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3.98 AVERAGE
3.98 AVERAGE
adventurous
dark
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
3.5 stars. Empire of Silence started out as a five star read. It's imaginative, engaging and at times heart wrenching. Unfortunately, by the middle I found world became a tad murky and plot meandered for nearly 200 pages. But the last quarter brought it back together. I enjoyed the book enough to continue on and am very intrigued to see how Hadrian's story will unfold.
adventurous
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
challenging
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I definitely struggled with this a little, there’s a lot of set up here which is understandable for the first of a series, but it often felt like I couldn’t keep up with each new setting and new characters. I’m also really not fond of the way hints are dropped about the story and the characters as the narrator is reflecting on his past.
Saying that, there is much to enjoy here, the Colosso scenes being my favourite, and the end is satisfying, so I think I will continue!
Saying that, there is much to enjoy here, the Colosso scenes being my favourite, and the end is satisfying, so I think I will continue!
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
This book was new for me! It is definitely very heavy on the world building and by world building I mean entire universe building! I enjoyed it but it was definitely a lot to take in which made me have to read it more carefully. I am interested to see where the rest of the series goes since this book was really just a lot of set up and getting to know the character and his background. I have a feeling this series is going to be the embodiment of “when does a man become a monster?!” and I am both very excited and very nervous.
adventurous
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Loveable characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
DNF at 16%
I was looking forward to this so bad, my last intense Sci-Fi read was Red Rising and I enjoyed the first Trilogy so much, what a wild ride. So I was hoping for something similar, not plot-wise but like from the vibe. Oh how disappointing this book was to me.
I do like the World building, I think the concept of a civilization that has futuristic sci-fi and medieval concepts going hand in hand is super interesting, and with it being determined by class/wealth you could have done such cool things with someone lower class. But that's not what we got. Instead, we get a condescending, imperialist dick-sucking man-child whose empathy for others only goes as far as not inconveniencing him in any way.
This is a long book and for the first 100 or so pages the only inkling of the plot is some vague mentions of a warmongering alien race (whose only defining characteristic so far is being 'neither man nor woman' so hooray for subconscious transphobia) and our protagonists (Hadrian) incessant whining about not wanting to be replaced as Heir, to his father's Uranium mining empire build on the blood and corpses of the 'plebians', by his younger brother. This book would have been so much shorter in general if we didn't spend 70% of the book with the author jerking his ego and showing off his English literature degree with page-long philosophical tangents that would make even the British Empire blush. And even outside of those most of our time is spent listening to Hadrians' privileged whining and throwing himself a new pity party every few chapters. There are unlikeable main characters and then there is this.
What a fucking disappointment.
I was looking forward to this so bad, my last intense Sci-Fi read was Red Rising and I enjoyed the first Trilogy so much, what a wild ride. So I was hoping for something similar, not plot-wise but like from the vibe. Oh how disappointing this book was to me.
I do like the World building, I think the concept of a civilization that has futuristic sci-fi and medieval concepts going hand in hand is super interesting, and with it being determined by class/wealth you could have done such cool things with someone lower class. But that's not what we got. Instead, we get a condescending, imperialist dick-sucking man-child whose empathy for others only goes as far as not inconveniencing him in any way.
This is a long book and for the first 100 or so pages the only inkling of the plot is some vague mentions of a warmongering alien race (whose only defining characteristic so far is being 'neither man nor woman' so hooray for subconscious transphobia) and our protagonists (Hadrian) incessant whining about not wanting to be replaced as Heir, to his father's Uranium mining empire build on the blood and corpses of the 'plebians', by his younger brother. This book would have been so much shorter in general if we didn't spend 70% of the book with the author jerking his ego and showing off his English literature degree with page-long philosophical tangents that would make even the British Empire blush. And even outside of those most of our time is spent listening to Hadrians' privileged whining and throwing himself a new pity party every few chapters. There are unlikeable main characters and then there is this.
What a fucking disappointment.
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced