Django Wexler


Nicholas Django Wexler is an American fantasy author. He has published the "flintlock fantasy" series The Shadow Campaigns, the young adult Forbidden Library fantasy series, the darkly comedic timeloop fantasy Dark Lord Davi series and other works. He currently resides near Seattle, Washington, with his wife and fellow author Casey Blair and their daughter.

Life and career

Wexler obtained degrees in creative writing and computer science from Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, and engaged in post-graduate artificial intelligence research at the university. He later worked as a programmer and writer for Microsoft in Seattle before turning to writing fiction full-time.

Summary

''The Shadow Campaigns''

Wexler's epic fantasy series The Shadow Campaigns is set in a world resembling Europe and North Africa during the Napoleonic era. It mainly follows three soldiers of the kingdom of Vordan – Count Janus bet Vhalnich, a character patterned after Napoleon, Marcus d'Ivoire, a seasoned infantry commander posted to a backward colony, and Winter Ihernglass, a young woman who disguised herself as a man to be able to enlist. As they struggle through Vordan's equivalents of the French Revolution and the attendant wars, they also face a supernatural threat in the form of conspiracies fighting for control of the rare remnants of magic still existing in the world.
The Shadow Throne, the second book in the series, was a Finalist for the 2015 Endeavour Award. The Price of Valor, the third book in the series, was a Finalist for both the 2016 Endeavour Award and the 2016 Dragon Award for Best Military Science Fiction or Fantasy Novel.
Wexler has advised that although not opposed to additional books in the Shadow Campaigns setting any additional books would be complicated by a change in publisher.

Reviews

Reviewing the series for Tor.com, Stefan Raets described the first novel, The Thousand Names, as a "military fantasy full of spectacular battles" with a large and diverse cast, but criticized Winter's lack of agency.
The Shadow Throne was appreciated by Publishers Weekly as an "audacious and subversive sequel" and by Liz Bourke at Tor.com as an "immensely entertaining" novel that unlike other male-written fantasy, avoided the grimdark trend and featured a "central, significant, queer relationship between two women", but noted that Wexler relied much on coincidences to advance the plot. She also praised the third novel, The Price of Valour, for surpassing its predecessors as an "explosive, action-packed" epic fantasy novel with complex characterization and, again, a wide variety of female characters.

Novels

''The Shadow Campaigns'' series

  1. The Thousand Names, 2013, Roc,
  2. The Shadow Throne, 2014, Roc,. Finalist for the 2015 Endeavour Award
  3. The Price of Valor, 2015, Del Rey,. Finalist for both the 2016 Endeavour Award and the 2016 Dragon Award for Best Military Science Fiction or Fantasy Novel
  4. The Guns of Empire, 2016, Ace,
  5. The Infernal Battalion, 2018, Ace,
Novellas:
  • "The Shadow of Elysium", 2015, InterMix,
Short fiction:
  • "", 2013, io9
  • "The First Kill" published in "Blackguards: Tales of Assassins, Mercenaries, and Rogues", 2015, Ragnarok Publications,

    ''The Forbidden Library'' series

  1. The Forbidden Library, 2014, Kathy Dawson Books,
  2. The Mad Apprentice, 2015, Kathy Dawson Books,
  3. The Palace of Glass, 2016, Kathy Dawson Books,
  4. The Fall of the Readers, 2017, Kathy Dawson Books,

    ''John Golden'' series

  5. John Golden: Freelance Debugger, 2017, CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform,
  6. John Golden & the Heroes of Mazaroth, 2017, CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform,

    ''The Wells of Sorcery'' trilogy

  7. Ship of Smoke and Steel, January 2019, Tor Teen,
  8. City of Stone and Silence, January 2020, Tor Teen,
  9. Siege of Rage and Ruin, January 2021, Tor Teen,

    ''Magic: The Gathering'' fiction

  • The Gathering Storm - released in 20 instalments, June–October 2019

  • ''Burningblade and Silvereye'' series

  1. Ashes of the Sun, 2020, Head of Zeus,
  2. Blood of the Chosen, 2021, Head of Zeus, . Finalist for the 2022 Endeavour Award
  3. Emperor of Ruin, 2023, Head of Zeus,

    ''Dungeons & Dragons'' fiction

  • Dungeons & Dragons: Spelljammer: Memory's Wake, 2024, Random House,

    ''Dark Lord Davi'' series

  2. Everybody Wants To Rule The World Except Me, 2025, Orbit,

    ''The Diamond Knife'' series

  3. Last Stop, 2024, Podium Publishing,

    ''Standalone works''

  • Memories of Empire, 2005, Medallion Press,
  • Shinigami, 2006, Medallion Press,
  • Netherwings, 2021, Audible Originals,
  • Hard Reboot, 2021, tordotcom,
  • Hoard, 2024, Newsletter exclusive
  • The Thirteenth God, 2026, serialised on the Royal Road website and Patreon beginning on Django's birthday 13 January 2026

    Short fiction

;Stories
TitleYearFirst publishedReprinted/collectedNotes
""1999Aphelion webzine
""1999Aphelion webzine
""2000Aphelion webzine
""2000Aphelion webzine
The End of the War2015Novelette. Placed second in the 2016 Asimov's Reader Poll
The Guns of the Wastes2015-
REAL2015-
Magic Beans2015
Last of the Red Riders2018
Amara Kel's Rules for TIE Pilot Survival 2020-
Rox’d2020All profits from this anthology go to the True Colors United charity.
Plan Z2020

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;Notes