Howling Dark

When asked to describe the Sun Eater series the best description I can come up with is epic Space Opera in the style of Rothfuss. The prose here is gorgeous, in a kind of reflective journal style similar to that used in Rothfuss's Kingkiller Chronicles. At the same time we have the galaxy spanning conflict between the alien Cielcin and humanity, giving the epic space opera elements.

With the Cielcin, Ruocchio has created an enemy that is both relatable and extremely alien at the same time. The central plot in this novel is an attempt by our main protagonist and chronicler, Hadrian Marlowe, to broker a peace between the species. The world that Hadrian lives in has seen a large part of humanity reject technology, especially AI and human enhancement based technologies, but other people exist on the fringe of human society which has openly embraced this. In order to make contact with the Cielcin Harlowe has to find one of these cyber enhanced societies, and that is what the first part of the story deals with. The second half follows the fall out of the negotiations.

There are few space operas that are more epic in scale than this. Ruocchio's world deserves to be known better than it is - this is just such a huge scale. It is beautifully realised and beautifully told. I am looking forward to continuing this story!

Just an absolutely amazing adventure. This series hooks me in such a special way that I can understand why for some it might not be as great as I find it to be, but I love it all the same. It scratches a very specific itch that I didn't know was possible in media and I'm very excited to keep listening on. 

The book has a bit of a slow start and can be confusing. Therefore it can take some time to get involved in the story, but it is really well constructed in its entirety.
There is this constant crescendo that keeps on going with the last 200 pages just blowing your mind.

I think where it shines even more then Empire of Silence is the emotional impact of the story and how the characters interact. It feels way more natural and I felt way more connected.

3.75 ⭐️ i definitely enjoyed this book, not quite as much as book 1 but was still really good! Especially the start and finish, it didn't quite grip me as much in the middle! But will definitely be getting to Demon in White soon

“It is strange how we humans make our homes. We arrive in a place and—finding that place foreign and uncomfortable—place objects just as foreign in it until it becomes lived in and all strangeness is gone.”

Leaving far behind the impression of being a Dune fanfic, Howling Dark finds itself having its own voice and story to tell. Does it still play of the work of others, still utilize common tropes? Absolutely, of course it does. You will be hard pressed to find a modern scifi or fantasy novel that is truly unique. Howling Dark knows this, embraces it, and stands on the shoulders of those who made these tropes. Taking the best and cutting the worst of scifi's master voices. The story is epic, the twists can be unpredictable, which shocking, given the narrator actively tells us what is going to happen.

The author has built such a huge universe, and writes so..so many pages, and yet still finds time skips acceptable, showing us bare glimpses of things vast enough to be their own book series, complete with a vague history that comes somewhere, somehow, after Star Wars, Foundation, Asimov, again, a prequel series at this pace with this vastness would justify another 10 books....or just read the Foundation series, it's literally the same shit.

Though just as Steven Kingly wordy as Empire of Silence, this time the slog is far more rewarding with actually interesting description, observation, and story telling. And, it's a good place to find a quality SAT word casually and aptly thrown at a rate of about once every 2 pages. In Howling Dark I actually found the dialogue, and the 100 pages of narration between and mid-sentence, to almost be more enjoyable than the action.

Howling Dark has established a voice, embracing itself for what it is, and where it came from, and create a huge mythos that will be very interesting to continue further into.

I am a believer. Ruocchio is the man.

“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.”

I'm going to tell you up front - this is my new favorite sci-fi novel!

I really enjoyed Empire of Silence, the first book in the Sun Eater series. Ruocchio's prose was fantastic, the character of Hadrian was dynamic and complex, and the world was interesting. Not to mention the hook- Hadrian would one day blow up a sun and kill billions

This is book 2 of the Suneater Series. Hadrian Marlowe continues to be tipped from one disaster to another. This time he's searching for links to the enemy from book #1 on a planet that nobody else believes actually exists, "it's only a myth" they say. And it's a big galaxy we live in. Things get very dark as this book proceeds and it left me reeling for days. I'm loving this series.

No spoilers here but the title of #1, Empire of Silence, seemed inappropriate to me as I read the book as Hadrian's Empire is very warlike. But towards the end something happens and the phrase appears for the only time in the book. But it's still a mystery. This second title, Howling Dark is the same. There seems to be no place where the title hits home until towards the end when the phrase appears for the only time. And with a bit of thought I realised it refers to the mystery of the first title. Now my mind is saying 'Ha, so is this a hint of where the whole series is pointing?"

I can safely say the last ~40% was outstanding, everything from Vorgossos onwards was impossible to stop reading/listening to.

If the whole book had been that gripping this would have been an easy 5 stars, however I did struggle a bit with the first half of the book. The pace was much slower and sloggy, and I felt disconnected with the story after the large time jump after EoS.

I've read other reviews/posts saying the second half of the book is indicative of the rest of the series, so I'll definitely be continuing but I did unfortunately struggle with a lot of this one.

This series is incredible. It is ridiculous that this isn't vastly more popular than Red Rising. This surpasses that series in almost every fathomable way. The prose is very good. The action is bloody and graphic. The characters are well developed. The world building is rich and well thought out. I can not wait to read more of this series.

It took me a minute to get into the groove of this book and I have no idea why but something just sparked and I couldn't stop reading. Read this series people!!