You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.92 AVERAGE
3.92 AVERAGE
For more of my reviews, check out my blog.
Thank you to Orbit Books for providing a copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.
It took me longer than I'd like to really sink my teeth into Ashes of the Sun. It might be because it's been a bit since I've read an epic fantasy, or it might be because this book is extremely slow to start. Nothing really happens for the first third of the book -- no real insight into what the plot might be, no huge action, nothing like that. It's primarily world-building, which is fine, considering this is the first book in a trilogy. However, y'gotta give me something. Despite that, I never really considered DNFing this, I just muddled through until it got interesting. The world is what kept me reading -- Ashes of the Sun's setting is wildly unique. Set 400 years after a war, the world is broken, with vast differences in how classes live. The poor live deep underground, barely scraping an existence by, while the rich through extravagant parties without a care in the world. There's magic, science, alchemy, and all sorts of fascinating creatures.
The two main characters -- Gyre and Maya -- are brother and sister. Throughout the book, their plotlines weave in and out from each other, which was a really cool way to piece the story together. I think, overall, I liked Maya's storyline better. Maya is an apprentice of sorts, for the Twilight Order. She's close to gaining her title, at the start of the book, and she's doing everything she can to earn that privilege. She's got a more of a welcoming personality, versus her very grumpy brother who just wants to end the Twilight Order. Their relationship was interesting - I truly can't wait to see where it goes in the next books.
My biggest beef with this book is that it wasn't sure what story it wanted to tell for a long time. It's not until like...halfway through the book that the main plotline actually comes into being. Like I said earlier -- setting up for a trilogy takes a lot of work, but maybe this needed to go back to the drawing board a couple more times to really tighten it up. Maybe I'm the only one who feels this way, who knows. There was a lot of potential here, but a great deal of it went unused. (Though the plaguespawn and the horrors they represented were extremely cool.) You can tell the author is an enormous fan of Star Wars, and that that particular universe was...how shall we say...borrowed from quite frequently. I have nothing against that, as it was used in very cool ways.
The world and everything set up in Ashes of the Sun will definitely have me picking up the sequel, I just hope Blood of the Chosen is a little more well-rounded.
Thank you to Orbit Books for providing a copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.
It took me longer than I'd like to really sink my teeth into Ashes of the Sun. It might be because it's been a bit since I've read an epic fantasy, or it might be because this book is extremely slow to start. Nothing really happens for the first third of the book -- no real insight into what the plot might be, no huge action, nothing like that. It's primarily world-building, which is fine, considering this is the first book in a trilogy. However, y'gotta give me something. Despite that, I never really considered DNFing this, I just muddled through until it got interesting. The world is what kept me reading -- Ashes of the Sun's setting is wildly unique. Set 400 years after a war, the world is broken, with vast differences in how classes live. The poor live deep underground, barely scraping an existence by, while the rich through extravagant parties without a care in the world. There's magic, science, alchemy, and all sorts of fascinating creatures.
The two main characters -- Gyre and Maya -- are brother and sister. Throughout the book, their plotlines weave in and out from each other, which was a really cool way to piece the story together. I think, overall, I liked Maya's storyline better. Maya is an apprentice of sorts, for the Twilight Order. She's close to gaining her title, at the start of the book, and she's doing everything she can to earn that privilege. She's got a more of a welcoming personality, versus her very grumpy brother who just wants to end the Twilight Order. Their relationship was interesting - I truly can't wait to see where it goes in the next books.
My biggest beef with this book is that it wasn't sure what story it wanted to tell for a long time. It's not until like...halfway through the book that the main plotline actually comes into being. Like I said earlier -- setting up for a trilogy takes a lot of work, but maybe this needed to go back to the drawing board a couple more times to really tighten it up. Maybe I'm the only one who feels this way, who knows. There was a lot of potential here, but a great deal of it went unused. (Though the plaguespawn and the horrors they represented were extremely cool.) You can tell the author is an enormous fan of Star Wars, and that that particular universe was...how shall we say...borrowed from quite frequently. I have nothing against that, as it was used in very cool ways.
The world and everything set up in Ashes of the Sun will definitely have me picking up the sequel, I just hope Blood of the Chosen is a little more well-rounded.
I really wanted to like this one, I listened to the audio and I think that might have been why I didn’t enjoy it as much as I could have. The audio sounds really young for an adult book. It has pretty good world building and interesting characters with good development. The plot was intriguing and the pacing was ok. I really just think if I read it physically, I could have rated it higher. I’ll might continue the series but physically.
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Wow. This honestly kind of blew me away. The world building was so robust and compelling. The plot has enough intrigue to make me want to continue reading the series, though there was quite a bit of predictability and convenient/obvious turns of events.
Content Warnings
Minor: Ableism, Alcoholism, Body horror, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Police brutality, Medical content, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
challenging
slow-paced
Epic worldbuilding, siblings divided by empire, and lightsabers on absolute steroids! Basically its Star Wars as high fantasy and I couldn't get enough. I devoured this book. Loved the adventure, the characters, the magic, the setting, the pacing. The constructs were definitely too gory for my taste and reminiscent of other stories (stranger things and the kandra from mistborn come to mind). And, I'm all well and good with a slow build romance, but it did get slightly annoying that Maya was unable to do anything else for more than a page without fawning over Beq. It started to take over her whole character arc and I didn't appreciate that. But also, I love them, so *shrug*
This book is an action-packed dark fantasy with a dash of romance. Slightly more romance than I expected, but it was a nice contrast to the gory deaths and the horrific plaguespawn.
The plot races along with a lot going on, but the focus is only on our two leading siblings so it's not a problem to follow. I liked the whole "siblings on either side of the fight" concept, and I felt that it's easy to empathise with both of them. The settings were great - a city built on the edge of a pit where most of the inhabitants live in tunnels and never see the sun, or a city built next to a massive space ship thing. I liked the different races of ghouls and Chosen etc, and there was a fun mix of technology and magic-type stuff so it felt a bit like a mix of sci-fi and fantasy.
The secondary characters came to life too, and they all had their own drives and emotions. Overall, a really good fantasy novel full of dark and twisted fun.
The plot races along with a lot going on, but the focus is only on our two leading siblings so it's not a problem to follow. I liked the whole "siblings on either side of the fight" concept, and I felt that it's easy to empathise with both of them. The settings were great - a city built on the edge of a pit where most of the inhabitants live in tunnels and never see the sun, or a city built next to a massive space ship thing. I liked the different races of ghouls and Chosen etc, and there was a fun mix of technology and magic-type stuff so it felt a bit like a mix of sci-fi and fantasy.
The secondary characters came to life too, and they all had their own drives and emotions. Overall, a really good fantasy novel full of dark and twisted fun.
I'm still thinking about this which is no bad thing. It's a complex story of a society that has undergone an apocalypse and where things are quite grim now. There are creatures that will try to kill you and magic that is mostly forbidden and a military order who are determined to keep their power and to control what is done.
Into this there are a brother and sister, he is caught up with some of the powers who want change, but have agendas and she is part of the order. She has power she hasn't fully explored and there are agendas that need to be answered.
It's an interesting read and I hope there is hope somewhere and a positive end for a few of the characters and I really want Beq's glasses.
Into this there are a brother and sister, he is caught up with some of the powers who want change, but have agendas and she is part of the order. She has power she hasn't fully explored and there are agendas that need to be answered.
It's an interesting read and I hope there is hope somewhere and a positive end for a few of the characters and I really want Beq's glasses.
adventurous
dark
emotional
medium-paced