Bright Ruin cover art

Bright Ruin

 Preview

Audible Standard 30-day free trial

Try Standard free
Select 1 audiobook a month from our entire collection.
Listen to your selected audiobooks as long as you're a member.
Get unlimited access to bingeable podcasts.
Standard auto renews for £5.99 a month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Bright Ruin

By: Vic James
Narrated by: Avita Jay
Try Standard free

£5.99 a month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy Now for £14.35

Buy Now for £14.35

About this listen

From the bestselling author of Sanctuary comes a gripping Orwellian vision of Britain, with a rebellious Hunger Games heart. Bright Ruin is the third and final title in Vic James’s electrifying Dark Gifts Trilogy, following Tarnished City.

A shattered country
A world-changing magic

Magically gifted aristocrats rule Britain, and the people must serve them. But rebellion now strikes at the heart of the old order. Abi has escaped public execution, thanks to an unexpected ally. Her brother Luke is on the run with Silyen Jardine, the most mysterious aristocrat of all. And as political and magical conflicts escalate, each must decide how far they’ll go for their beliefs.

Dragons clash in the skies, as two powerful women duel for the soul of Britain. A symbol of government will blaze as it dies, and doors between worlds will open – and close forever. But the battle within human hearts will be the fiercest of all.

 Dystopian Fantasy Fiction Science Fiction Science Fiction & Fantasy Heartfelt

Critic reviews

Beautifully characterised and compellingly plotted, Gilded Cage is an impressive debut (Guardian on Gilded Cage)
It’s smart, engrossing and incredibly snappily written, with so many compelling characters and pulse-quickening situations that the whole book just flies by. We apologise for the cliché, but it is that good (SciFiNow on Gilded Cage)
A dark and intriguing vision of an alternate, magic-drenched Britain, Gilded Cage kept me way up into the night (Aliette de Bodard)
A dazzling addition to the growing genre of alternative historical fiction, James’s first novel has the added bonus of compelling page-turnability (Daily Mail on Gilded Cage)
Devious and deliciously dark with lashings of magic, mystery and mayhem, this juggernaut of a book will keep you hanging on by your fingernails until the very last page (Taran Matharu on Gilded Cage)
Ms. James writes with the skill of someone who has been an author for decades. I was blown away by how beautiful the prose was . . . In the end I was left emotionally spent and wanting another book to read immediately (Fantasy Book Review on Gilded Cage)
Gilded Cage is an unputdownable story . . . it’s truly a gem (Fantasy Faction)
All stars
Most relevant
A bit weird and horrible in places, but a facinating story - I absolutely loved it! :-D

Brilliant trilogy!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Love, Love LOVED this trilogy. I bought the first one when it was the Daily Deal and it languiished in my library for a while but once I started it I was totatlly gripped and I had to buy the second two immediately andhave raced throught the lot.

Refreshingly unpredictable. The main cast of well rounded and complex characters all have interesting journeys and it's wonderful how your allegency and sympathy changes over the course of the tale.

I don't want to give any spoilers but the final installment really delivers.

This is definitely one I'll be returning to in the future I'm sure.

The narrator does a great job too !

Best YA Trilogy since the Hunger Games

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Don’t want to leave these characters behind.

I have never listened to a trilogy that gets better with each book.

Hopefully there will be more from Vic james in the future.

Best trilogy I read in a long time

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I really enjoyed Bright Ruin, the final installment of the Dark Gifts trilogy.

The storyline was satisfying, and shocking, answered questions, asked more questions, went the way I imagined and the way I never thought.

Really enjoyed it and highly recommend the whole trilogy.

Perfect end to the Dark Gifts trilogy

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Enjoyable trilogy set in a dystopian England controlled by a "skilled" ruling class who keep the majority of the unskilled population in semi-slavery.

Good enough conclusion

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
See more reviews