Mark’s review of Empire of Silence (The Sun Eater, #1) > Likes and Comments
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space opera + medieval society + religion & heretics + character based + poetic prose + technology + curiosity + defying orders = me being the victim of a very brutal robbery—MY MONEY!
Excellent review my friend!! I loved this book!! FYI: the book sleeve is in the mail. I will send you a pic when I get it! You’re gonna shit, I almost shit when she sent me the pics of it!!! 🖤🐶🐺🐾😉
Yes I totally get you. The easiest way to describe this book in a sentence is Red Rising crossed with Name of the Wind. I believe describing books like that does do them a disservice but nonetheless, it's a simple comparison to draw.
If you want a similar SciFantasy world like Dune and this book, I HIGHLY recommend Cage of Souls by Adrian Tchaikovsky. I'm upset because I know the book is going to be criminally underread. I reviewed it on YouTube if you search "Books Rebound, Best SFF Standalones" you should find a video where I mention Cage of Souls, Middlegame and A Brightness Long Age by Guy Gavriel Kay (MASTER of prose lol).
Cage of Souls is spectacular. It takes place FAR in the future in a world dying from how humanity ruined in. There's one city left on the planet; it's called Shadrapar and it's home to 100 000 human souls. The story is told in 5 parts about a man Stefan Advani who is sent to a terrifying floating prison in the middle of a jungle swamp. Parts 2 and 4 go back and detail his crime and how he evaded the law while the other 3 parts detail his prison experience. The book was reallllly impressive and it would mean a lot if you looked into it and recommended it to people. It's really great and not enough people know about it! Feel free to check out my video on Books Rebound or LifeGoofer also has a video about it!
I really enjoyed Empire of Silence and the author, Christopher Ruocchio is a great guy to boot. Highly recommended.
Matthew, Cage of Souls was awesome as well. I also really liked Children of Time. Adrian Tchaikovsky is a bit hit and miss for me as to how much I like a particular book, but those two were great.
I think the similarities are too great to ignore, so it feels like someone plagiarising Dune only putting it their own words, which I agree with you about, only to a greater degree because I find it overblown all the time, like the author was constantly trying to write like that, like it doesn’t come natural so feels forced and thus overblown.
I know you gave four stars but I'm feeling a hesitancy throughout the review. Is this more of a grudging, 'Okay, okay I'll round it up to 4', than a whole-hearted mark of satisfaction? There are elements that sound interesting to me but somehow I'm not convinced to give this one a go [and I need to finish off Book of the Ancestor with Holy Sister burning a hole in my bookshelf!].
Btw I rather like the lilac-tinged cover in light of your review: it seems appropriate for a book whose prose is not quite 'purple'.
I’m trying to get into this book but it really just feels like Dune fan fiction or something. It seems to cross the line from winking homage into something closer to plagiarism.
Will wrote: "I’m trying to get into this book but it really just feels like Dune fan fiction or something. It seems to cross the line from winking homage into something closer to plagiarism."
Everyone draws that line in a different place. I saw someone post last week that Red Sister was a point for point rip off of Bloodsong :D
The Dune vibes are strong here, but I was OK with it.
Mate as soon as he stared talking about sand plankton 😒😒 like there’s a line and he crossed it. I was just waiting for the gom jabbar and the old mentor to say “fear is the mind killer” 😂
![[Name Redacted]](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1347082397p1/287915.jpg)
Having just read those sections, the implication about the ruins is that the "Church" has been intentionally silencing anyone who attempts to research -- or publish research about -- the ruins because it contradicts their dogma that humans were the first spacefaring species and therefore entitled to Manifest Space Destiny. It's also established that they are not above extending that silencing to the civilizations outside the Empire.
Cant wait to dive into this series after I finish Red Rising:)
"this is really a planet-based book with sword fighting and archaeology"
Sold!
Well, you didn’t have to wait long Andrew. "Fear is death to reason" is pretty darn close.
