Ashes of the Sun - Django Wexler

Ashes of the Sun is the start of a new fantasy series from Django Wexler, whose Shadow Campaigns series I’ve gushed about repeatedly in the past.This is a new series, in a new world, and, just to get it out of the way, it’s really rather good.

One of the reasons that’s the case is the world, and the history that weaves its way through the background of the more immediate narrative. Because our eyes are focused on a society built on the ruins of magic. Humanity lives in walled cities and agrarian communes, but those population centres are built on the broken bones of someone else’s shattered empire. That empire was filled with magic and high technology, with craft that flew through the sky, and hand weapons that can fire quickly and melt stone. Humanity scavenges over the remains, often unable to differentiate trash and treasure. Sometimes both of those things explode messily. Sometimes they end up being exactly what you need to get rich and retire. Magic is, mostly, a half-understood remnant of power pulled from someone else's corpse. That doesn’t apply to everyone, though. There are the elites. Those who were handed power directly from the survivors of the conflict that shattered high civilisation, before those mysterious beings disappeared. Their heirs took power as a right, and as necessity, keeping back the swarms of biological monstrosities that remained in the post-conflict gloom. Centuries later, those with the ability to use this legacy are found, empowered, and trained to serve and protect the people around them, and to hunt down any possibly dangerous piece of techno-wizardry. Given that service comes with both supernatural power and essentially unlimited legal authority, and that the only challenge to that authority is dangerous pieces of techno-wizardry, that’s going about as well as you’d expect. There are simmerings of rebellion in out of the way places. Rumours of guardians misusing their power for their own aggrandisement, of corruption and abuse of power. The world is, basically, not in a great state, and as we can see, it didn’t start in the best place either. But in terms of depth, of detail,of scope of imagination, this world is marvellous.

Maya and Gyre are our protagonists, siblings on different sides of a simmering war. Maya was taken by the magical elites as a child, her potential honed, her skills sharpened, her sense of purpose shaped to the mission of keeping humanity safe. Maya is, basically, a heroine. She believes in her mission, she believes in the basic worth of people, and she’s committed to fighting off the various ghouls, biological horrors and more human monsters that plague the world. It’s refreshing to see someone with this level of virtue front and centre in the story. That isn’t to say that Maya is uncomplicated - she struggles with her own sense of inadequacy, and trying to twin her values with the pragmatism of someone required in the field. And her greatest failing is, perhaps, her inability to map her own personal virtues against the systemic oppression, corruption and broadly problematic stances of the organization in which she as raised. The exploration of same, incidentally, is a wonderful arc in her growth, and also something it was a pleasure to explore as a reader. But still, she shines, a champion for a different age, unfortunately cast into this one. Watching her find  her feet and start figuring out who she is was an interesting and emotionally affecting journey.

In contrast to Maya, her brother is...well, I’ll call it morally flexible. Gyre has one goal - the overthrow of the system which took his sister from him. In service to that goal he’ll do pretty much anything, pair up with pretty much anyone. He has friends, and colleagues, and they have ideals and want to serve up revolution and compromise. But Gyre, Gyre is ready to tear down the system, whatever the cost, and doesn’t really care what happens next. He’s ambitious, fights like a demon, and has a core of charisma which comes off the page and grabs you. Gyre is perhaps less individually “good” than Maya, but may serve a more sympathetic cause - though, like her, he could stand to examine the ideals he’s in service of a little more closely. Still, as a contrasting (and conflicting) duo, they’re a joy to follow on the page. They live, laugh and love as people do, and feel their woes and tragedies just as strongly. In short, we can empathise and sympathise with them both, even as they struggle with their internal problems and, well, each other.

In this they’re helped by an absolutely top notch supporting cast, from archivists to revolutionaries, smart-arsed scouts to mildly-insane scavengers, and, indeed, monsters of all varieties. Though not centre stage, they provide colour and texture, romance and heartbreak in equal measure, and always manage to make the reader, well, feel.

The story I shan’t spoil for you, but it’s a firecracker. There are magical duels, with more than a little stabbing. Horrifying villains who’ll make your skin crawl, and antagonists whose very plausibility makes them rather disturbing. There’s petty vendetta’s and world-scouring vengeance. There’s the quiet warmth of friendship, and the searing joys of romance. There’s love and death and blood and grief. There’s techno-mage archaeology, and chases which, somehow, managed not to feature giant boulders rolling after you, but felt like they could. This is a complicated, human world, with characters you’ll care about, and a story which I, for one, couldn’t put down. Go pick it up!