Empire of Silence - Christopher Ruocchio

Empire of Silence

By Christopher Ruocchio

  • Release Date: 2018-07-03
  • Genre: Science Fiction
Score: 4.5
4.5
From 83 Ratings

Description

Hadrian Marlowe, a man revered as a hero and despised as a murderer, chronicles his tale in the galaxy-spanning debut of the Sun Eater series, merging the best of space opera and epic fantasy.

It was not his war.

The galaxy remembers him as a hero: the man who burned every last alien Cielcin from the sky. They remember him as a monster: the devil who destroyed a sun, casually annihilating four billion human lives—even the Emperor himself—against Imperial orders.

But Hadrian was not a hero. He was not a monster. He was not even a soldier.

On the wrong planet, at the right time, for the best reasons, Hadrian Marlowe starts down a path that can only end in fire. He flees his father and a future as a torturer only to be left stranded on a strange, backwater world.

Forced to fight as a gladiator and navigate the intrigues of a foreign planetary court, Hadrian must fight a war he did not start, for an Empire he does not love, against an enemy he will never understand.

Reviews

  • I wish I could read this for the first time again

    5
    By splendipulous
    I haven’t fallen in love with a sci-fi book like this since Dune. I knew from PAGE ONE that this book would be a 5 star read and I WAS NOT WRONG. That opening section was one of the best starts to a book I’ve ever read. Hooked INSTANTLY. And a few chapters in, I knew that this would be a reading experience that I wanted to cherish and savor because I could already sense that this would possibly be my favorite book of the year and definitely land itself in my list of favorites PERIOD. This book reinvigorated me. I was feeling so bored in some of the books I’ve read recently. Just not loving reading as much and getting tired of the books I kept picking up. But once I started this one, it was like I woke up from a coma. This sci-fi epic makes me want to shove this book in everyone’s face and make them read it. Every element worked for me: the classic sci-fi elements, aliens, xenobites, politics, Roman vibes, major Dune energy, tried and true sci-fi cliches that never miss, Caesar-esk narrator but Anakin protagonist, gladiators but not cringe, witty and intelligent characters that somehow are still stupid, original takes on stereotypes, new inventive sci-fi elements. I LOVED IT ALL. Picking up the next book IMMEDIATELY.
  • Awesome

    4
    By olachato
    I’m not usually into sci-fi but this novel hooked me from the beginning and left me wanting more. Great book