Django Wexler Books in Order
This page shows Django Wexler books in order, with short summaries, series guides, reading order, and straightforward advice on where to start.
Last updated: July 12, 2026
As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases (at no extra cost to you).
Django Wexler books in publication order
30 books
Memories of Empire
by Django Wexler
2005
Sold into slavery, Veil survives only because the dangerous mercenary Corvus crosses her path. As demons, sorcerers, and ancient powers close in, several lives are drawn toward one violent struggle over the empire's future.
Shinigami
by Django Wexler
2006
After dying in a car crash, sisters Sylph and Lina awaken in Omega, an afterlife ruled by brutal Archmagi. A magical sword pulls Lina into rebellion, and Sylph soon finds herself fighting for a world she does not understand.
The Penitent Damned
by Django Wexler
2013
Alex is a master thief whose dark magic gives her an edge, right up until she tangles with Duke Orlanko's secret police. This short prequel opens a shadowy corner of the world before The Thousand Names.
The Thousand Names
by Django Wexler
2013
At a remote desert fort, Captain Marcus d'Ivoire and the disguised soldier Winter Ihernglass struggle to hold a broken force together after rebellion erupts. Then the brilliant and unsettling Janus bet Vhalnich arrives, with plans far beyond the battlefield.
Freelance Debugger
by Django Wexler
2014
John Golden makes his living by entering computer systems and clearing out the fairies, gremlins, and magical pests inside. A job for a powerful security company turns into a much bigger problem, with real stakes beyond his paycheck.
The Forbidden Library
by Django Wexler
2014
After her father's shipwreck, Alice is sent to live with the mysterious Uncle Geryon and told to stay out of his library. A talking cat and a dangerous book make that rule impossible, and soon Alice is inside the story itself.
The Heroes of Mazaroth
by Django Wexler
2014
When John Golden dives into a company system to extract a fairy, he finds a portal to a fantasy realm instead. Suddenly he is cast as the Dark Lord, and unless he can rewrite the story, he may be stuck as the final boss.
The Shadow Throne
by Django Wexler
2014
As the king dies, Raesinia Orboan is set to become the first queen regnant in centuries, and Duke Orlanko plans to control her. With Janus, Marcus, and Winter, she tries to break his grip before Vordan collapses into chaos.
The First Kill
by Django Wexler
2015
This Shadow Campaigns short follows the first meeting between Sothe and Andreas. It is a compact origin story, full of tension and the hard choices that shape both men.
The Mad Apprentice
by Django Wexler
2015
Sent to capture a rogue apprentice who can Read his way into stories, Alice expects danger. She does not expect Torment, the creature holding that library together, to be mad, or that the trail may lead toward her father.
The Price of Valor
by Django Wexler
2015
With the king dead, Vordan teeters between revolution and tyranny while Queen Raesinia fights for real power. Janus offers victory abroad, but dark priests and hidden enemies are already moving inside the war.
The Shadow of Elysium
by Django Wexler
2015
Abraham is dragged north to serve the Priests of the Black after they discover the demon power he has hidden all his life. On the road to Elysium, he and fellow captive Alex wonder if their curse can become a weapon.
The Guns of Empire
by Django Wexler
2016
Peace talks offer Vordan a pause, but Janus knows the Sworn Church is not finished. Caught between queen and general, Marcus and Winter must choose their loyalties while something dark rises in Elysium.
The Palace of Glass
by Django Wexler
2016
Alice finally understands more of Uncle Geryon's part in her father's disappearance, but using that knowledge starts a new crisis. With rival apprentices closing in on the library, she has to decide whom she can trust.
The Fall of the Readers
by Django Wexler
2017
Alice's war with the Old Readers becomes desperate as their power closes in on everyone she promised to protect. To win, she and her friends must seek a dangerous last answer hidden deep in the worlds behind books.
The Infernal Battalion
by Django Wexler
2018
The Beast is loose, spreading through the north and twisting Janus bet Vhalnich into something terrifying. As Vordan fractures between queen and emperor, Marcus, Winter, and Raesinia face war, betrayal, and demonic ruin.
Ship of Smoke and Steel
by Django Wexler
2019
Ward boss Isoka is blackmailed into stealing the legendary ghost ship Soliton after the empire discovers her combat magic. If she fails, her sister dies, and the ship is full of dangers no one has ever returned from.
Ashes of the Sun
by Django Wexler
2020
Twelve years after the Twilight Order took his sister, Gyre lives for revenge. When he finds Maya alive and fighting for the Order, their reunion turns a personal feud into the fault line of a coming war.
