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MY ⭐️ RATING: 4.75/5
Format: Kindle Whispersync
BOOK DESCRIPTION
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.
The galaxy remembers him as a hero: the man who burned every last alien Cielcin from the sky. They remember him as a monster: 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.
On the wrong planet, at the right time, for the best reasons, Hadrian Marlowe starts down a path that can only end in fire. He flees his father and a future as a torturer only to be left stranded on a strange, backwater world.
Forced to fight as a gladiator and navigate the intrigues of a foreign planetary court, Hadrian must fight a war he did not start, for an Empire he does not love, against an enemy he will never understand.
MY REVIEW
Ok, so wow… this was pretty spectacular, the only reason I’m not giving this a full 5 stars is that, for a story that is already a bit on the slower side, there were a few times that felt very sluggish and I was ready to move on. With that being said, I think that’s about the only bad thing I can say about this incredible debut by Ruocchio. Empire of Silence was pitched as “Dune meets Name of the Wind.” I can definitely see where each of those are coming into play, and it’s clear that Dune was an inspiration for this, but fellow book reviewer and Texan, Mike’s Book Reviews had this to say, “Imagine if Patrick Rothfuss wrote Red Rising: Darrow starts off as a Gold, Nero is his father, and Cassius is his brother”, and that’s the exact feeling I got with this book. I had been planning to read this for 2-3 years but never got to it, that tag line made me push it up more than the publisher did.
So when it comes to the inspiration of Dune and even comps of Red Rising, and even a small bit of Star Wars, Empire of Silence is a dark Space Opera, filled with mystery & adventure. Breathtaking scenes and even an emotional scene or two. The Name of the Wind and Patrick Rothfuss comparisons is due to the chronicler style of story telling of Hadrian, who is telling his story. This isn’t something Rothfuss created, but he is one of the most recent and very popular authors to do it. When done right, it’s incredible, and Ruocchio hammers it home with this style with an unforgettable read.
“We live in stories, and in stories, we are subject to phenomena beyond the mechanisms of space and time. Fear and love, death and wrath and wisdom—these are as much parts of our universe as light and gravity.”
Another Red Rising comp is because the world is very Greek/Roman-esk, which is always going to be a selling point for me. The world is built in a way that feels like “what if Rome never fell, but also stayed the same with its hierarchy style, coliseums and gladiatorial battles, but with the exception of advancing technologically. On top of that, Ruocchio went a step further and added multiple languages that are spoken (and translated), made the depth of this story even greater. The other thing that makes this so intriguing is the biggest mystery of the story, which is who are the first ones. The moment this came up, I immediately started thinking of the Anunnaki of ancient Summaria, and how they could possibly be based off of them. Giorgio Tsoukalos & Ancient Aliens fans will recognize that name.
I really like characters that seem to have an inspiration, purposeful or not, of Sisyphus, who was punished to push a boulder up hill only to have to start all over when he reached the top, and to me, that’s exactly who Hadrian is. He’s also a lot like Red Rising’s, Darrow in that same vein, since both are deeply flawed in their thinking of trying to do the right thing, and never end up doing it the best way, causing more issues along the way. Hadrian’s story is one of tenacity and over coming obstacles that he ends up putting in his own way, but he meets some great people along the way. Volka is such an extraordinary character, once she came in, I knew I was going to like her. Ruocchio did such a good job of making her a bit of a scene thief, because every time she was there, even when not speaking, you could feel her presence.
The writing is also so beautiful, over and over again, I was taken aback by his prose and the attention to detail. The amount of quotes I wrote down and saved just because they were so beautiful could probably fill up a short story, just truly astounding. I can’t finish this review without commenting on the incredible narration by Samuel Roukin. This was truly phenomenal, and I’m not sure how this guy isn’t on more radars as a favorite. He completely sold the story, from high adrenaline intense scenes to the more dramatic heartfelt scenes, everything felt like a top notch performance. I think I would’ve enjoyed this without his narration, but with it, I know I enjoyed it even more.
Wolfmantula.com 