Empire of Silence

Interesting debut from Ruocchio will both ups and downs. First act was painfully slow, but does start to pick up after the first couple hundred pages. Ruocchio has a tendency to dwell on a thought, usually through the main character's internal dialogue which can bog the pacing down. Brevity in most cases would be preferred, but he does by the end of the novel seem to figure it out. World building is very good, borderline great, though I have a feeling most of it will not factor into future novels. There is a decent amount of tension throughout, though most of the pay-offs feel a tad underwhelming. Character development is a mixed bag and is mainly due to the first person narrative structure. Overall the plot is solid, particularly the final third. Definitely interested in continuing this series, however I cannot broadly recommend. Interestingly I have it on good authority that subsequent books are much improved and the series as a whole is excellent.

Hadrian Marlowe is the son of a planetary governor. His father has plans for his life, Hadrian has other ideas. Every decision he makes takes him out of the frying pan and into the ... into the next frying pan over a different fire. The narrative is fast paced as he tries to plan, manipulate, and luck his way into a more desirable future.

It's fifteen thousand years into the future, humans have colonised countless star systems along one arm of the galaxy, there is genetically engineered perfection for the elites, cryo space travel between systems, plasma lances and stun guns etc. But the culture is more medieval with knights in armour, palace and family intrigue, political maneuvering, the Roman coliseum with fights to the death, a serf underclass, and over it all is the Chancery, the equivalent of the Spanish Inquisition with it's powerful torturers and mystics. And Hadrian is well educated so there are quotes from Shakespeare, Thomas Aquinas and other ancients peppered into his thinking.

I am not a sci-fi reader, I've enjoyed some in the genre but I just never gravitate towards them. However, this series has been pitched so many times as “sci-fi for the fantasy reader” and has been loved by people whose opinion on fantasy books I 100% trust so I had to give it a go and it did not let me down.

There was a lot to like here - Hadrian is aloof and a bit whiney but I couldn't help but like him. I also enjoyed the side characters he met on Emesh, especially Valka and Switch.

It's a lot of setup but the ending was very well done and I'm so intrigued to see where it goes next.

I listened to this one on audio and absolutely loved the narration by John Lee, he nailed the slight arrogance of Hadrian and the accents of the other characters. I'm disappointed to see he only did the first book in the UK but I'm sure I'll enjoy the other narrators too.

Their is so much potential in this series and the author has excellent prose. It's a fantastic start to a series. But while not perfect. It has a lot of good about it. The world building and lore is rich and lush. The characters are unique and the prose is great. The dialogue is snappy and reads well.

My biggest issues is theirs a lot of set up. And it feels like we get established and things start making sense and we go to another world it's like starting over which breaks the pacing down. Some parts seemed a bit unnecessary or could've been trimmed down but I feel like it will come full circle later possibly.

I also find the main character frustrating sometimes and makes decisions that are there only to move the plot so I hope he grows more and we see it in the next book.

Theirs a ton of inspiration from Dune and book of the new sun and you can see the attention to detail that Ruocchio puts into his universe.

I can only think of a handful better first books to a series than this one. I've never been a big sci-fi fan especially when they use high tech words that confuses me but this book has gained my interest in the genre. People think this book is a rip off of Name of the Wind and Dune but it's definitely not. The only similarity is that it's the same writing style of NotW in the sense that it's a person narrating his story. He's showing you the events that lead up to his infamous life that we won't really know about until later in the series.
As far as Dune goes the only similarity would be that the main character is of nobility, their planet has a valuable resource and Marlowe is trained by a Master of Arms. Boy that sure sounds like almost every fantasy book ever. The author takes small bits of these great books and turns them into a badass story that I would recommend to anyone and I'm rarely this excited to read a sequel.

The book is a great introduction to the world and the story to come. Took one star out because I feel that the aphorisms can get repetitive over the course of the book, and some grammatical errors. But overall - great book, amazing world building. I am curious to see how Hadrian becomes the monster or hero people see him as by the end of his life.

Me encantó.
Un libro muy introductorio, la narrativa se concentra en una parte que se sabe que solo será el primer paso, pero que te hace conocer al protagonista de una forma bien profunda.
Lo genial de la historia , son las pistas o comentarios de lo que viene en el futuro, ya que el protagonista relata estando en el futuro de lo que fue su vida.

La construcción de mundos es un 10 de 10, nada que decir, de tremendo nivel.

Los personajes secundarios estuvieron bien , al igual que los antagonistas.


Promete demasiado la obra, quiero leer lo que viene con muchas ganas .