Howling Dark: The Sun Eater: Book Two

Below is my review of the first book in the series after I've read first 3 books, now 5.I love the Sun Eater, it's at least 3rd in my all time chart. Or second, depending how it ends.Writing this for the 3-book (Update: now 5) series as a whole - it is by far one of the best sci-fi books I've ever read, and I've been reading sf since I turned 10. Yes, it's Dune-ish (shields, Ai banned and technology controlled, sword-fight, what not). Yes, the Hadrian was stupid at 20. Yes, there is plenty of unbelievable in the book(s). But it is insanely good and for once there is no great hero that ends up on a honeymoon with his beloved. Or may be he did? That's the thing, Ruocchio doesn't spill the story for us, he creates a web and shows us where the fly hit a few times before it finally got stuck. And the prose... it's beautiful. The small and not so small references, the magnitude of the world-building, everything works well.I can only compare it to Dune and Red Rising in terms of character development, but where Paul never wanted it and Darrow simply had to burn it, Hadrian manages to stay perfectly egoistical even in his altruism, and there is plenty of it. So it is different and beg reading about it.P.S. calling it coming to age is as much of an insult as throwing the same about any one of these two other characters I mentioned. Go read the Hunger Games and their lot of -ish brownwater if you want that.

This review was difficult to write! I had to take some time to piece my thoughts together after finishing Howling Dark, and honestly I'm still not sure if I've completely decided how I feel. Ultimately, I think determining the strength of a sequel can be answered by asking: "does this story deliver on the promises of the original?" And while there is much to like about Howling Dark (and some stuff to like, uh, less), I'm not convinced it does.I LOVED Empire of Silence. I adored the dazzling, far-flung future world it created, and all the carefully crafted empires and societies and cultures it introduced. The blend of military sci-fi and fantasy was fascinating, and the omniscient narrator teasing out how the story would conclude (while still maintaining a level of suspense) made it really unique. Hadrian was a bit of a bland main character, but certainly not objectionable, and anyway, there were dozens of colorful and intriguing side characters to balance him out. However, in many ways, Empire of Silence was a long (800 pages!) introduction to the Sun Eater saga, rather then a story in and of itself. It was in some ways, a long, glorified prologue. Which is not to say that things didn't happen! There was a lot going on in that book, but once I got to the end where Had and his friends went off to find Vorgossos I realized that the whole story had just been a lead-up to the beginning of a greater, grander story the author was going to tell. Which is 100% understandable in the first book of a series, especially one so tightly packed with world-building and political machinations. I was eager for the second book to take over and fully push us into the story of Hadrian Marlowe. And it...kind of does? In some ways? But when I finished Howling Dark I had this irritated moment of deja vu...because in many ways Howling Dark does the same thing Empire of Silence does. It ALSO feels like the beginning to a larger, grander story. And you can't really do that more then once!At almost 700 pages, Howling Dark didn't really have an excuse for being as empty on plot as it was. It was an engaging read for sure, and yes ~things happened~ but the plot can actually be boiled down to a sentence or two. Hadrian finds Vorgossos, and fails miserably at diplomacy (several times!). There's some interesting, if confusing, stuff going on with the Quiet, the Mericanii machines, this organism called the Deep, and the web of connections and unclear allegiances that link them all together. The stuff with the Quiet kind of exemplifies how I feel about Howling Dark as a whole: it's really interesting, but unnecessarily drawn out, and ends up feeling like a teaser for something more that'll happen...eventually. I get the sense that this author wants to make this series into a sprawling, long saga, but it ends up feeling like he's plugging filler in order to do so.I don't want to get too down on this book. It did have a lot going for it, Hadrian ends up sharpening into a more distinct, and memorable character - and you finally get the sense why he's reviled as a monster, since he does some genuinely monstrous things for believable reasons in this book. It's rare that authors push their characters into morally reprehensible territory (unless they're a cliched anti-hero or grimdark "protagonist" from the get-go), so it was refreshing to see Hadrian's "who you are in the dark" moments. He also doesn't shy away from making sure there are real and tangible consequences for Hadrian's actions, and isn't afraid to make Had lose or injure him (physically or emotionally). This helps keep the plot grounded (important, considering the fantasy element is becoming more showcased!), and makes any "happy" or bittersweet endings feel appropriately deserved.Valka becomes more likable in this book, although the cast of secondary characters don't have as much to do. The gladiators in particular get side-lined, and while they're in the book often, they rarely have much to do. Bassander Lin is terrific as a nuanced antagonistic presence for Hadrian, and he's probably the most well-developed side character in Howling Dark. The Exalted, Kharn Sagara, the Ceilcin, and the machine gods that lurk underground are also compelling, but Howling Dark is more interesting in introducing these characters then really digging too deeply into them (Kharn Sagara being the possible exception).Ultimately, Howling Dark was a perfectly enjoyable story, but left me feeling more disappointed then excited. I don't think it succeeded at delivering a satisfying follow-up to Empire of Silence - instead, it functioned more as another prelude to the larger story that's teased at. I'll keep reading this series, but I really hope the next story turns around and actually fulfills the promises of it's predecessors.

