Hadrian Marlowe, a man revered as a hero and despised as a murderer, chronicles his tale in the galaxy-spanning debut of the Sun Eater series, merging the best of space opera and epic fantasy.
It was not his war.
On the wrong planet, at the right time, for the best reasons, Hadrian Marlowe started down a path that could only end in fire. The galaxy remembers him as a the man who burned every last alien Cielcin from the sky. They remember him as a the devil who destroyed a sun, casually annihilating four billion human lives—even the Emperor himself—against Imperial orders.
But Hadrian was not a hero. He was not a monster. He was not even a soldier.
Fleeing his father and a future as a torturer, Hadrian finds himself stranded on a strange, backwater world. Forced to fight as a gladiator and into the intrigues of a foreign planetary court, he will find himself fight a war he did not start, for an Empire he does not love, against an enemy he will never understand.
-Goodreads
Book Information
- Title: Empire of Silence
- Series: The Sun Eater #1
- Author: Christopher Ruocchio
- Page Count: 753
- Genre: Science Fiction Fantasy
- Rating: 4.5/5.0
- Date Read: October 6th, 2024
Opening Thoughts
Empire of Silence and Christopher Ruocchio have been on my radar for years now. The author’s name was mentioned to me several times when I returned to reading back in 2020 and I was very close to picking up a copy of Empire of Silence while on vacation a couple of years ago and didn’t. This one came front and center for two reasons. It was picked as our monthly buddy read for October and it also helped start my October Empire reading theme.
Pacing
I felt the pacing in Empire of Silence worked very well for me. This was a longer read so I opted to listen to the audiobook version which was narrated by Samuel Roukin. I don’t believe I’ve had any previous experience with this narrator but it didn’t take me long to settle in with his style and he did a great job in bringing this story to life.
World Building
The worldbuilding was intriguing to me. Early on I couldn’t help but get some similar vibes to the Red Rising series. This by no means indicates these stories are very similar. It just had some of those general themes with politics, castes and redemption. I also picked up on vibes similar to one of my favorite films of all time “Gladiator”. Again, not a direct copy by any means but the use of the coliseum and gladiator fights certainly worked for me.
Aside from the similarities mentioned above that helped me connect to this story was without a doubt the political intrigue. The protagonist finds himself in a bad situation from the start. Only to get caught up in more and more difficult situations as the story continues. Though the author paints a picture of a rather large world with space travel, he also gives us great detail of immediate locations throughout. This world also has plenty of depth and history already introduced in book one which just adds to the enjoyment for this reader.
Character Development
The character development was very strong. I already mentioned our protagonist Hadrian briefly. But his arc was really good in Empire of Silence. I connected with him very early on with his relationship with his familiar especially his brother who is nearly a completely opposite of himself. This is very relatable with myself and I’m sure many other readers. He doesn’t have a very close relationship with his parents either initially. I won’t get into much detail to this as it could be a spoiler he does eventually find himself on another planet in arguably an even worse situation and carves out a new life.
Roundup & Recommendation
I’m sure we can all guess that couldn’t last forever though and things take yet another turn as his past comes back to cause further trouble all while he continues to grow as a young man still and begins to find his new friends and family. This seems like one of those series though that I’m going to struggle trusting anybody.
In closing, I’m disappointed in myself for waiting so long to get into this read and the series in general. If anything above sounds interesting to you, don’t hesitate to give Empire of Silence a go as soon as you can!
Scoring
World Building 4.75/5
Pacing 4.5/5
Character Development 4.5/5
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