A review by rg9400
The Lesser Devil by Christopher Ruocchio

adventurous medium-paced

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

3.75

Lesser Devil felt fairly different from Empire of Silence. It's significantly more action-focused without the framing story to cover it. I actually found the core struggle for our main character to be more interesting in this book, and I liked the way religion played a role in the larger worldbuilding. I didn't find the action particularly engaging, so I kind of glossed over large chunks of this book. However, I still thought the thematic concepts to be compelling. It's essentially one plot beat stretched out to novella length, and if the combat was edited a bit better, it might have been able to even achieve the short story length (which would have suited it better in my opinion). Still, I enjoyed it as a whole due to the character work, themes, and lore.