City of Stone and Silence
by Django Wexler
2020
Isoka and the crew of Soliton reach the Harbor, a ghostly city of ziggurats, living corpses, and dangerous secrets. Back in Kahnzoka, Tori risks her own forbidden magic to find her missing sister and protect hunted mage-bloods.
Sundered Bond
by Django Wexler
2020
Lukka is a proud soldier of Drannith until a forbidden bond with a monster turns him into prey. Fleeing across Ikoria's wilds, he must master his strange new power before vengeance remakes him.
Blood of the Chosen
by Django Wexler
2021
Gyre sees a path to toppling the Twilight Order, but winning rebel allies is harder than surviving the fight. Meanwhile Maya follows a mysterious artifact toward a long-lost library and uncomfortable truths about her loyalties.
Hard Reboot
by Django Wexler
2021
Kas is a junior researcher on old Earth when a con artist pulls her into illegal robot arena betting with university money on the line. To survive, she has to navigate dirty politics, mech fights, and a mess that keeps getting bigger.
Netherwings
by Django Wexler
2021
Kay and her best friend Will are recruited by a talking fox to train as Netherjacks, protectors of many worlds. At the academy, Kay is left in Will's shadow and has to decide whether she is ready to become a hero in her own right.
Siege of Rage and Ruin
by Django Wexler
2021
Isoka brings the ghost ship Soliton home hoping to trade it for her sister's life, only to find her city under siege and Tori leading a rebellion. Their reunion turns personal wounds into a last, furious fight for freedom.
Emperor of Ruin
by Django Wexler
2023
Ashok has seized the Twilight Order, and Gyre and Maya finally have to fight on the same side. To stop him, Gyre must gather old allies while Maya hunts a legendary weapon that could decide the war.
How to Become the Dark Lord and Die Trying
by Django Wexler
2024
Davi has failed to defeat the Dark Lord over and over, trapped in a vicious time loop. So she tries a new plan, stop playing hero, take the Dark Lord's side, and see if evil is the only route out.
Last Stop
by Django Wexler
2024
Exiled pilot Zham serves aboard his sister Quedra's mercenary airship, skirting pirates and debt while living on the edge of the world. A mission to find a lost expedition beneath the Layer could save them or finish them.
Memory's Wake
by Django Wexler
2024
Axia escapes a murder attempt only to be swept into Wildspace by pirates who say she resembles the vanished captain Blacktongue. To survive Shatterspace and a deadly treasure hunt, she has to step into a legend built on blood.
Everybody Wants to Rule the World Except Me
by Django Wexler
2025
Davi finally saved the kingdom by becoming the Dark Lord, which has created a whole new set of problems. With armies, treason, and the truth behind her time loop closing in, even victory looks dangerous.
The Only Way Out Is Up
by Django Wexler
2026
Taj scrapes out a living in a junkheap with his sharp-tongued robot Star and dreams of winning big in the construct fights. A chance to enter the Ascent could change everything, if it does not kill him first.
Where to start with Django Wexler
If you want flintlock military fantasy: The Thousand Names → The Shadow Throne → The Price of Valor
If you want post-apocalyptic science fantasy: Ashes of the Sun → Blood of the Chosen → Emperor of Ruin
If you want YA adventure and dangerous magic: Ship of Smoke and Steel → City of Stone and Silence → Siege of Rage and Ruin
If you want bookish middle grade fantasy: The Forbidden Library → The Mad Apprentice → The Palace of Glass
If you want dark comedy and time loop chaos: How to Become the Dark Lord and Die Trying → Everybody Wants to Rule the World Except Me
Django Wexler sub-series and character series
- Burningblade & Silvereye books in order
- Dark Lord Davi books in order
- Ikoria: Lair of Behemoths books in order
- John Golden books in order
- Shadow Campaigns books in order
- Spelljammer books in order
- The Diamond Knife books in order
- The Forbidden Library books in order
- The Sigilist books in order
- The Wells of Sorcery books in order
Burningblade & Silvereye books in order
Explore this seriesDark Lord Davi books in order
Explore this seriesIkoria: Lair of Behemoths books in order
Explore this seriesJohn Golden books in order
Explore this seriesShadow Campaigns books in order
Explore this series
The Penitent Damned
by Django Wexler
2013Shadow Campaigns, Book 1
The Thousand Names
by Django Wexler
2013Shadow Campaigns, Book 2
The Shadow Throne
by Django Wexler
2014Shadow Campaigns, Book 3
The Price of Valor
by Django Wexler
2015Shadow Campaigns, Book 5
The Shadow of Elysium
by Django Wexler
2015Shadow Campaigns, Book 4
The Guns of Empire
by Django Wexler
2016Shadow Campaigns, Book 6
The Infernal Battalion
by Django Wexler
2018Shadow Campaigns, Book 7
Shadow Campaigns books in chronological order

The Penitent Damned
by Django Wexler
2013Shadow Campaigns, Book 1
The Thousand Names
