wolfmantula 's review for:

Ashes of Man by Christopher Ruocchio

5.0

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Wow, just wow! Ruocchio put on another masterclass clinic in how to send a reader or listener through a roller coaster of emotions. I don’t know exactly how to feel because I’m so incredibly angry and emotional but at the same time, I’m excited for the future from such an exhilarating story. I haven’t said it before, but I probably should, Ruocchio has been solidified as one of my favorites, and easily my favorite sci-fi author. I loved this almost as much as Demon in White and it was everything I wanted it to be after the incredible events that Kingdoms of Death finished on, and then the way Ashes of Manfinishes, just has me seething to see what happens next in the penultimate novel, Disquiet Gods.

“We have need of heroes, however broken, however terrible, however insufficient they may be. And we have need of more than one hero, for heroes do break, you know.”

Like its predecessors, Ashes of Man starts out a bit slow but builds up and really pays off around the halfway point of the story and from there on out is total chaos. Hadrians trauma has always been a main part of the story, but this time around it felt like a lot more was put on it, the years have waned on him and he’s a shell of his former self. Watching him deal with all the trauma while going through more is enough to break any man, the way any great Greek tragedy would. I’ve gushed on it since book one, but the narration by Samuel Roukin is just on another level and he continues to bring it. Also, Lorian’s voice has been very familiar and I couldn’t place it for a while, but it finally hit me after watching a movie, Lorian sounds just like the actor, Giovanni Ribisi!