Empire of Silence

Dang, this book was really, really good. It reminded me of Farseer meets Dune meets Gladiator (I see the Name of the Wind comparison thrown around too, I get what people mean, but the prose reminds me more of Hobb than Rothfuss) but is also it's own thing. I love when a book is able to wear its influences on its sleeves but manage to be unique.

“Romans in space” is pretty much all the sell I needed here, but the gist of Sun Eater is that Hadrian Marlowe is writing a chronicle of his life and the decisions he made. Hadrian is notorious around the galaxy for blowing up a sun to end a war with another species. How did it happen? Why did it happen? Is Hadrian a monster? That's the setup that Hadrian wants to explore as he tells you his tale, although this book doesn't get to any sun eating and instead a story about a young noble who flees his home planet and is forced to use subterfuge, fighting skills, and political acumen to survive.

There were no parts of this book that I wasn't captivated by, and that was mainly due to Ruocchio's prose. It's hard to describe. It is certainly dramatic (as Hadrian is, by admission, over-dramatic) but it is also poetic and philosophical. It reads incredibly smoothly. The way Ruocchio ends chapters is always fantastic, with Hadrian reflecting on the events in the chapter or teasing events to come. The prose in this book was a joy. But the plot and the characters were also well done, and some of the supporting cast were really interesting, something hard to pull off sometimes in first person retrospective.

The only reason this doesn't get full marks from me is because this felt a lot like a book one, and there is a lot of, not necessarily meandering, but “sections” of the story that don't feel like one complete whole. My feelings on this remind me of Assassin's Apprentice where I really liked everything about it but it doesn't quite feel like a five star read. Can't wait to continue!!

8.5/10