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MY ⭐️ RATING: 5/5
Format: Kindle Whispersync
BOOK DESCRIPTION
Hadrian Marlowe is lost.
For half a century, he has searched the farther suns for the lost planet of Vorgossos, hoping to discover a way to contact the elusive alien Cielcin. He has pursued false leads for years among the barbarian Normans as captain of a band of mercenaries, but Hadrian remains determined to make peace and bring an end to nearly four hundred years of war.
Desperate to find answers, Hadrian must venture beyond the security of the Sollan Empire and among the Extrasolarians who dwell between the stars. There, he will face not only the aliens he has come to offer peace, but contend with creatures that once were human, with traitors in his midst, and with a meeting that will bring him face to face with no less than the oldest enemy of mankind.
If he succeeds, he will usher in a peace unlike any in recorded history. If he fails, the galaxy will burn.
MY REVIEW
I loved Empire of Silence, but my God, Howling Dark just obliterates that out of the water, and I knew going in that it would be better, but I’m in disbelief with just how much better it was. That’s no slight at all, just massive praise to how good this was. One of the more shocking things about this incredible sequel is that it doesn’t start like typical sequels do by continuing directly after the events of book 1, instead, this actually starts decades after the events of EoS. It takes a little bit to get used to it as it does feel like you just dropped in mid book and missed something, but there’s a lot of story to tell, so it makes sense to get to the more important aspects of the story rather than put a lot into the build up of getting to the point of where this starts. Hopefully he fills some of this gap in one of his Tales of the Sun Eater short story volumes.
Ruocchio’s storytelling is so intoxicating, just makes you want to never leave the book alone and constantly read it, which is what happened. I’ve read many books by authors that could fall under this same description, but this might just be the tip of the sword in that aspect. It’s all I wanted to do, all I could think of, no tv, just read or whispersync every moment that I possibly could. There are times where it’s hair-raisingly intense with an insatiable lust of bloodcurdling ruthlessness. Even during its heart-wrenching moments, it’ll leave you in a measure of disbelief, I just can’t say enough about how good the story telling is.
“True lessons require not only knowing, but that the student practices his knowledge again and again. Thus knowledge becomes us, and we become more than the animal and the machine. That is why the best teachers are students always, and the best students are never fully educated.”
While the story telling makes me feel that way, the characters and the way the relationships of the characters continue to develop and play out is just as great, if not better. I absolutely love Hadrian and essentially everything about him, his continued relationship between Hadrian and Valka remains to be in the forefront and an important part, but the most important one in this story is with Switch and everything that happens because of it, and it will stick with you to the very end. The relationship between Hadrian and Bassander Lin though, this one reminds me a lot of Darrow and Lysander from Red Rising saga. There’s something about it that lets me know this is something that will continue throughout the entire series. With that said, there are a bunch of new characters that we get to meet and one in particular (on the cover), changes EVERYTHING.
The action was everything I could ask for and then some, edge of my seat, biting my finger nails & heart pounding. I don’t think Ruocchio could’ve done any better keeping my eyes glued to my tablet and phone. Last and definitely not the least, I left a howling review for the narration by Samuel Roukin in Empire of Silence and Lesser Devil, and that continues on here, he’s as close to perfection as it comes. I know there are people that don’t like to listen to audiobooks, but I absolutely beg of you, give it a shot, he is tremendous and could end up being one of your favorites, if not your favorite all together! I want to say more about this, but I fear that I’ll start dropping spoilers if I say anything else, but one thing I can say for certain is that this series is going to continue to blow me away, I can’t believe I put this off as long as I did.
Wolfmantula.com 