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A review by pagesplotsandpints
Empire of Silence by Christopher Ruocchio
4.0
Read Completed 11/21/24 | 3.75 - 4 stars, rounded up
I had no idea what I was in for picking up this series. I just knew that it was very well-loved and I couldn't tell if it was sci-fi or fantasy or both. What I got was very accurate according to many reviews in that it felt like THE NAME OF THE WIND by Patrick Rothfuss, but sci-fi instead of fantasy (oh, and this series will actually be completed).
EMPIRE OF SILENCE -- and the rest of the series -- is a story told by Hadrian Marlowe. If you've ready TNOTW, you'll feel the similarity in that this story has already concluded and we're receiving it from Hadrian himself at a time when everything is long past. I actually didn't really love some of those asides when Hadrian interjects because I actually would have rather had some questions about if he ever sees some of these characters again, because at least twice he tells the reader "that was the last time I saw him/her", if not more. I guess there's no point in me wondering, but it does allow me to have a curiosity and let my mind wander. There were also a couple characters that I DID want him to see again, so I was a little disappointed sometimes.
This book is not RED RISING. It's not action-packed or fast-paced. While it is science fiction and not fantasy, it has the long and meandering pace of many longer fantasy novels, like I mentioned THE NAME OF THE WIND and even at times The Stormlight Archive. (Oh, and DUNE, of course, for the epic sci-fi genre.) I really didn't mind that, thankfully, and I picked it up at a time where I felt like I was getting no character development from some other fantasy books I was trying, so I was all in with Hadrian to hear his story and spend all of this time getting to know him. My only character complaint was that Hadrian does go from place to place quite a bit in the book, so I wanted to spend more time with some of the OTHER characters so we could get a little crew going for him too. It does look like that will be more of book 2, so I'm looking forward to that. It got a little tiresome dropping everything that we just built -- characters, setting -- and just carrying on with character and taking the world-building deeper.
The other issue I had is that while it's not plot or action heavy, there is a ton of world-building. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE world-building, but listening as an audiobook was a little difficult at times. I REALLY could have benefitted from a Wiki, but it doesn't really look like one exists for this series. I just wished I could have had a reference to go back and look at some of the names of planets / towns / families / characters while reading to refresh my memory as I went along so I could really dig in to what I was reading. I'll have to trust that Christopher Ruocchio will take me where I need to be as we continue!
I definitely want to continue the series but may take a break for a while. I need a little break and I have some 1000+ fantasy books to read coming up here so I'm ready for some popcorn thrillers in the meantime! I look forward to checking out more of this series later!
I had no idea what I was in for picking up this series. I just knew that it was very well-loved and I couldn't tell if it was sci-fi or fantasy or both. What I got was very accurate according to many reviews in that it felt like THE NAME OF THE WIND by Patrick Rothfuss, but sci-fi instead of fantasy (oh, and this series will actually be completed).
EMPIRE OF SILENCE -- and the rest of the series -- is a story told by Hadrian Marlowe. If you've ready TNOTW, you'll feel the similarity in that this story has already concluded and we're receiving it from Hadrian himself at a time when everything is long past. I actually didn't really love some of those asides when Hadrian interjects because I actually would have rather had some questions about if he ever sees some of these characters again, because at least twice he tells the reader "that was the last time I saw him/her", if not more. I guess there's no point in me wondering, but it does allow me to have a curiosity and let my mind wander. There were also a couple characters that I DID want him to see again, so I was a little disappointed sometimes.
This book is not RED RISING. It's not action-packed or fast-paced. While it is science fiction and not fantasy, it has the long and meandering pace of many longer fantasy novels, like I mentioned THE NAME OF THE WIND and even at times The Stormlight Archive. (Oh, and DUNE, of course, for the epic sci-fi genre.) I really didn't mind that, thankfully, and I picked it up at a time where I felt like I was getting no character development from some other fantasy books I was trying, so I was all in with Hadrian to hear his story and spend all of this time getting to know him. My only character complaint was that Hadrian does go from place to place quite a bit in the book, so I wanted to spend more time with some of the OTHER characters so we could get a little crew going for him too. It does look like that will be more of book 2, so I'm looking forward to that. It got a little tiresome dropping everything that we just built -- characters, setting -- and just carrying on with character and taking the world-building deeper.
The other issue I had is that while it's not plot or action heavy, there is a ton of world-building. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE world-building, but listening as an audiobook was a little difficult at times. I REALLY could have benefitted from a Wiki, but it doesn't really look like one exists for this series. I just wished I could have had a reference to go back and look at some of the names of planets / towns / families / characters while reading to refresh my memory as I went along so I could really dig in to what I was reading. I'll have to trust that Christopher Ruocchio will take me where I need to be as we continue!
I definitely want to continue the series but may take a break for a while. I need a little break and I have some 1000+ fantasy books to read coming up here so I'm ready for some popcorn thrillers in the meantime! I look forward to checking out more of this series later!