I found the protagonist annoying - perhaps as a teen he's supposed to be, but he whined about his privilege too much for me.
Hope you’re able to try the sequel one day, Roucchio really stepped it up as a writer in that book. His series is amazing
Very good review. Gives a nice outlook on the book without spoilers or being overly long. Gonna start reading the book tonight.
I loved this book. It's sad that the engaging use of English is now considered "overblown." If you can write a character driven book that holds my interest you are automatically good because I typically DNF those. He's my new favorite author (after George R R Martin and Guy Gavriel Kay)
Great review. I just wanted to say that, even in our own (relatively recent) history great civilizations who were at the forefront technologically have fallen and the construction/technology they left was incomprehensible to people a century or two later. So it shouldn't seem like such a stretch. Although I have yet to read this book, so if im misunderstanding your point I apologize. I am also very interested in physics/cosmology so I can understand the instinct to nitpick that stuff when reading sci-fi or fantasy. It depends on the book, if the author is clearly using our universe, earth, the milky way, etc.. Then I expect pretty strict adherence to physics working as they do. If however, the story is set "long ago in a galaxy far far away" I do my best to not worry too much about it. Again thanks for a great review.
Jay wrote: "Great review. I just wanted to say that, even in our own (relatively recent) history great civilizations who were at the forefront technologically have fallen and the construction/technology they l..."
It's a society with spaceships and high tech. Clearly the scientific method and science is alive.
Now try to imagine that we ourselves find a substance that breaks all the rules of physics and we totally don't understand. Think about the effort put into understanding dark matter (which we can't see or touch) and the publicity around it.
And these guys have a mountain-sized chunk of this physics-breaking stuff on their planet. And what is the consequence? A general "meh". Instead of being the ongoing centre of science research with labs and tests etc and big corporations knowing vast rewards await whoever unlocks the secrets ... some anthropologists go there to look at the carvings once in a while (IIRC).
That's my point.
It's been a while since I read the book, so I apologise if the details are fuzzed.
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Maryam
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Apr 02, 2019 12:48PM
space opera + medieval society + religion & heretics + character based + poetic prose + technology + curiosity + defying orders = me being the victim of a very brutal robbery—MY MONEY!
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Excellent review my friend!! I loved this book!! FYI: the book sleeve is in the mail. I will send you a pic when I get it! You’re gonna shit, I almost shit when she sent me the pics of it!!! 🖤🐶🐺🐾😉
Yes I totally get you. The easiest way to describe this book in a sentence is Red Rising crossed with Name of the Wind. I believe describing books like that does do them a disservice but nonetheless, it's a simple comparison to draw. If you want a similar SciFantasy world like Dune and this book, I HIGHLY recommend Cage of Souls by Adrian Tchaikovsky. I'm upset because I know the book is going to be criminally underread. I reviewed it on YouTube if you search "Books Rebound, Best SFF Standalones" you should find a video where I mention Cage of Souls, Middlegame and A Brightness Long Age by Guy Gavriel Kay (MASTER of prose lol).
Cage of Souls is spectacular. It takes place FAR in the future in a world dying from how humanity ruined in. There's one city left on the planet; it's called Shadrapar and it's home to 100 000 human souls. The story is told in 5 parts about a man Stefan Advani who is sent to a terrifying floating prison in the middle of a jungle swamp. Parts 2 and 4 go back and detail his crime and how he evaded the law while the other 3 parts detail his prison experience. The book was reallllly impressive and it would mean a lot if you looked into it and recommended it to people. It's really great and not enough people know about it! Feel free to check out my video on Books Rebound or LifeGoofer also has a video about it!
I really enjoyed Empire of Silence and the author, Christopher Ruocchio is a great guy to boot. Highly recommended.Matthew, Cage of Souls was awesome as well. I also really liked Children of Time. Adrian Tchaikovsky is a bit hit and miss for me as to how much I like a particular book, but those two were great.
