A review by rg9400
Howling Dark by Christopher Ruocchio

mysterious reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

I was hoping Howling Dark would undo a lot of my trepidations for this series, and unfortunately, it doesn't really address my core concerns. To start, the pacing is absolutely glacial. So little happens, and the entirety of the book feels like it could have been told in a few chapters in someone else's hand. Ruocchio's prose is good (though his slower style does not suit the action sequences at all), but his tendency to have future Hadrian add unnecessary foreshadowing is very repetitive and grating. It happens so often, and it adds so little because it always revolves around a hyperbolic expression of the importance of a decision, explaining how he had an incorrect outlook towards a certain group of people, or explaining how we'll never see another character again. This type of framing device in Name of the Wind is used to highlight the arrogance of the protagonist and how unreliable they may be. In Empire of the Vampire, it is used for humor. I am not sure it adds much value in Sun Eater other than padding the length considerably. My final gripe is that outside of Hadrian, no other characters really get any depth. Valka is the only one that seems to have more going on under the surface, and even then, her role is mostly relegated to being passive and an object for Hadrian in this book. All the other characters are two-dimensional, leading to various moments that felt like they were supposed to have emotional heft landing completely flat for me. With all of the negatives aside, I do wnat to highlight that I continue to be fascinated by the worldbuilding in this series. When the story is allowed to get a bit more mystical or look back into the past, as we get to see the legends within the world come to life, I am completely enthralled. I just wish all the slog in between these sections could be eliminated.

I do want to try Demon in White, often praised by people as the best in the series, before completely DNFing it. I respect the people who rave about this series, and though I do see potential, I can't say I agree so far.