Ashes of the Sun (Django Wexler)

Ashes of the Sun
The Burningblade and Silvereye series, Book 1
Django Wexler
Orbit
Fiction, Fantasy
**** (Good)

DESCRIPTION: The war between the Chosen and the ghouls ended centuries ago in mutual destruction, but the remnants linger still, in scattered wreckage and peculiar artifacts and monstrous plaguespawn. In the Dawn Republic, the Twilight Order of centarchs carefully controls the use of old war arcana, in addition to hunting down the cultists who dabble in forbidden ghoul powers, the dhakim. Their protection has come to seem more like a cage to many, following and interpreting rules passed down from long-dead Chosen masters who are clearly never coming back... rules that enable tyrants and monsters to rise and keep many people crushed beneath their heels.
Gyre was just a boy when the Order came to steal away his sickly kid sister Maya. When he stood up to the centarch, he lost an eye to the man's casual cruelty, the start of a deep hatred for the Order and the corrupt Republic it props up. As he grows to become a minor legend among the downtrodden and the rebellious, Maya grows up hearing the other side of the story, seeing the horrors of the dhakim firsthand in her training. On the cusp of becoming a full-fledged centarch, though, everything starts to go wrong. She is drug into a power struggle and sent away from her master, part of an expedition to a distant city where a one-eyed rebel and his band are making trouble for the ruling dux.
Once brother and sister, now enemies, neither Gyre nor Maya understand the full scope of the dangers that lie ahead, not just for themselves but for their entire world.

REVIEW: I've had decent luck with Wexler in the past, and this looked like an intriguing start to an epic fantasy series. That is pretty much what it turns out to be. The world of the Dawn Republic and Splinter Kingdoms is a little different from the average high fantasy setting, with artifacts both magical and technological left behind by a cataclysmic war that ended two highly advanced races... but not that different, really. Likewise, Maya and Gyre and their allies and enemies are decent enough, but not exceptionally complex or remarkably original. The whole has a vaguely anime vibe to it, or maybe a video game; giant birds and lizards and turtles are beasts of burden, many humans have improbably-colored hair and eyes as a matter of course, and something about the way the fight scenes and powers and weapons play out feel like they were meant to be animated (or pixelated). The tale itself is entertaining, with plenty of action and magic and danger and fighting, some intrigue, and nicely-described settings and flourishes, the sort one expects from epic fantasy. It's fun to read, with a reasonably solid plot, but not as original or gripping as perhaps I was set up to believe, based on the cover hype. That doesn't make it bad, and I expect I will eventually track down the second volume when it's available. I will admit, though, that I expected just a little bit more from it.

You Might Also Enjoy:
The Armored Saint (Myke Cole) - My Review
Revenger (Alistair Reynolds) - My Review
Mistborn: The Final Empire (Brandon Sanderson) - My Review