Empire of Silence (The Sun Eater #1) [January 22, 2023]

[Yanique, Thread Master]

This is a Buddy Read for Empire of Silence by Christopher Ruocchio starting January 22, 2023.

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

I see this described as Kingkiller Chronicles in space... and I haven't read Rothfuss because I know about the neverending wait for the finale...

So let's try this... me, and Choko, and Brian all picked this up on the Audible sale in August... I first heard of it from Niki, I think?... I better like it, because I bought most of the series (I think it was during the $5/6/7 sale, so it was pretty cheap, but still)...

[Yanique, Thread Master]

Haven't read it, but I've only heard good things.

[Choko]

Spot!

[Katie]

Looking forward to this one!

[Nirkatze]

Excited! Bookmarked everything. :)

[Tonari no Emily]

Oh yeah I got this one on the sale too!

[JL]

I'll be doing this one too. It looks very good.

[Diana Stormblessed]

Going to try to join this one as well

[Katie]

Oooh, I’m excited for this one

[Brian]

I’m in

[Monika]

I'm in

[Navi]

I'm not joining this BR but I just want to let you all know how excited I am for you to read the Sun Eater series! I just finished my reread of the second book and it's just as amazing as I remembered it. Happy reading!!

[Frank]

I started reading this and must say it has familiar tropes, but its a bit different, with fantasy and space and planet hoping elements.
Does everyone have this on audiobook?
I reading it, to savor it.

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Most of us who requested it, picked up the series during the site-wide $5/$6/$7 sale on Audible, last August... so audio

[Tonari no Emily]

Navi wrote: "I'm not joining this BR but I just want to let you all know how excited I am for you to read the Sun Eater series! I just finished my reread of the second book and it's just as amazing as I remembe..."

Always good to hear praise for a book I plan on reading :)

[Nirkatze]

@Navi--ditto on Emily! Always a relief to hear...

[Athena]

I might try to jump in, I'm kind of overbooked with SPSFC reading but have had this series on my TBR forever and have the first few paperbacks at least :⁠-⁠)

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

I'm all caught up on BRs, for the first time all year... didn't know what to do with myself, and listened to a few chapters on the drive home...

I thought the story flowed easily, no learning curve to starting to listen... I haven't really read any of the books I've seen this compared to, so I'm not jaded, yet?

Probably not gonna rush ahead just yet, but I got a taste... up to around chapter 3-4, I think...

[Chris]

From the description I can definitely see where the "Kingkiller Chronicles in Space" comes from.

Sounds pretty intriguing.

[Chris]

And....used a credit. Bought.

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Went on a reading spree, with my free time, the past few days... back to BRs...

I jumped back on to this an hour or 2 ago, and have ready another 7 chapters... up to chapter 10 now...

I think I've passed the setup / backstory, and now the story/plot is picking up momentum? (view spoiler)[Hadrian has distinguished himself to the reader in how he's different from his ruthless father the Emperor and violent/cruel younger brother... but he hasn't really endeared himself... so now he's been passed over as heir, and sent to religious order... doesn't sound like he plans to go where he's told tho... at least he has his teacher (whose been more like a father than his actual father?)...

That's the bare bones of what I've got, so far... seeing where the story takes me... MC also does alot of philosophizing... (hide spoiler)]

[Diana Stormblessed]

Started this one this weekend. About 10% in so far. I'm kind of getting Dune vibes from it but enjoying it more than Dune.

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Diana Stormblessed wrote: "Started this one this weekend. About 10% in so far. I'm kind of getting Dune vibes from it but enjoying it more than Dune."

I havent read dune because I hear it goes downhill after the first book, and all the audio is abridged, but I felt the same from my memories of the movie (the original)

EDIT: Fear is Poison, Rage is Blindness... or... to quote Dune: (view spoiler)[“I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain.” (hide spoiler)]

THAT definitely gave me Dune vibes (the pre-spoiler quotes / sayings / aphorisms)...

