Ashes of the Sun

By: Django Wexler

Narrated by: Imogen Church

Length: 21 hrs and 24 mins

Publisher's Summary

"Ashes of the Sun is fantasy at its finest" (Nicholas Eames, author of Kings of the Wyld)

Long ago, a magical war destroyed an empire, and a new one was built in its ashes. But still the old grudges simmer, and two siblings will fight on opposite sides to save their world in the start of Django Wexler's new epic fantasy trilogy.

Gyre hasn't seen his beloved sister since their parents sold her to the mysterious Twilight Order. Now, 12 years after her disappearance, Gyre's sole focus is revenge, and he's willing to risk anything and anyone to claim enough power to destroy the Order.

Chasing rumors of a fabled city protecting a powerful artifact, Gyre comes face-to-face with his lost sister. But she isn't who she once was. Trained to be a warrior, Maya wields magic for the Twilight Order's cause. Standing on opposite sides of a looming civil war, the two siblings will learn that not even the ties of blood will keep them from splitting the world in two.

©2020 Django Wexler (P)2020 Hachette Audio

Critic Reviews

"Django Wexler writes with a range and breadth seldom seen in fantasy. He pushes the envelope of what the genre can do, and readers are lucky for it." (Myke Cole, author of The Sixteenth Watch)

"Gorgeous writing, powerfully-drawn characters, and an exciting storyline!" (K.D. Edwards, author of The Last Sun and The Hanged Man)

"This is a book whose characters and world will stay with you well after the last page. Do yourself a favor and read it. Now." (Douglas Hulick, author of Among Thieves and Sworn in Steel)

Juvenile writing, childish performance.

I barely made a couple of chapters before I just couldn’t take the cartoonish writing style, more like listening to a comic book. The dialog is so awful it sounds like it was written for a six year old but of course it wasn’t. Also the narrator uses really bad kiddie dramatic voices. She would be great reading grade school level books for kids but this is way below even young adult level.

Skip it

Couldn’t get past the narrator ,made me feel like she was ready a children’s bedtime story.

Ignore the few narrator complaints. She Rocks

I’m a Django Wexler fan, so his storytelling gets fives from me. That said, I couldn’t let those haters about the narrator go unanswered. Those complaining about her narrating “childishly “ obviously didn’t read ( ok, listen) past the first chapter ….which was about the two main characters when they were, wait for it…children.
Imogen Church is fantastic, whether she’s speaking as a child or an adult. Her talent paired with Mr Wexler’s equals excellence.

Good story, offputting voice acting

Django Wexler has tells stories with compelling, gripping storylines and well built characters. I totally enjoyed Thousand Names and other books in Shadow Campaigns series, also Wells of Sorcery. This series also look promising.

Voice acting for this book however, is annoying, over-stretched and while characters are obviously different in mind and sound when reading, Imogen Church manages to make them sound exactly same in similar situations, absolutely breaking characters persona and makes everyone sound like TV commercials selling you unnecessary things from TV-shop.
Why in hell should absolutely every character express surprise by drawling out “Reaaaaalllyy?” or excitement “I will be excaaaaiiiiteeeed!!”? So damn annoying and mostly because it kills beautifully built character personalities..

Will finish books of course, but more than likely only on reading mode than audiobook..

Great start to an exciting new world

Wexler does not disappoint in the opening of a new trilogy. Any fan of his previous works will certainly enjoy this new endeavor. Crisp plot lends itself in establishing the new world that is being built around the two main POV characters. Looking forward to the next entry after a very satisfying opening.

Brilliant narration

The narrator really brings the characters to life. Her expressiveness adds emotion and sets a tone for literally every scene. The story is interesting and fresh, though pretty grim.

Great Audiobook!

The story is a fun mix of magic/technology with pretty interesting characters. There's a lot of discovery of the true nature of the world that the reader gets to take part in alongside the characters, which I found to be my favorite part. The pacing keeps things exciting, and I think it's perfect for audiobook formatting.

I saw some people complaining about the narrator, but I strongly disagree. She plays it more like an audioplay than a traditional audiobook, but I loved it. It helped distinguish the characters more, and made it easier to follow along as I was doing other things while listening. Personally I prefer this style of narration to the typical deep-voiced British guy who really only has a couple voices and reads every scene with the same tempo. This narrator contributed a lot to the narrative, action scenes are told in clipped, frenetic ways while sentimental scenes are told slowly and with reverence. It all drew me into the story more.

Totally enjoyable ride!

I listened to this book in 3 days- something of a record for me and my busy life!

The plot captivated me and the narrator added immensely to the experience. I don't understand why some reviewers claimed the narrator was "juvenile" etc; we obviously have very different tastes.

Characterization was outstanding. Fully rounded and believable characters throughout
I will be anxiously awaiting the second book (please let there be a second book!) inthis series.

Excell my voice actress

Good story, some very interesting world building, nice pace and action. The voice performer warrants high praise - excellent characterization, exemplary interpretation of the text. I look forward to the next novel both for the story and for the performer.

So good

This book is like so many and yet unlike anything I have ever read. My mind and heart was captured