Easily 5/5 stars.I loved Empire of Silence, but my God, Howling Dark just obliterates that out of the water, and I knew going in that it would be better, but I’m in disbelief with just how much better it was. That’s no slight at all, just massive praise to how good this was. One of the more shocking things about this incredible sequel is that it doesn’t start like typical sequels do by continuing directly after the events of book 1, instead, this actually starts decades after the events of EoS. It takes a little bit to get used to it as it does feel like you just dropped in mid book and missed something, but there’s a lot of story to tell, so it makes sense to get to the more important aspects of the story rather than put a lot into the build up of getting to the point of where this starts. Hopefully he fills some of this gap in one of his Tales of the Sun Eater short story volumes.Ruocchio’s storytelling is so intoxicating, just makes you want to never leave the book alone and constantly read it, which is what happened. I’ve read many books by authors that could fall under this same description, but this might just be the tip of the sword in that aspect. It’s all I wanted to do, all I could think of, no tv, just read or whispersync every moment that I possibly could. There are times where it’s hair-raisingly intense with an insatiable lust of bloodcurdling ruthlessness. Even during its heart-wrenching moments, it’ll leave you in a measure of disbelief, I just can’t say enough about how good the story telling is.“True lessons require not only knowing, but that the student practices his knowledge again and again. Thus knowledge becomes us, and we become more than the animal and the machine. That is why the best teachers are students always, and the best students are never fully educated.”While the story telling makes me feel that way, the characters and the way the relationships of the characters continue to develop and play out is just as great, if not better. I absolutely love Hadrian and essentially everything about him, his continued relationship between Hadrian and Valka remains to be in the forefront and an important part, but the most important one in this story is with Switch and everything that happens because of it, and it will stick with you to the very end. The relationship between Hadrian and Bassander Lin though, this one reminds me a lot of Darrow and Lysander from Red Rising saga. There’s something about it that lets me know this is something that will continue throughout the entire series. With that said, there are a bunch of new characters that we get to meet and one in particular (on the cover), changes EVERYTHING.The action was everything I could ask for and then some, edge of my seat, biting my finger nails & heart pounding. I don’t think Ruocchio could’ve done any better keeping my eyes glued to my tablet and phone. Last and definitely not the least, I left a howling review for the narration by Samuel Roukin in Empire of Silence and Lesser Devil, and that continues on here, he’s as close to perfection as it comes. I know there are people that don’t like to listen to audiobooks, but I absolutely beg of you, give it a shot, he is tremendous and could end up being one of your favorites, if not your favorite all together! I want to say more about this, but I fear that I’ll start dropping spoilers if I say anything else, but one thing I can say for certain is that this series is going to continue to blow me away, I can’t believe I put this off as long as I did.

Better than the first with much more going on (sometimes too much). For as much as I enjoyed it, I couldn't tell you how this story took 700 pages. If he kept these to 400 pages I'd be so much happier.