Dec 2025 Book Recommendation: Spelljammer: Memory’s Wake by Django Wexler

Intro

For me, the holiday season is the perfect time for fun fantasy adventure books. Books that are dramatic, yes, but not in an “Oh no, these characters are all totally going to die!” type of way. More in a “Yikes, this looks bad! I wonder how they’re going to get out of this one,” type of way, if you understand my meaning. Books where the characters are excited about going on an adventure, and where you generally know that the good guys are going to win—the only question is how. Those are the types of books that I typically associate with the holidays.

And few books fit the bill better than Spelljammer: Memory’s Wake by Django Wexler. Set in the universe of the Dungeons and Dragons TTRPG, it’s a fantasy space opera perfect for both fans of the game and for anyone looking for a fun, humorous, and action-packed read.

Spelljammer: Memory’s Wake by Django Wexler Overview

Genre(s): Fantasy, science fiction

Series: N/A (Stand alone)

POV/Tense: Third-person past

Length: 272 pages

Wildspace is a place full of dangers. Axia, who has spent what little of her life she can remember on an isolated asteroid, has always known this. But the threat of prowling pirates and hungering monsters has never been enough to keep her from yearning to travel the stars.

But the chance to see her dreams become reality doesn’t come the way she expected. After an assassin suddenly comes to kill her for reasons she can’t begin to guess, she encounters two pirates: Kori the half-elf cleric and Nia the tiefling warlock. They assure her that more assassins will follow the first and that, if she doesn’t flee with them to Wildspace, she’ll surely be killed. It’s an obvious decision.

Little does Axia know that Kori and Nia didn’t rescue her out of the goodness of their hearts. She soon learns that she’s the spitting image of Blacktongue, a fearsome and infamous pirate queen who disappeared years ago while she was in search of a mysterious treasure. Kori and Nia plan to use Axia’s likeliness to Blacktongue to help them secure that treasure for themselves. If she’s going to survive, Axia must play the part of the long-lost pirate queen.

But it’s a task that will be easier said than done—particularly when she learns just how many dangerous enemies Blacktongue made during her life of piracy. Does Axia have what it takes to survive in the deadly world of space pirates, or did she escape death at the hands of an assassin only to die at the hands of Blacktongue’s rivals?

Personal Thoughts

So, for those of you who might not be familiar with Dungeons and Dragons, a spelljammer is a DnD spaceship, or someone who controls one of those spaceships. (It can mean either one.) The “spell” part comes in because the ships are powered by magic, and the “jammer” part is…well, because the original adventure came out in the ‘80s, I guess. (I did say that this is a fun book, not a serious one.)

Anyways, now that I’ve cleared the air there, let’s go back to talking about the book itself. The cast, of course, was great; Axia was a very fun character to follow, and I really enjoyed seeing her backstory slowly be revealed. Main characters who can’t remember their pasts–either because of amnesia or something else—are always some of the ones that I find the most interesting, just because I like the mystery of what brought them to the point they’re at when the story starts. (I blame those years of watching my brother play Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild for that.) So, if you like that sort of thing too, that’s another reason to check this book out.

The pacing in this book was also really good. Nothing ever felt like it super dragged on, and nothing ever felt rushed either. This is a balance that I’ve had an especially hard time finding in space operas, in particular, for whatever reason. (Though, granted, I haven’t read very many space opera books, because I always seem to have trouble finding them.) So I was happy when I found that this one managed to pull off a good, cinematic pace and vibe.

Outro

That’s all for this month’s book recommendation. I hope I’ve gotten you interested in this book—or, if you’ve already read it and are looking for something similar, be sure to check out the similar books that I’ve listed below. (More Dungeons and Dragons books, because there are a zillion of them.) As always, thanks for reading—and happy holidays!