The Draconis Memoria
#2084.11 adjusted 4.10 for sample size in the official ranking · full ranking
Books 3 books Status Complete 2016–2018 Reading commitment Medium Anthony Ryan Last reviewed 2026-08-27
Overview
The Draconis Memoria is Anthony Ryan's completed epic fantasy trilogy set in an industrial-age world where drakes' blood grants extraordinary powers, following spies and soldiers of the Ironship Trading Syndicate as a war over drake-blood threatens the world order. The trilogy comprises The Waking Fire (2016), The Legion of Flame (2017), and The Empire of Ashes (2018), tracing a single continuous conflict from its opening skirmishes to its resolution across the three volumes. Ryan, a British author better known for the Raven's Shadow series, builds the setting around a colonial-flavored trading empire whose fortunes and military power depend on harvesting different breeds of drake for their blood-borne gifts, giving the story a steampunk-adjacent, industrial edge distinct from more medieval epic fantasy. The series continues Ryan's pattern of alternating narrators across multiple factions and perspectives, a structural approach he also used in his earlier trilogy.
Epic fantasy, Grimdark · For Adult
Core Canon: Reading Order (3 works) counts toward ranking
The Draconis Memoria Anthony Ryan
| Work | Year | Internal chron. | Canon | Rating | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | The Waking Fire | 2016 | 1 | core | 4.03 (10,777 ratings) |
 | The Legion of Flame | 2017 | 2 | core | 4.15 (9,009 ratings) |
 | The Empire of Ashes | 2018 | 3 | core | 4.18 (7,044 ratings) |
Industrial-age flintlock/dragon fantasy trilogy.
Quick answers
- How many books are in The Draconis Memoria? The Draconis Memoria's Core Canon is 3 books.
- What is the reading order for The Draconis Memoria? Publication order, starting with The Waking Fire. Full list and years in the Core Canon table above.
- Is The Draconis Memoria finished? Complete (2016–2018).
- How much reading does The Draconis Memoria take? Medium reading commitment (estimated from 3 Core Canon books · ~1,744 pages).
- How is The Draconis Memoria ranked? #208 in this site's official ranking, based on 26,830 reader ratings across 3 Core Canon books. See the full ranking for how this is calculated.
Why is it ranked #208?
Ranked #208 in the official ranking.
- Average reader rating of 4.11 across 3 core books.
- A smaller readership (26,830 ratings), so the score carries less weight of numbers.
- Remarkably consistent across the whole series: all 3 rated core books rate within 0.15 of each other.
- Less than 0.01 behind #207, Exiles (a finer tie-break level decides the order).
- Below the top-10 average of 4.45.
Why explore this universe?
Highly rated · 3 books · Complete · 27k ratings · Ranks #208 overall
Good choice if you want a moderate-length epic fantasy universe that's already finished, so there's no wait for the next book.
Reading order
Publication order (3 Core Canon books)
- The Waking Fire (2016)
- The Legion of Flame (2017)
- The Empire of Ashes (2018)
Documented internal/story chronology is recorded for every Core Canon book here, and matches publication order exactly, with no divergence to show separately.
Awards (verified)
- No awards found for this universe.
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- The Steerswoman Epic fantasy · Ongoing · Medium commitment · 4.22
- The Poppy War Grimdark / Epic fantasy · Complete · Medium commitment · 4.22
Official resources
Research details
Ranking metrics: weighted average 4.11 across 26,830 ratings on 3 Core Canon books. See Why is it ranked here? above for the full breakdown, or the full ranking.
How do we know this?
Admission: Admit The Draconis Memoria accepted 2026-08-27
Sources: (see source tier definitions)
Last reviewed: 2026-08-27
Rule: Core Canon is the complete trilogy: The Waking Fire, The Legion of Flame, The Empire of Ashes.