[Monika]

I'll start tomorrow I think, need to charge my kindle :)))

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

FTL: (view spoiler)[I find it interesting that the solution to space travel here wasn't FTL (Faster Than Light) travel, but rather just extending lifespans so much that you don't mind losing a decade to travel between planets... (maybe don't mind is strong)... (hide spoiler)]

[Brian]

I’m started yesterday and about 4.5 hrs in. Lots of buildup and not a lot really happened yet. Def Dune vibe

[Monika]

I opened book file on my kindle, so will be ready for tomorrow :)))

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

I'm near the end of chapter 23... things are happening, but it's kinda of a constantly revolving door of new situations... I don't think Hadrian has agency yet, if I'm using the term right... he's not really in control of his fate (I wonder if that's a common thing to the series, honestly, given all the foreshadowing about events centuries in the future)... hopefully that changes soon, and I can start to feel like Hadrian is building/growing towards something...

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Google just told me that Baen Books has signed a deal with Ruochhio for the last 2 books in the series (7 total, I assume, since 5 are out already)... #6 is coming in 2024... looks like Ruocchio started shopping for a new publisher when DAW books was acquired by Astra Publishing House, some time ago... this news dropped last week:

https://www.baen.com/pr-suneaterseries

[Brian]

Chapter 24- So far I am struggling to connect with Hadrian. I know we have some foreshadowing that has me filled with anticipation, and I know we have to throw the character into some trouble before we get there, but.....it just seems to be taking forever to make it happen. The story is not moving forward much (at least in my view). The plot just seems to move slowly and without much that makes me truly care what happens to Hadrian yet. This is a long story so I hope at it picks up at some point

[Chris]

I just finished Chapter 26, putting me around the 1/3 mark.

I'm rather captivated, though the pace has been rather slow. I do like this narrator.

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Brian wrote: "Chapter 24- So far I am struggling to connect with Hadrian. I know we have some foreshadowing that has me filled with anticipation, and I know we have to throw the character into some trouble befor..."

That's my hope, as well... I'm trying to give it the benefit of the doubt, at least as the first entry in the series... if this is how it's always gonna be, it'll remind me of Wheel of Time, which was alot of work, to reach the payoff in each book...

[Monika]

I'm in the middle of chapter 3 I think. So far I can say, Hadrian has/had crappy childhood. He supposed to be and heir, but his father has different idea and his younger brother is piece of shit bully (sorry for my language).

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Monika wrote: "I'm in the middle of chapter 3 I think. So far I can say, Hadrian has/had crappy childhood. He supposed to be and heir, but his father has different idea and his younger brother is piece of shit bu..."

I'm not sure the brother is as bad as we think he is... I think it's being colored by Hadrian's POV/perception of the situation...

We see a bit more of Crispin in later chapters, up to about 15-20, then events separate the characters... and then I read the blurb for The Lesser Devil, and it's actually a novella (compared to the tome that is the rest of the series, anyway... the audio is 6hrs, which is practically a short book) from the POV Crispin, set right around the same time as the space travel time jumps around chapter 15-20... so we get a different perspective on things...

I interpreted the later scenes with Crispin a bit differently, just having read the blurb for Lesser Devil, and trying to give him the benefit of the doubt...

(And NOTE: since I'm only up to chapter 33, for all I know Crispin returns to this story at some point)...

[Monika]

So basically we can say that Hadrian remembered his childhood and his brother this way and this isn't exactly objectives LOL! I think we all do the same, remember emotions not all facts LOL!

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Monika wrote: "So basically we can say that Hadrian remembered his childhood and his brother this way and this isn't exactly objectives LOL! I think we all do the same, remember emotions not all facts LOL!"

Yea... and I actually think he warns us of that a few times, mentioning how he remembers how he felt about his mentor Gibson, more than his physical features (hooked nose, non-hooked nose, etc)...

It sounds like the story is being written as a memoir by Hadrian, 1000 years after the fact... I'm not really clear on the limits of lifespans in this sci-fi setting... centuries were mentioned, when referring to his father, but Gibson is aging faster, as a native of a different planet?... so it varies...

I'm not sure if I should be hiding more of this in spoiler tags, but I feel like we're mostly talking about generalities, and nothing super specific to the story...

