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A review by nathonius
Empire of Silence by Christopher Ruocchio
adventurous
emotional
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Empire of Silence feels like a mishmash of every epic sci-fi book and fantasy book I've ever read. There's swashbuckling, there's big, galaxy and time spanning conflicts, and there's even a bit of a chosen one fantasy in there to top it off.
This isn't a bad thing - it really does work most of the time. Sure, it might feel like Dune fan fiction for a few chapters, but then the author has moved on to re-telling Gladiator. Then it turns into something out of Asimov, and finally lands on Warhammer 40k.
There are really only three things that bring my rating down from a 5. First, Empire of Silence might pass the bechdel test, but only just. Second, is a rushed ending that felt incongruous with the prior 650 pages. And finally, but definitely worst of all, is the framing device the author uses for the story.
If you edited out every part of the novel where future Hadrian reminded you that this was his account of his life and gave vague, annoying hints at where the story would go, the book would be shorter and better. These interruptions are framed as the reader being someone in-universe who knows the reputation he has and the history surrounding him, but because we obviously don't know those things, these passages are intended to create a sort of dramatic tension. However their effect is instead a ham-fisted job of teasing the reader, like a movie trailer with all the best parts of the movie in it, but none of the context. It doesn't endear me to the story, it makes me feel like you're trying to sell me the rest of a series. It's even worse since most of what is teased isn't even in this first book in the series.
All that aside, this really is a fun book. Too long winded, with a pretentious framing device, but it presses so many buttons in all the genres I love, and does most of them well.
This isn't a bad thing - it really does work most of the time. Sure, it might feel like Dune fan fiction for a few chapters, but then the author has moved on to re-telling Gladiator. Then it turns into something out of Asimov, and finally lands on Warhammer 40k.
There are really only three things that bring my rating down from a 5. First, Empire of Silence might pass the bechdel test, but only just. Second, is a rushed ending that felt incongruous with the prior 650 pages. And finally, but definitely worst of all, is the framing device the author uses for the story.
If you edited out every part of the novel where future Hadrian reminded you that this was his account of his life and gave vague, annoying hints at where the story would go, the book would be shorter and better. These interruptions are framed as the reader being someone in-universe who knows the reputation he has and the history surrounding him, but because we obviously don't know those things, these passages are intended to create a sort of dramatic tension. However their effect is instead a ham-fisted job of teasing the reader, like a movie trailer with all the best parts of the movie in it, but none of the context. It doesn't endear me to the story, it makes me feel like you're trying to sell me the rest of a series. It's even worse since most of what is teased isn't even in this first book in the series.
All that aside, this really is a fun book. Too long winded, with a pretentious framing device, but it presses so many buttons in all the genres I love, and does most of them well.