Book Review of Blood of the Chosen by Django Wexler

Name of Book: Blood of the Chosen

Author: Django Wexler

ISBN: 978-0-316-51962-5

Publisher: Orbit 

Part of a Series: Burningblade and Silvereye 

Type of book: Mix of fantasy and science fiction, politics, Order, magic, disease, the Chosen, sapphic relationships, narratives, hidden secrets, end of the world scenario (dystopia) 

Year it was published: 2021 

Summary:

"Fantasy at its finest."--Nicholas Eames, on Ashes of the Sun  In the second book of Django Wexler's epic fantasy trilogy about two siblings divided by magic and revolution, Gyre must travel across the Splinter Kingdoms to rally the rebels to his side, while his sister Maya uncovers the secrets of a powerful artifact that could change everything.

 

Gyre finally sees a way to overthrow the all-powerful Twilight Order. But he'll have to gain the alliance of both the ghouls and the human rebels to the south in order to even stand have a chance. And uniting them won't be so simple.

His sister Maya is still a soldier of the Order. But after clashing with her brother, she isn't so certain where her loyalties lie. Chasing the origins of a mysterious artifact to a long-lost library, she just might find the answers she's looking for.

 

Burning Blade & Silver Eye

Ashes of the Sun

Blood of the Chosen

Characters:

Main characters include Maya and Gyre, siblings and children of local farmers. Maya was born with high degree of magic and was at risk of constant illness until at five she gets taken in by the Order and there she lives until the events of Book One. She is definitely a character of contradictions because at one point she is open to listening to Gyre's point of view and she isn't like a typical Order character, but at the same time she wants to convince Gyre that he's wrong and she's right. She's very action oriented and for me, I wouldn't describe her as highly intellectual. She does question the right and wrong, but she isn't the type know the mechanical machines or whatnot. Gyre is Maya's older brother and has lost his eye when he was trying to prevent Maya from being taken. He is a talented fighter and is willing to sacrifice anything and everything to get to his goals. At the same time he is cunning and very loyal to his friends. He also has high ambitions but is beginning to rethink the means to achieve them. The secondary characters are also highly wonderful written; Beq, an intellectual who is Maya's lover as well as Kit, Gyre's former lover who controls machines and so forth. 

Theme:

What is the meaning of story

Plot:

The story is in third person narrative, from Maya's and Gyre's points of views, each chapter letting the reader know who is speaking. This is a lot like previous book, but its highly enjoyable as well as readable and relatable. The book also shows off more of the world that the siblings inhabit; showing the readers both limits and possibilities of Maya's and Gyre's dreams. Yes reading the previous novel is a must because while summary in beginning gives the events, there is quite a lot that isn't being told, and yes a whole lot will be revealed in the third book. 

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 definitely kicking myself that I read the third book first mainly because if one reads books out of order, then it won't be possible to carry the enjoyment from one to another. Having said that, I definitely highly enjoyed reading BLOOD OF THE CHOSEN because its definitely a worthy sequel to ASHES OF THE SUN. Its action packed, focuses a lot on politics and characters as well as various relationships between them and I couldn't help but continue to turn the pages, feeling sadness as I was about to finish the novel. It kind of answered a lot of questions I developed from reading books one and three, and honest to gods, I wish I could have saved the third book for last instead of reading it first. (Lesson learned) 

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.)