wolvenbolt's reviews
264 reviews

So far this is the weakest book of the series, it took the weaknesses and sufferings from the first book that were originally minor and amblified them.

Majority of this book was dialogue, I'm not kidding, I kept track of it and at one point 20% of the book near the beginning was taken up by a single character's dialogue spanning many pages in a row. It just kept going on and on and on and on, dialogue and dialogue and talking and talking and talking and talking. I've read over 300 books since 2018, I've never encountered anything like this ratio of prose and dialogue. It was completely unchecked and out of control.

I absolutely love Baley, he's one of the most fascinating and well-written protagonists I've read. I really enjoyed his journey in this book, and seeing how he's trying to overcome his fears and acclimatise himself to the Outside.
Daneel was as good as ever but, again, not shown as much as I'd have liked, it focused more on Giskard, which I realised why at the end of the book.

However, again, same critism as the first book:
The tying up of the investigation at the end of the book was a massive exposition dump that mostly came out of nowhere. Now it wasn't as random-seeming as the first book, but the second book was quite good at the tying up of the investigation, and this was closer to book 1 than the book 2. Everything made sense in the end, which is good, but we were along for the journey with Baley the whole time and we were in his head and most of what he deduced at the end seemed to have popped out of nowhere and like Baley came to those deductions off-camera. Books such as this are done well when you get to the end and everything is revealed and you can go "Oh shit yeah! I remember seeing that! Oh yeah that makes sense!" etc, and that really didn't feel like it at the end.

But I really loved the last bit of the book and the amazing twist with one of the characters. Makes me super excited for the last book!

The book was too long, the prose-to-dialogue ratio was tilted way too far towards the dialogue, focused a lot less on the world building compared to the other books (and it's one of Asimov's strengths in this series imo), but the worldbuilding that was there was decent enough to make me see the world. But the ending and it's implications are exciting! 

This book was amazing. It was far better than the first book. Every criticism I had about the first book was completely resolved in this one.

I was not expecting to return to Elijah Baley and Daneel Olivaw. I really enjoyed their characters in the first book but I honestly believed the first book was just a setup for the world itself and not part of a larger narrative featuring these two characters.

The world building was excellent. Asimov crafted an incredible story with intricate detail woven into it to really make you feel the world of Solaria.
I love the plot, it was really interesting to follow. There was a lot of complexities with the world and how different it was to ours. I really loved seeing how the lack of human connection was portrayed. Baley's character in this book was engaging in every scene and it was very satisfying hearing Baley's thoughts and how he observed the world around him and his piecing things together and trying to understand how the culture was so different, and yet no Solarian realised that he was taking everything in and forming all sorts of reasonings.

I was a bit disappointed at first that the book didn't feature Daneel as much as the first book, but after finishing it, I believe it was the right choice as it let Baley shine more. In the first book, Daneel was often used as a plot device to introduce us to the world and future culture of Earth. This time however, Asimov chose to show us the world of Solaria through Bailey's eyes only. And it really made you feel like you were on Solaria. The planets unusual culture and norms could shock and confuse us just as much as it did Baley, and we came to understand why such cultures existed, the same times Baley did. 

At the 95% mark we were shown who the killer was. At first I was confused and told myself that this couldn't possibly be the killer, that his confession was due to duress of human contact, which in fact proved that he was not physically capable of committing the first murder. And then when we got to the very end of the book and it was revealed that he was indeed the mastermind of the two murders but his aversion to human touch, connection and presence prevented him from physically carrying out the first murder, so he manipulated the man's wife into doing, and she done so under such terrible stress and blacked it out.

I am very much looking forward to the next book! 

This book was not at all what I was expecting after coming from The Complete Robot, but that's not a bad thing! After coming from a collection of short stories set in the same universe as Asimov's The Robot, after experiencing all sorts of sciencey stories, technological tales and philosophical fictions, I was expecting a more grand tale in this main book.