[Monika]

Few centuries can mess up with memory LOL!

[Chris]

As far as aging, I thought that Gibson had different aging because of being a Mentat scholiast.

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Is that confirmed?... maybe I missed it?...

I also forgot to account for the cryo-"loss" of space travel... Hadrian might only be a few hundred years old, 1000 years in the future, due to time spend in cryostasis traveling through space between planets...

[Chris]

Timelord Iain wrote: "Is that confirmed?... maybe I missed it?...

I also forgot to account for the cryo-"loss" of space travel... Hadrian might only be a few hundred years old, 1000 years in the future, due to time spe..."

I honestly don't remember. Not sure if it's something said or inferred or something I assumed.

The cyro idea makes sense...

[Tonari no Emily]

Started yesterday.. Agree with everyone about Dune vibes... I only read the first Dune book and decided not to continue.

I'm liking the narrator for this so far at least!

[Tonari no Emily]

I'm okay with getting through a lot of this book before I'm really invested... A lot of Epic scifi/fantasy start this way and generally I appreciate the payoff. We'll see how I feel at the end of the book...

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Yea... the I'm trying to be optimistic... not pre-ruin a perfectly fine story/series...

I agree the narrator is good... probably half the reason I say the story flows so easily...

The delayed payoffs are half the reason I haven't read too much epic sci-fi/fantasy... being Buddy Read helps...

[Diana Stormblessed]

I'm at about Chapter 22 or so (view spoiler)[ Hadrian just woke up on some weird planet (hide spoiler)] and I'm still liking this book. It's slow but i like the characters. I only read the first Dune and didn't like it so maybe when i started reading this one i expected similar. But i feel like it's at a point where it's probably going to start picking up pace and I'll totally there for that.

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Diana Stormblessed wrote: "I'm at about Chapter 22 or so [spoilers removed] and I'm still liking this book. It's slow but i like the characters. I only read the first Dune and didn't like it so maybe when i started reading t..."

I feel that... that's exactly my thoughts around that point... I'm paused at chapter 33ish right now... reading Deadhouse Gates on my days off, but plan to continue with Empire of Silence at work this week, since it reads so easy...

In the late 20s/early 30s chapters: (view spoiler)[Hadrian meets Cat, and starts turning his life around after nearly drowning in flood season... this gave me minor Locke Lamora vibes... especially when a scene with a church guy happened shortly after...

Was sad to see this section of the story end with (view spoiler)[ her getting the plague, or something similar...

Guess it needed to happen, for him to end up in the fighting arena he's been avoiding, but was mentioned in the blurb and maybe the foreshadowing?... (hide spoiler)] (hide spoiler)]

[Brian]

I finished tonight. Not sure how I feel about this really. Pacing is way off, long ass book for what happened to Character, info like Hadrian but didn’t truly care much about his struggles, but narrator was awesome. Had it been a different narrator I would have quit for sure.

This book had potential and I still will probably continue series but I felt a lot missed the mark to make it better. Im going to marinate on some thoughts for a bit. Maybe it’s just my mood and the massive amounts of BR I have that are weighing this down but can’t help feel disappointed

[Nirkatze]

Tonari no Emily wrote: "Started yesterday.. Agree with everyone about Dune vibes... I only read the first Dune book and decided not to continue.

I'm liking the narrator for this so far at least!"

A bit late to the party--just started--but I'm dittoing y'all's Dune yet again--scholiat = mentat, the shield + sword training, the conspiracies and bloated empire... but this one has aliens too.

I read all the Dune books a long long time ago... 6th grade actually... and have always meant to reread them. I'm not sure I can trust my 6th grade impressions of them...

[Tonari no Emily]

Oh no Brian! That's disappointing for sure... So far its okay for me, but again I'm willing to give it some time. For now...

[Choko]

I read Dune when I was a kid and have barely any memories of it, so I can't compare. However, up to Ch. 5 and I have no issues with the pacing. It is immersive and is setting up the scene for the story very well, in my opinion. I will see how it feels as we go on...