The Dregs of Empire: A Tale of the Sun Eater

Yet again a great addition to the Sun Eater saga! This shouldn't be considered as a short story or novella, because it really is just a full blown novel.

I think this is a must read, since it adds so much more to Lorian's character. Ruocchio also proves that he can write just as great from a total different pov.

There is also another great addition to the worldbuilding with the ice planet Belusha.

A longer novella, this gives us an inside glance as to the consequences of the end of Ashes of Man.

Not going to dive in too deep due to spoilers, but this was a satisfying novella (300 page on my kindle, so a good length!)

Five stars....Sun Eater rocks and everyone should read as much of it as you can.

This novella follows on from Ashes of Man and is the best of the novellas in the series. It tells the story of Lorien Aristedes after he engineered the rescue of Hadrian.

It begins with Lorien already having been tried and entered into his sentence. The book starts out dark and gets progressively darker as Ruocchio strips Lorien of his dignity and ultimately his humanity. As Lorien is ground into the dust by his circumstances and the people around him the inner surety that has carried him in previous episodes also retreats from him. He is thrown into suffering and forced into performing actions that he would never have countenanced in his former life.

Next to Kingdoms of Darkness, this is the darkest story of the series so far and totally compelling. It was a two session read for me, and had I started it early in the day it would have been a single session to complete. It confirms to me that Ruocchio is at his best in longer form stories rather than shorts.