Empire of Silence Mass Market Paperback – June 4, 2019

Ok, so wow… this was pretty spectacular, the only reason I’m not giving this a full 5 stars is that, for a story that is already a bit on the slower side, there were a few times that felt very sluggish and I was ready to move on. With that being said, I think that’s about the only bad thing I can say about this incredible debut by Ruocchio. Empire of Silence was pitched as “Dune meets Name of the Wind.” I can definitely see where each of those are coming into play, and it’s clear that Dune was an inspiration for this, but fellow book reviewer and Texan, Mike’s Book Reviews had this to say, “Imagine if Patrick Rothfuss wrote Red Rising: Darrow starts off as a Gold, Nero is his father, and Cassius is his brother”, and that’s the exact feeling I got with this book. I had been planning to read this for 2-3 years but never got to it, that tag line made me push it up more than the publisher did.So when it comes to the inspiration of Dune and even comps of Red Rising, and even a small bit of Star Wars, Empire of Silence is a dark Space Opera, filled with mystery & adventure. Breathtaking scenes and even an emotional scene or two. The Name of the Wind and Patrick Rothfuss comparisons is due to the framed story telling of Hadrian, who is telling his story. This isn’t something Rothfuss created, but he is one of the most recent and very popular authors to do it. When done right, it’s incredible, and Ruocchio hammers it home with this style with an unforgettable read.“We live in stories, and in stories, we are subject to phenomena beyond the mechanisms of space and time. Fear and love, death and wrath and wisdom—these are as much parts of our universe as light and gravity.”Another Red Rising comp is because the world is very Greek/Roman-esk, which is always going to be a selling point for me. The world is built in a way that feels like “what if Rome never fell, but also stayed the same with its hierarchy style, coliseums and gladiatorial battles, but with the exception of advancing technologically. On top of that, Ruocchio went a step further and added multiple languages that are spoken (and translated), made the depth of this story even greater. The other thing that makes this so intriguing is the biggest mystery of the story, which is who are the first ones. The moment this came up, I immediately started thinking of the Anunnaki of ancient Summaria, and how they could possibly be based off of them. Giorgio Tsoukalos & Ancient Aliens fans will recognize that name.I really like characters that seem to have an inspiration, purposeful or not, of Sisyphus, who was punished to push a boulder up hill only to have to start all over when he reached the top, and to me, that’s exactly who Hadrian is. He’s also a lot like Red Rising’s, Darrow in that same vein, since both are deeply flawed in their thinking of trying to do the right thing, and never end up doing it the best way, causing more issues along the way. Hadrian’s story is one of tenacity and over coming obstacles that he ends up putting in his own way, but he meets some great people along the way. Volka is such an extraordinary character, once she came in, I knew I was going to like her. Ruocchio did such a good job of making her a bit of a scene thief, because every time she was there, even when not speaking, you could feel her presence.The writing is also so beautiful, over and over again, I was taken aback by his prose and the attention to detail. The amount of quotes I wrote down and saved just because they were so beautiful could probably fill up a short story, just truly astounding. I can’t finish this review without commenting on the incredible narration by Samuel Roukin. This was truly phenomenal, and I’m not sure how this guy isn’t on more radars as a favorite. He completely sold the story, from high adrenaline intense scenes to the more dramatic heartfelt scenes, everything felt like a top notch performance. I think I would’ve enjoyed this without his narration, but with it, I know I enjoyed it even more.

People speak about the inspiration being Dune, but it's almost 99% identical to Warhammer 40K. That being said it's well written and interesting with the same framing device as Patrick Rothfuss did - but at least here he is finishing the story.Anyway, the main complaint is that it is very slow and 6 books seems to much for such a story.

