This is by far the best book in the series so far, BY FAR. The difference between Ashes of Man and this book is not even an ocean but a universe of difference.
This took all the best parts of the books and put them in one book, 30% into the book and I already felt like it was the best of the series, and I never once felt any different as I progressed further.
It's hard to put into words how amazing this book is, and for me, it's in my top 3 best books I've ever read.
It was thrilling, captivating, gripping and I found it extremely difficult to pull away from the book.
It captured all my favourite feelings and moments from all the books, from the expedition from the first book, to the meet of Kharn Sagara in the second, from the political intrigues on Forum and the little moments in between.
This, is peak Sun Eater. And I fear, the next book, the final book, won't be able to top this.

Now there is only one thing about this book that I had an issue with, and that was the portrayal of

Cassandra.

.

From reading Tales of the Sun Eater volume 3, we were first introduced to her character on Jadd, and she was 15 years old. An intriguing character, and her very existence tugged at my heart strings, as I saw echos of her mother in her, and of her father.
Here's the issue though, Cassandra in this book was almost identical to her 15 year old self, despite her being over 40 years old. Those 40 years she spent growing up on Jadd, was spent entirely out of fugue, so those 40 years were actually lived and spent conscious and aging. And yet, she was still as foolish and immature as her 15 year old self, crying out for her Abba every second and never doing what her father asked. It was BEYOND annoying, of course her character has to have some form of naivety, she's been sequestered on Jadd for her whole life, subjected to all the hardships of her school, forged into a master swordswoman, but completely lacking in real-life experiences of battle and aliens and robotic foes. It makes me question how she survived the trials, how can she still as naive and dumb as her 15 year old self and yet survive the trials, it is unbelievable. I thought she was going to grow as the book progressed, but no, she was still reduced to a capable swordswoman crying out for her daddy every two seconds. It felt like she received the same treatment as Valka did by Ruocchio in Ashes of Man, reduced to emotional stereotypes, instead of complex and human.

Apart from that, there is nothing else I can nitpick. This book felt like 3 books packed into one without it feeling that length, it never stopped being gripping. From amazing lore reveals, the action, the character work, the story, the twists! This, I say again, is peak Sun Eater.