Empire of Silence Signals the Arrival of an Epic Science Fiction Talent
A hero to some, a monster to many more, Christopher Ruocchio’s chunky, ambitious debut Empire of Silence introduces Hadrian Marlowe, a reviled leader who killed an entire solar system to defeat an alien race. As he narrates the events of his jagged life, it becomes clear that there’s much more to the story, and to the war he never wanted to fight on behalf of an empire he loathes.
Empire of Silence (Sun Eater Series #1)
Hardcover $39.00
Empire of Silence (Sun Eater Series #1)
In Stock Online
Hardcover $39.00
Hadrian Marlowe is the firstborn son of Archon Alistair Marlowe, whose title is granted him by a complicated future class system not entirely unlike those that have endured in our world since the time of medieval Europe. His noble lineage is sustained through wealth—specifically, the rich stores of uranium under Marlowe control, worked by downtrodden miners in dangerous conditions using outdated equipment. The contemplative Hadrian has mixed feelings about ruling, much preferring the idea of signing on with the Scholiasts, an order devoted to the stoic pursuit of knowledge. He has even more reservations, though, about his cruel and generally unpleasant younger brother, Crispin, seizing power instead. No matter: the Archon has no intention of handing over his holdings to an academic like Hadrian. What’s more, he’s shipping Hadrian off—not to the Scholiasts, but to their opposites: the religious warriors of the Chantry, who are in the midst of a bloody inquisition across the galaxy.
Hadrian Marlowe is the firstborn son of Archon Alistair Marlowe, whose title is granted him by a complicated future class system not entirely unlike those that have endured in our world since the time of medieval Europe. His noble lineage is sustained through wealth—specifically, the rich stores of uranium under Marlowe control, worked by downtrodden miners in dangerous conditions using outdated equipment. The contemplative Hadrian has mixed feelings about ruling, much preferring the idea of signing on with the Scholiasts, an order devoted to the stoic pursuit of knowledge. He has even more reservations, though, about his cruel and generally unpleasant younger brother, Crispin, seizing power instead. No matter: the Archon has no intention of handing over his holdings to an academic like Hadrian. What’s more, he’s shipping Hadrian off—not to the Scholiasts, but to their opposites: the religious warriors of the Chantry, who are in the midst of a bloody inquisition across the galaxy.
This is here that things kick into gear for Hadrian: after an illicit meeting with a smuggling crew in a seedy spaceport, he plans to ditch his rendezvous with the Chantry and join up with the Scholiasts anyway, and for a brief moment, it seems the book is poised to enter Star Wars territory, with the prince setting off for adventure with a team of scoundrels. Sadly for Had, this is not that kind of story. After being placed into a form of suspended animation for what he thinks is the long voyage to join up with the Scholiasts, he’s instead unceremoniously dumped on a backwater world with nothing to his name but the ring that proves him part of a noble house. A noble house to which he can now never return. What follows is the story of a fall from anything resembling grace, and a very slow climb back to the top of the galaxy’s hierarchy. The story is narrated in Marlowe’s own voice; we learn at the outset that he will eventually become known as the Sun Eater, and will commit an unspeakable atrocity as part of humanity’s war with the only other truly sentient race ever encountered. The bildungsroman in-between—how he became the most hated man in the galaxy—is the stuff trilogies were made for.
This is science fiction by way of fantasy worldbuilding, with a mix of elements that shows a gleeful disregard for genre boundaries. There are castles and dungeons, lords and ladies, and Romanesque gladiator battles…in space. Galactic smugglers, cryo-pods, and Dune-inspired body shields meet up with dense invented lore: religion, philosophy, and history. The true skill here isn’t Ruocchio’s talent for appropriating bits and pieces from throughout literature and history, it’s his ability to blend it all together so convincingly. The pacing can be languorous in-between crises, but it’s all in service of building a compelling future world and, more importantly, establishing Hadrian as an engaging and compelling character. Think Michael Moorcock’s sullen and tragic Elric of Melniboné, well-meaning and capable, yet constantly finding himself at the mercy of fate.
It’s no mean feat; Hadrian is very often reacting to events outside of his control—cast adrift first by the machinations of his parents, then by the smugglers who left him behind, then elevated by a quirk of fate. In that sense, Ruocchio spends a great deal of the novel’s length breaking one of the cardinal rules of storytelling—his protagonist’s fate seems entirely out of his own hands. But his development of Hadrian is so thorough and precise, it really doesn’t matter. Even if he can be a bit sulky and reactive, he’s also a relentless survivor, and it’s hard not to identify with a character we come to know so deeply. Sci-fi and fantasy are occasionally plot-driven to the exclusion of character. Here, we get plenty of both. If the book takes its time, luxuriating in the details, all the better.
This is confident and impressive debut, particularly from a writer so young (Ruocchio’s bio indicates he finished it at age 22). On the surface, it is a fantasy novel transposed into space, not entirely unlike Dune, with a story structure that suggests epics like The Name of the Wind and A Plague of Giants. Go deeper, and you’ll find it’s a compelling exploration of the way outsized events have shaped the mind of a singular man. Empire of Silence introduces us to an enigmatic, thoroughly engaging lead character, and puts him through the wringer over and over as he’s propelled toward a destiny that manages to be surprising, even though the broad contours are laid out in the opening pages. It’s the hero’s journey, twisted into the life story of history’s greatest monster.