Instead I found a neat little detective story, that was cleverly written to give as much detail on lore and world-building as it could, such as societal norms, different superstitions and perspectives, and make this world full of robots, ironically, feel as alive as possible.

However, it was not perfect. It suffers from what many detective books, shows and movies often do; leaving little clues around to make the reader at the end go "Oh yeah! I remember, oh yeah that makes sense now!" when what's actually happening is the detective at the end out of nowhere explains this huge speculation of how the killer did it, and why, and we never made these connections ourselves with the detective. It really did feel like Elijah vomited up a wad of exposition dumps at the end and explained what happened, with 5% breadcrumb evidence and 95% pure speculation that cannot really be proved without a confession.

I found myself saying "Holy shit, that makes sense!" and "Oh yeah it makes sense now", but then I took a step back from the moment afterwards and realised this all came out of nowhere, Elijah was pulling all of this out of his ass from 4 or 5 bits to be remembered from the story. And honestly that saddens me, if I was Asimov, I'd have got to the point at the end and then took parts of the speculation and added more detail throughout the overall narrative so it would feel less out of nowhere at the end exposing the killer.

I believe Asimov spent more time on world-building, lore and character development, than the plot itself, and I believe it suffered and became evident at the end. 

Overall? It was a neat little book that made me think a lot about how we treat others and how we view ourselves, I really enjoyed this book and I have no idea where the next book in the series is going to take me, but I'm here for it 😊

Just made me uncomfortable, not my taste 

What an unexpectedly delightful book!
I wanted to start Asimov's robot series due to the current state of AI and I was curious.
This book was filled with so many ideas and philosophical questions that scratched at itches I rarely get scratched.

There is a great selection of wholesome and heartwarming little stories contained in this short story collection, but also some horrific tragedies.
I was fascinated by the Three Laws of Robotics and how Asimov showcased all the consequences of these laws, how they were pushed to their limits, and their understanding of them challenged. The entire book constantly reinforces the Three Laws, and for a little while I found it annoying, but after reaching the end, I am glad it was so repeatedly brought up. 

This book, about robots, brought so many new perspectives, insights and understandings of what it is to be human. Which is unbelievably ironic 🤣

Please put this book on your TBR and stick with it, trust in it to make you feel grateful of life and of the beautiful genius imagination that was poured into it. 

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.

By FAR the best of the Tales of the Sun Eater collections, I loved every story in this.

There were characters in this, such as Simon, that I sincerely hope are incorporated into the main cast of the next main book!

We are SOOOOO BACK BABY!!!
Now THIS is the Sun Eater series I know and love!

By far the best side story Ruocchio has pumped out, Lorian was already one of my favourite characters and he's so interesting, but being able to be in his head for this book and hearing his recollections and his feelings towards certain people was amazing.

The plot itself was gripping, intriguing and very enjoyable. Unlike Ashes of Man, the "War" or battle in this book was completely captivating and I was invested, it had stakes and it kept me hooked.

As for the side characters, as you could anticipate, most of them were hostile and absolutely horrible towards Lorian because he's an Intus, being in his head for this book, it was really interesting seeing his thought processes and how he reacts to such things and the defences he's built up to protect himself.

What I loved was the portrayal of his weak body, he still adapted and moved along despite it and he often used his condition to his advantage.
(This is exactly the sort of thing Ruocchio needed to do with Hadrian in Ashes of Man, he took all the things that made Hadrian himself away in that book, and instead of having him find a new version of himself, someone without the powers and advantages and plot armours, he just left him neutered and useless.)