by Django Wexler
2013Shadow Campaigns, Book 2
The Shadow Throne
by Django Wexler
2014Shadow Campaigns, Book 3
The Shadow of Elysium
by Django Wexler
2015Shadow Campaigns, Book 4
The Price of Valor
by Django Wexler
2015Shadow Campaigns, Book 5
The Guns of Empire
by Django Wexler
2016Shadow Campaigns, Book 6
The Infernal Battalion
by Django Wexler
2018Shadow Campaigns, Book 7
Spelljammer books in order
Explore this seriesThe Diamond Knife books in order
Explore this seriesThe Forbidden Library books in order
Explore this series
The Forbidden Library
by Django Wexler
2014The Forbidden Library, Book 1
The Mad Apprentice
by Django Wexler
2015The Forbidden Library, Book 2
The Palace of Glass
by Django Wexler
2016The Forbidden Library, Book 3
The Fall of the Readers
by Django Wexler
2017The Forbidden Library, Book 4
The Forbidden Library books in chronological order
The Sigilist books in order
Explore this seriesThe Wells of Sorcery books in order
Explore this seriesDjango Wexler collections, short stories, and related book types
Standalone Django Wexler books
Author bio
Django Wexler was born in San Francisco in 1981 and grew up in Westchester, New York. He later went to Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, where he studied both creative writing and computer science, two interests that still fit together surprisingly well in his fiction.
Before writing full time, he spent years working in tech. He did artificial intelligence research at Carnegie Mellon, later worked on programming languages, and also spent time at Microsoft in Seattle. That background helps explain why so many of his books feel carefully built, with magic systems, political systems, and tactical problems that actually behave like systems.
His path to fiction was not especially neat or glamorous. He has talked about reading widely in fantasy and nonfiction, playing a lot of tabletop games, writing fan fiction, and learning through online critique groups before moving on to original work. You can feel all of that in the books. He likes big worlds, messy choices, and people trying to think their way through trouble.
He did not come to fantasy from a single narrow lane.
His early novels, Memories of Empire and Shinigami, came out from a small press and already showed his taste for large casts, strange magic, and high stakes. The book that brought him to a much wider fantasy audience was The Thousand Names, the opening novel in The Shadow Campaigns. That series mixes muskets, marching armies, political unrest, and hidden sorcery, but its real pull is the people at the center of it.
In books like The Thousand Names, The Shadow Throne, and The Price of Valor, Wexler writes military fantasy with a strong sense of momentum. Marcus d'Ivoire, Winter Ihernglass, Raesinia Orboan, and Janus bet Vhalnich are memorable not because they are larger than life, but because they keep having to choose between duty, survival, loyalty, and the kind of future they can live with. Readers who come for battles often stay for the character work.
He is just as comfortable shifting age range and tone. The Forbidden Library gives him room for talking cats, secret book magic, and a brave girl learning how power really works. Ship of Smoke and Steel and the rest of The Wells of Sorcery bring in ghost ships, empire, romance, and rebellion. Then Ashes of the Sun turns toward a broken science fantasy world where two siblings end up on opposite sides of history.
Range is part of the appeal.
His newer work shows that range even more clearly. The novella Hard Reboot leans into robot fights and fast science fiction. How to Become the Dark Lord and Die Trying and Everybody Wants to Rule the World Except Me take a time loop fantasy setup and make it funny, bloody, and surprisingly sharp about power and failure. He has also written tie-in fiction, including Sundered Bond and Spelljammer: Memory's Wake, without losing the brisk, readable style that runs through his own worlds.
Across all of this, a few things keep showing up. Wexler likes people trapped inside rigid systems, armies, libraries, magical orders, political hierarchies, and then asks what happens when they push back. He also likes competence, planning, friendship under pressure, and the uncomfortable truth that good intentions do not always lead anywhere good.
These days he lives near Seattle with his wife, daughter, many cats, and a very large pile of books. When he is not writing, he paints tiny soldiers and plays games of all sorts, which feels exactly right for a novelist who clearly enjoys tactics, structure, and a little controlled chaos.
Edited by
Software engineer whose passion for tracking book recommendations from podcasts inspired the creation of MRB.
Lead investor at 3one4 Capital whose startup expertise and love for books helped shaped MRB and its growth.



















Comments
Did we miss something? Have feedback?
Help us improve this page by sharing your thoughts