Ashes of the Sun

Ashes of the Sun follows a brother and sister set on very different courses in a world still recovering from a titanic war fought four hundred years prior. What we have here is some wonderful character-driven storytelling with solid pacing in a brilliantly fleshed-out and original fantasy world. The only thing extra that I would have liked to have seen was a little bit more of the Epic in epic fantasy, but that is just me nitpicking. This was a great book all around and a joy to listen to.

Firstly, the two main characters: Gyre and Maya. Separated in childhood, these two are thrown down completely opposing paths; Maya being sent to train as an elite warrior of the Twilight Order who maintain what is left of civilisation across the Republic while Gyre falls into a life of crime, hardship, and misadventure as he seeks vengeance against said Order for stealing his sister. One sibling working to maintain the status quo while the other seeks to shatter it, and what we get here isn’t just a simple good verses evil. No, no, no. Both sides have their good points and their bad, and we as the audience are thrown into this amazing world painted in shades of grey, rooting for both siblings but knowing that their aims will inevitably bring them into conflict. I am a fan of some of Wexler’s previous works, and I have to say that this new series does not disappoint. He nails the character motivations perfectly, allowing total believability in Maya excusing some of the underhanded nature within the Order while having Gyre completely justified as he slaughters anyone wearing Republic colours for being mere tools of people’s oppression. It is a great balance that Wexler not only finds but manages to hold for the entire book. Solid storytelling.

The universe within which this series is set is also fantastic, with Wexler managing to flesh it out in enough detail to keep you sated but not so much as to weigh the whole story down by constant exposition dumps. I know that the concept of a prior, high civilization collapsing is a trope that has been done to death (I know because I’ve even done it in my own novel series), but here he doesn’t just rehash the same old ideas. Humanity has been left to scramble through the ashes of the Chosen’s fallen society and try to piece together any of the technological marvels that they can find in the hopes of attaining some of their Chosen’s former glory or the Ghoul’s alien powers. We get a lot of explanations as to how some things work while others are left mysterious because the people alive at that time still don’t really understand how they all work. I am gagging for a flashback in future books to see the Chosen and the Ghouls going at each other full tilt with some of the technology we only get glimpses of. That is the large scale ‘epicness’ that I felt was tantalisingly missing from this book, with we listeners being given glimpses of the stupefying awesomeness that we could be seeing but instead having to settle for merely the incredible. I know I shouldn’t complain. What we still get is spectacular, but I’m a harsh reviewer and so I am going pull out any of the few fleetingly small issues I had with the book.

The rest of the characters populating the world are brilliant. Fallible, believable, and utterly entertaining to watch as they help or hinder Maya and Gyre on their respective quests. Kit in particular (I assume that’s how you spell her name, me being an audio listener and all) is utterly fantastic. I’m sure that a great deal of her brilliance comes down to Imogen Church’s narration, but by halfway through the book, Kit became one of my favourite fantasy characters ever. She’s the epitome of impulsive, her dialogue is some of the most enjoyable I’ve come across in a long time, and you never quite know where you stand with her. Truly, an amazing character. As for the story itself, the pacing is a constant drum-beat that keeps you glued to the narrative, and the content is as unpredictable as it is entertaining. That is one thing that really gets a high score from me. So many times you think you can call the way a story is going to go from the get-go, but not here. There are so many perfectly written twists, turns, and gut-punches that I gave up trying to figure out what was going to happen and just strapped myself in for the amazing ride this story was.

All in all, this was a great book and a fantastic opening to the series. I’ve already downloaded Book 2 and have shoved it to the top of my list. Ashes of the Sun was missing that extra, super-duper something special to earn it one of my very hard to attain five-star ratings, but this is about as close as you can get to it. This book tells a great story without ever being boring and in a way that leaves you gasping for more. Another great job by Wexler.

As for narration… wow. Just… wow. In the space of a single book, Imogen Church may have become my favourite female audiobook narrator. This woman has a range like few I have ever come across and an ability to pump extreme emotion or delicate nuance into each and every character exactly when required. I have never listened to any of her narration before, but I sure as hell am going to now. I was blown away.

Score: 4.75 stars

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