but readable; 3: Readable and quickly forgettable, 4: Good, enjoyable 5: Buy it, keep it and never let it go.)