Content levels
Trigger warnings
Positive tags
Hero archetypes
Protagonist archetypes
Tropes
Themes
Synopsis
(Previously published as *Ghost* and *Weregild*) In Ada, where the Jin who once ruled it are now prisoners in camps, an assassin stalks the corrupt lords and Court officials who steal the full-Bloods and bleed them for their illegal magic. A Ghost, Untouchable, Fen Jacin-rei's kind were once the Voices of the Ancestors, channels and Catalysts, their minds open repositories for the will of the spirits of long-dead magicians. His fate should be one of insanity and indigence, solitude and eventual starvation''so how is it that Fen Jacin-rei survives? How is it that he can push sanity through the screaming madness of the Ancestors in his head? And how is it that an Untouchable, with whom it is death to interfere, has managed to hang on to not only his sanity, but the family he loves and for whom he's apparently willing to kill? Kamen Malick has every intention of finding out. More than what he seems, Malick answers to different laws than those of the Adan. And the gods who make them don't necessarily care about justice. When Malick and his own small band of assassins ambush Fen in an alley, Malick tenders the vicious Untouchable only the tamest of the multitude of propositions he fully intends to offer later: Join us or die. Determined to decode the intrigue that surrounds Fen--and to have the Untouchable for himself--Malick sets to unraveling the mysteries of Fen's past, whether Fen cooperates or not. As Fen's secrets slowly unfold, Malick is drawn into a crusade that isn't his, but resonates a little too closely to his own drive for vengeance against one whose past betrayals still haunt him. Irony is a bitter thing when Malick discovers that the one he wants is already hopelessly entangled with the one he hunts.
Wolf Ascendant: content & age rating
Intended for adult readers (18+).
This dark fantasy contains graphic violence including assassination, explicit sexual content between male characters, and intense themes of mental illness, oppression, and genocide. Strong language throughout.
What to know going in
This book has strong violence, explicit sexual content, and strong language. Content notes include genocide, slavery, murder, captivity, and dubious consent (see the full list above).
Who'll love this
Adult readers will be drawn to the complex moral landscape, intense character dynamics, and the dark magic system centered on ancestral possession.