Empire of Silence (Sun Eater Book 1)
Buy Now
By using these links, you support READO. We receive an affiliate commission without any additional costs to you.
Description
Book Information
Posts
Reread update: 4,5/5 I liked this more on a reread. The intricacies of the story stood out way more and I could appreciate and love it for what it is instead of being disappointed by it not being what I wanted it to be. You really feel that Ruocchio’s scope with Sun Eater is gigantic. This is a Scifi story set thousands of years in the future and humanity is at war with an alien race, the Cielcin. We follow Hadrian Marlowe, who tells his life’s story in first person but with one twist: we know from the beginning where it all will end. We know that he ends the war by destroying a sun, annihilating the invading alien race and murdering billions of humans and the emperor himself in the process. Now he sits in a cell, waiting for his execution and recounting his life, recounting the story that created the devil he became. That is what we are reading. Since this is basically a biography, the centerpoint of the story is Hadrian himself and his journey to the destination we already know. At the beginning this felt like it took a lot of wind out of the sails, but Ruocchio seems to be well aware that this might happen and knows how to keep you interested. There is Hadrian: a flawed, melodramatic, idealistic, erudite and genetically enhanced noble who we learn a shitton about through his own account. His personality is so vast in fact that it easily feels like you could write thousands of pages about it. And since Hadrian is roughly fifteen hundred years old at the end of the story due to his genetic enhancements, there is a lot of interesting ground to cover. There is the world (or the universe): mysterious, vast and overshadowed and ruled by a ruthless and controlling chantry, which restricts use of technology and especially artificial intelligence to a high degree. And, of course, there are the Cielcin: an alien, eerily human-like, conquering race that, in the beginning of the story, almost feels like a side quest but gains importance the more it progresses. At last I want to mention Ruocchio’s prose. The guy can write. Hadrian's melodramatic ways are meticulously brought to the page by a mind that feels like it has decades of writing experience and the fact that this is Ruocchio’s debut is truly astonishing. All these things are responsible for giving you the feeling of awe and excitement for this story. Empire of Silence feels like the beginning of something exceptional that easily stands on its own in a time where every new story needs to be compared to something else in order to make it seem interesting. ------------------------------- 4/5 stars
You can add a star if you think you'd enjoy reading a mash-up out of dune, the name of the wind, and historical fiction. I was tempted to remove a star because this book is a poster child for a pet-peeve of mine: sci-fi that straight up lifts societies and social dynamics from medieval times. And Rome. Anyway, I can see the potential for this, but the derivativeness and the history mash-up annoyed me.
Description
Book Information
Posts
Reread update: 4,5/5 I liked this more on a reread. The intricacies of the story stood out way more and I could appreciate and love it for what it is instead of being disappointed by it not being what I wanted it to be. You really feel that Ruocchio’s scope with Sun Eater is gigantic. This is a Scifi story set thousands of years in the future and humanity is at war with an alien race, the Cielcin. We follow Hadrian Marlowe, who tells his life’s story in first person but with one twist: we know from the beginning where it all will end. We know that he ends the war by destroying a sun, annihilating the invading alien race and murdering billions of humans and the emperor himself in the process. Now he sits in a cell, waiting for his execution and recounting his life, recounting the story that created the devil he became. That is what we are reading. Since this is basically a biography, the centerpoint of the story is Hadrian himself and his journey to the destination we already know. At the beginning this felt like it took a lot of wind out of the sails, but Ruocchio seems to be well aware that this might happen and knows how to keep you interested. There is Hadrian: a flawed, melodramatic, idealistic, erudite and genetically enhanced noble who we learn a shitton about through his own account. His personality is so vast in fact that it easily feels like you could write thousands of pages about it. And since Hadrian is roughly fifteen hundred years old at the end of the story due to his genetic enhancements, there is a lot of interesting ground to cover. There is the world (or the universe): mysterious, vast and overshadowed and ruled by a ruthless and controlling chantry, which restricts use of technology and especially artificial intelligence to a high degree. And, of course, there are the Cielcin: an alien, eerily human-like, conquering race that, in the beginning of the story, almost feels like a side quest but gains importance the more it progresses. At last I want to mention Ruocchio’s prose. The guy can write. Hadrian's melodramatic ways are meticulously brought to the page by a mind that feels like it has decades of writing experience and the fact that this is Ruocchio’s debut is truly astonishing. All these things are responsible for giving you the feeling of awe and excitement for this story. Empire of Silence feels like the beginning of something exceptional that easily stands on its own in a time where every new story needs to be compared to something else in order to make it seem interesting. ------------------------------- 4/5 stars
You can add a star if you think you'd enjoy reading a mash-up out of dune, the name of the wind, and historical fiction. I was tempted to remove a star because this book is a poster child for a pet-peeve of mine: sci-fi that straight up lifts societies and social dynamics from medieval times. And Rome. Anyway, I can see the potential for this, but the derivativeness and the history mash-up annoyed me.