I think the similarities are too great to ignore, so it feels like someone plagiarising Dune only putting it their own words, which I agree with you about, only to a greater degree because I find it overblown all the time, like the author was constantly trying to write like that, like it doesn’t come natural so feels forced and thus overblown.
I know you gave four stars but I'm feeling a hesitancy throughout the review. Is this more of a grudging, 'Okay, okay I'll round it up to 4', than a whole-hearted mark of satisfaction? There are elements that sound interesting to me but somehow I'm not convinced to give this one a go [and I need to finish off Book of the Ancestor with Holy Sister burning a hole in my bookshelf!].Btw I rather like the lilac-tinged cover in light of your review: it seems appropriate for a book whose prose is not quite 'purple'.
I’m trying to get into this book but it really just feels like Dune fan fiction or something. It seems to cross the line from winking homage into something closer to plagiarism.
Will wrote: "I’m trying to get into this book but it really just feels like Dune fan fiction or something. It seems to cross the line from winking homage into something closer to plagiarism."Everyone draws that line in a different place. I saw someone post last week that Red Sister was a point for point rip off of Bloodsong :D
The Dune vibes are strong here, but I was OK with it.
Mate as soon as he stared talking about sand plankton 😒😒 like there’s a line and he crossed it. I was just waiting for the gom jabbar and the old mentor to say “fear is the mind killer” 😂
Having just read those sections, the implication about the ruins is that the "Church" has been intentionally silencing anyone who attempts to research -- or publish research about -- the ruins because it contradicts their dogma that humans were the first spacefaring species and therefore entitled to Manifest Space Destiny. It's also established that they are not above extending that silencing to the civilizations outside the Empire.
Cant wait to dive into this series after I finish Red Rising:)
"this is really a planet-based book with sword fighting and archaeology"Sold!
Well, you didn’t have to wait long Andrew. "Fear is death to reason" is pretty darn close.
I found the protagonist annoying - perhaps as a teen he's supposed to be, but he whined about his privilege too much for me.
Hope you’re able to try the sequel one day, Roucchio really stepped it up as a writer in that book. His series is amazing
Very good review. Gives a nice outlook on the book without spoilers or being overly long. Gonna start reading the book tonight.
I loved this book. It's sad that the engaging use of English is now considered "overblown." If you can write a character driven book that holds my interest you are automatically good because I typically DNF those. He's my new favorite author (after George R R Martin and Guy Gavriel Kay)
Great review. I just wanted to say that, even in our own (relatively recent) history great civilizations who were at the forefront technologically have fallen and the construction/technology they left was incomprehensible to people a century or two later. So it shouldn't seem like such a stretch. Although I have yet to read this book, so if im misunderstanding your point I apologize. I am also very interested in physics/cosmology so I can understand the instinct to nitpick that stuff when reading sci-fi or fantasy. It depends on the book, if the author is clearly using our universe, earth, the milky way, etc.. Then I expect pretty strict adherence to physics working as they do. If however, the story is set "long ago in a galaxy far far away" I do my best to not worry too much about it. Again thanks for a great review.
Jay wrote: "Great review. I just wanted to say that, even in our own (relatively recent) history great civilizations who were at the forefront technologically have fallen and the construction/technology they l..."It's a society with spaceships and high tech. Clearly the scientific method and science is alive.
Now try to imagine that we ourselves find a substance that breaks all the rules of physics and we totally don't understand. Think about the effort put into understanding dark matter (which we can't see or touch) and the publicity around it.
And these guys have a mountain-sized chunk of this physics-breaking stuff on their planet. And what is the consequence? A general "meh". Instead of being the ongoing centre of science research with labs and tests etc and big corporations knowing vast rewards await whoever unlocks the secrets ... some anthropologists go there to look at the carvings once in a while (IIRC).
That's my point.
It's been a while since I read the book, so I apologise if the details are fuzzed.
