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A review by rg9400
Empire of Silence by Christopher Ruocchio
adventurous
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
I had overall mixed opinions about Empire of Silence. On one hand, the world is fascinating, and though it does feel a bit like Dune or Red Rising, it also differentiates itself with a focus more on science, research, and religion that I really appreciated. I also really liked how one of the more prominent side characters is a scientist and Hadrian's expertise is in linguistics. This leads me to believe that the central mystery has a lot of potential and is the main hook for me to continue. The line-by-line prose is also pretty sharp, though I had issues with the larger structure and editing of the book.
Mainly, the pacing is glacial, but all of a sudden, you will get shifts in setting and circumstances that have no buildup. This leads to a weird experience reading this book where you just start to get comfortable with a story arc only for it to be pulled from under your feet. The other writing quirk I struggled with was that there is this framing story where Future Hadrian is recounting his past to us. The problem is that he often interjects into the story with context from the future, which could be interesting but often results in constant foreshadowing that started to feel a bit grating. Also, there is a tendency to hyperbole where multiple events in this book are claimed to be pivotal in his story that the concept starts to even lose meaning. My largest gripe though was related to the side characters. Like with the arc, as soon as I started to warm up to any character, they would suddenly disappear from the story to a degree that we learn they will never show up again (thanks Future Hadrian). This happens constantly, and most egregiously, there is one of the more interesting characters who ends up being one of the worst examples of fridging I've read in a while. This narrative loop is so common that I stopped even caring whenever a new side character was introduced because I just assumed they would not be relevant beyond a small section of this book, let alone in the series at a large. This prevents any character outside Hadrian from really having any development or depth (with the one character mentioned earlier as an exception). I struggle with this approach to the characters.
Overall, I am a bit reticent to continue with the series but will do so because of the insane hype around the series. There are aspects of this book that I really enjoyed, and when fully immersed in a specific story arc, I found myself really enjoying it. My problem is with how the arcs are stitched together. Still, the main story feels unique and interesting and with a lot of potential, so I will go through Lesser Devil and Howling Dark before deciding to finish or drop the series.
Mainly, the pacing is glacial, but all of a sudden, you will get shifts in setting and circumstances that have no buildup. This leads to a weird experience reading this book where you just start to get comfortable with a story arc only for it to be pulled from under your feet. The other writing quirk I struggled with was that there is this framing story where Future Hadrian is recounting his past to us. The problem is that he often interjects into the story with context from the future, which could be interesting but often results in constant foreshadowing that started to feel a bit grating. Also, there is a tendency to hyperbole where multiple events in this book are claimed to be pivotal in his story that the concept starts to even lose meaning. My largest gripe though was related to the side characters. Like with the arc, as soon as I started to warm up to any character, they would suddenly disappear from the story to a degree that we learn they will never show up again (thanks Future Hadrian). This happens constantly, and most egregiously, there is one of the more interesting characters who ends up being one of the worst examples of fridging I've read in a while. This narrative loop is so common that I stopped even caring whenever a new side character was introduced because I just assumed they would not be relevant beyond a small section of this book, let alone in the series at a large. This prevents any character outside Hadrian from really having any development or depth (with the one character mentioned earlier as an exception). I struggle with this approach to the characters.
Overall, I am a bit reticent to continue with the series but will do so because of the insane hype around the series. There are aspects of this book that I really enjoyed, and when fully immersed in a specific story arc, I found myself really enjoying it. My problem is with how the arcs are stitched together. Still, the main story feels unique and interesting and with a lot of potential, so I will go through Lesser Devil and Howling Dark before deciding to finish or drop the series.