I also loved finding out about his beliefs, which were kept secret even from his closest friends from the series. However, one thing that annoyed me and felt inconsistent with his character,

was when the people running the prison talk to him and told him Hadrian was on Jadd kicking his feet up and partaking in slaves being prostituted. Lorian believed them, he actually believed Hadrian just gave up and sat around drinking and canoodling with women. This is the first man that believed in Lorian, who plucked him out from a depressing and monotonous position that was given to him because nobody wanted him nor could stand him, everyone is always disgusted by his appearance and his very existence. Hadrian believed in him, gave him a position, allowed him to earn respect on his own actions and merits, he let him flourish and use his gifts, surrounded by a family-like group of misfits which he fit in with. This is someone Lorian loved deeply, someone that meant so much to him that he sacrificed his future for and broke him out of prison and took his place. And he easily believed Hadrian just fecked off and retired to Jadd? Seriously? That's so inconsistent! It would have been a bit more believable if they had to work really hard to convince Lorian, but he just believed them straight away after like one litrle denial.

Apart from that, this is an amazing book 🤯 

I can't believe a side book about a different character was better written than a MAIN book, absolutely mind blowing. I'm deviating from this review, but this book made me reflect on Ashes of Man a lot.

Was fully prepared to give this book between a 3 and 3.5 but the ending blew my socks off 👀

This is my least favourite book of the main series so far. It truly started to grip me at the 70% mark. The plot in this book was pretty weak. I thought the series was going to soar after the end of the previous book, but this is not at all what I was expecting, most of the book felt like filler. God this breaks my heart honestly, I can be hyper critical of things but I really wish I didn't feel this way. 

This picks up after the end of Kingdom of Death and sees Hadrian returning to Imperial Society after his captivity. There were some nice story character development at the beginning with the Emperor, and some awesome lore reveals, but it still felt like nothing was happening.

Hadrian has been completely neutered, I'm not even talking about his powers, I mean completely. And it wasn't even done in an interesting way. Hadrian can't sword fight for shit anymore, he's no longer brave, he can't reach for his second sight anymore, the only power he has left is plot armour. So many times in the book was Hadrian put in positions he should have been killed or executed or maimed, but even without his powers to protect him, lady luck, or should I say plot armor, smiled upon him.

I don't know what was done to Valka, this strong, hard-headed, intelligent and daring woman was neutered in a completely different fashion. She became an example of the worst kinds of stereotypical depiction of women, she was overly emotional and always worried about Hadrian and grabbing his arm being near him, I understand she's been though her own crucible with the damage from the virus in her head, and she hadn't seen Hadrian in so long and he's suffered so much, so perhaps it's reasonable to say she's become more vulnerable, and that would have been great, if it didn't sacrifice her core character completely. God it annoyed me, it just wasn't Valka.

I loved Lorian and Bassanders character's in this! And a return of an old character too! The last 25% of this book was amazing, so much happened and so much so it has changed everything.
There was a moment at the end that really broke my heart and had me emotional, and Hadrian's change was so real and raw and powerful and I cannot wait to see how he evolves from here.

But I really wish Ruocchio made the useless parts of this book more useful, either expanding the world building, developing the characters or changing our perspective on something. Instead it felt like smoke, formless, pointless, a whole war was waged for a good chunk of this book and I cared about nobody at all and there felt like there was zero stakes, all of which was made worse and compounded by Hadrian's neutered state. I thought it was gonna pull a Spider-Man 2 and have him come back better than ever and we'd see more of the great man he'll soon be remembered for. There was one flicker of such a moment that lasted a couple of pages, and then he went back to being useless, this time understandably so given what happened.

If you've read the Lightbringer books by Brent Weeks, it became clear around the 3rd and 4fh books that something changed, the flow of the story changed, and it became obvious that the story originally planned was expanded to make more books, thus diluting the story and making it convoluted and full of plot holes.
I had the very same feeling reading Ashes of Man, this felt like a filler book, it felt directionless and like it was there just for exposition purposes with some awesome lore dumps at the beginning and some shocking events at the end, changing the direction of the story entirely.

Maybe my feelings towards this will soften with time, mellow, or mature, and I'll appreciate it more.
I'm just disappointed, and there's two side books to read now until I reach Disquiet Gods, book 7.
I hope it improves, I really do 🙏