Empire of Silence, the first installment in Christopher Ruocchio’s Sun Eater series was a highly entertaining read and a great start to a space opera series. I have seen a lot of criticism of Mr. Ruocchio’s work, claiming it is entirely too derivative (if not a near replica) of Patrick Rothfuss’ Kingkiller Chronicles, however, other than the use of a framing narrative (which is not exclusive to Rothfuss) and some common themes (which, frankly, are common to many sci-fi and fantasy works in general) I don’t see Empire of Silence as being overly derivative. Honestly, I see a lot more Dune inspired references than anything else – which I rather enjoyed.Empire of Silence effectively uses a framing narrative, in which Hadrian Marlow opens the story by telling the reader he is known as a hero, a villain, a murderer, a savior, and the man who eradicate an entire species and killed a sun. After Hadrian “introduces” himself to the reader, the story opens as he recounts his early life as a privileged scion of a powerful family and the internal turmoil he feels between duty (family) and his heart’s desire (to be a scholar). After the latest in a string of arguments with his father, 19-year old Hadrian is destined to be packed off to the Chantry – the religious type order that controls the empire’s technology and is not afraid to use torture to get what it wants. Hadrian, horrified by this turn of events, attempts to flee his fate, but (as is wont to happen) things don’t go to plan and Hadrian finds himself penniless and abandoned on a strangle planet where, through a combination of wit, guile, and luck he manages to find himself entwined in empire political intrigues and hidden secrets of the Chantry.The world building was top notch, with the reader’s knowledge of the empire, its planets, inhabitants (human and non-human), technology, history, and political structure expanding as Hadrian learns of these things. I especially liked the blending of sci-fi with fantasy and the use of the Roman Empire as a basis for some of the political/military structure.While information was presented through structured lessons, conversations, or as an aside as “older” Hadrian expanded on a certain point it never felt like an exposition dump. I credit that due to Mr. Ruocchio’s skill as an author; while there were certain passages that felt a bit . . . clumsy, the novel’s overall prose was a lovely balance between straight forward/direct and poetic – with the poetic passages being (mostly) limited to Hadrian’s inner thoughts, reflections, and mediations (which makes sense considering he wanted to be a scholar).Since this is a first person POV narrative, I always take the characterizations of others with a grain of salt since our narrator’s basis and personal feelings certainly will cloud his perceptions. I did enjoy the characters that Hadrian met; I thought they were all interesting, allowed for Hadrian to do some soul searching, and moved the story well. While the pacing was a bit slow, the story was never dull.I greatly enjoyed Empire of Silence and look forward to continuing on with the series.

Before I picked up this book, I read several reviews comparing it to Dune. Well a few pages in and I had a bitter taste in my mouth, as this book seemed less inspired by Dune and more a complete ripoff. Well, if you feel the same as I did I encourage you to keep reading. Although it does borrow world elements from Dune heavily, it is an amazing book in its own right.The prose is stellar (pun intended) and introspective, the characters well developed and relateable, and the plot will leave you white knuckles by the climax. For whatever it's worth, I wholeheartedly endorse this book and am looking forward to reading more in the series and anything else Christopher Roucchio puts his name on.

I know this is a long story, with six more main volumes, novellas, and short stories, so there is much much more to come. This certainly has been an interesting beginning and I look forward to continuing this series. The writing, the world building, and the storytelling are excellent. However, I do find the continual references to ancient cultures, some incredibly obscure, a bit overdone.There were times when I did not like the main character at all. He can be rude, pretentious, annoying, and make some very bad decisions. He did grow throughout the story, although his abilities did not always seem to merit his place in the story, and I got to like his character in spite of his flaws.Highly recommended!

I loved this book. The story is very engaging, the world Ruocchio has created is amazing, and it has such a great cast of characters (especially the main one). I also loved the philosophical ideas and concepts which are explored in it.It leaves you wanting more, and I can’t wait to read the next books in this series. Highly recommended!

The media could not be loaded. que história sensacional! eu não estava esperando que fosse ser tão bom assim, ele entrou pra minha lista de favoritos da vida! ansioso pros próximos volumes

I enjoyed the world building done by Christopher in this book. He blends beautifully sci-fi, fantasy and mythology themes. If you are an fan of any of these genres this book is a must read for you. Also, the hook in the prologue is one of the best I have read and I was engaged for the entire book. I enjoyed following the life of Hadrian Marlowe!

Complex and fascinating look at how humans live in a distant future. Very original storyline which I thoroughly enjoyed.

it was meant to be the start of something really big. so i have been patient trough the 30 so chapters of melodramma and pity than becomes faster around chapter 50/60 . i'm curious for the other books.