Book Review of Emperor of Ruin by Django Wexler

 

Name of Book: Emperor of Ruin

Author: Django Wexler

ISBN: 9780316519663

Publisher: Orbit 

Part of a Series: Burningblade and Silvereye ( Ashes of the sun, blood of the chosen prequels) 

Type of book: post-apocalypse, fantasy, science fiction, power, gift, genetics vs environment, limits, secrets, legends, myths 

Year it was published: 2023 

Summary:

Two siblings divided by magic and revolution must finally join forces and rally the people to take down the Twilight Order once and for all in the final book of this brilliantly imagined epic fantasy trilogy.

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The last surviving Chosen, Ashok has finally risen up and taken control of The Twilight Order. He promises equality and prosperity, but Gyre and Maya know the truth. Only death follows in Ashok's wake. To take him down, Gyre will have to unite old allies from all across The Splinter Kingdoms and the depths of Deepfire. And Maya will have to seek out a legendary weapon hidden in the mountains that could turn the tide in their battle for freedom. 

Burningblade & Silvereye 

Ashes of the Sun

Blood of the Chosen

Emperor of Ruin

Characters:

Main characters include Gyre and Maya, siblings who uphold the opposite world views on their world. Gyre is best described as a risk taker and the daredevil who starts revolutions. He isn't gifted with power like Maya but at the same time he can best be described as analytical when need arises, determined and is definitely the glue that holds their group together. Maya is powerful, a natural born leader in my opinion, and someone who hates limitations. She thinks things through and is loyal and committed to people or groups. There are secondary characters such as Kit whose brain gets transplanted into a special mechanism and who has no filter as well as Beq who is Mayas lover and is very intelligent and creative and Ashok who hides darkness within. 

Theme:

Things are not what they seem 

Plot:

The story is in third person narrative from Gyres, Mayas and Zephkiels points of views. While it's not 100 percent necessary  to read  the first two books because I was able to keep up with the action and what was going on thanks to the character list as well as glossary and recap, I would definitely recommend reading the previous novels because I imagine the world will make a lot more sense and will be more enjoyable. Personally for me the pacing and the characters were top notch and well done because the author explains and reveals tidbits of information instead of doing info dumping. The characters themselves were good too, in particular Kit who provided moments of levity as well as many others. 

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:

In a good way, this is an interesting mix of both science fiction and fantasy which kept me turning pages, intrigued by how it will end. Although I started off with the third book in the trilogy, and I did enjoy my journey throughout their mysterious world of post apocalypse and extremely distant future, where humans evolved, I would recommend reading the other two novels because it wasn't as satisfying to act as a stand-alone. However, there is plenty of help in list of characters, recap of second book, and a glossary explaining various terms. Characters were also top notch, and yeah, in some cases it can be a gruesome story. I am curious what the word spoken by Ashok, shadeia means? But yes, a fun and entertaining adventure. 

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.)