OFFICIAL AUTHOR BIO: Django Wexler is the author of flintlock fantasy series The Shadow Campaigns, middle grade fantasy The Forbidden Library, and YA fantasy The Wells of Sorcery.  His latest is epic fantasy Blood of the Chosen.  In his former life as a software engineer, he worked on AI research and programming languages.  He currently lives near Seattle with his wife, daughter, four cats, and a teetering mountain of books.  When not writing, he wrangles computers, paints tiny soldiers, and plays games of all sorts.

FORMAT/INFO: Emperor of Ruin was published by Orbit Books on February 28th, 2023. It is 460 pages split over 24 chapters and an epilogue. It is told in third person from Maya and Gyre's point of view. It is available in ebook and paperback formats.

OVERVIEW/ANALYSIS: The return of a Chosen was supposed to herald an era of peace for the Republic, but Maya and Gyre have realized it may signal the end of humanity. Faced with an enemy able to create deadly variations of Plaguespawn, the two siblings have one last hope to defeat him. Their allies have unearthed clues of a lost weapon that may turn the tide in the coming war, but they'll have to retrieve it before their resistance is crushed once and for all.

Emperor of Ruin is a pitch perfect finale to the trilogy, one that delivers on action and unravels mysteries in a way that is supremely satisfying. There's no rushed explanation of backstory here; instead, the author finds a way to weave in some fairly detailed scenes of the final days of the Chosen to show what went wrong and how the world humanity has been living in the last four hundred years came to be. I really appreciated this tactic, especially as the reveals show some long planted story seeds finally paying off.

One thing I have loved over and over about this series is how much it just screams ADVENTURE. It's full of ruins, (laser) sword fights, daring rescues and all of the things that just make it a great ride from start to finish. While this series wears its Star Wars inspiration on its sleeve, I also get a similar feeling to Indiana Jones, with events jumping from one escapade to the next, all in a race to beat the bad guys to the punch.

Along the way, the story makes great use of its growing cast of characters, continuing to make me fall for everyone from daredevil Kit to bookish Beq. I don't know if I would quite classify it as a "found family" story, but both Gyre and Maya have picked up a considerable troupe of allies over the series, and it was great fun seeing everybody get to contribute in this final battle. Oh, and did I mention it's a queernorm world too?

CONCLUSION: Burningblade & Silverye has been a fantastic series from start to finish, never missing a beat. Emperor of Ruin is a finale that delivers, and a worthy ending to this journey. If you like fantasy adventure with a healthy splash of sci-fi elements, a great group of characters, and delving into the ruins of a not-so-ancient civilization, you need to pick up Ashes of the Sun and start this series today.