Book Review: Tales of the Sun Eater, Volume 2 (The Sun Eater, #4.5) by Christopher Ruocchio
Cover art illustrated by Nathan Anderson
Tales of the Sun Eater, Volume 2 by Christopher Ruocchio
My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars
Series: The Sun Eater (Book #4.5 of 7)
Genre: Sci-fi, Space Opera, Science Fantasy
Pages: 157 pages (Kindle edition)
Published: 1st June 2022 (Self-Published)
Tales of the Sun Eater, Volume 2 is a comparatively better collection of short stories that shows The Sun Eater can still function without Hadrian Marlowe’s POV.
As always, when it comes to reading and reviewing a collection of short stories, I will start my review by saying I am (generally speaking) not a fan of short stories. In my journey to read everything in The Sun Eater series by Christopher Ruocchio, outside of the absolutely outstanding main novels, I also had a splendid time reading The Lesser Devil and Queen Amid Ashes. Tales of the Sun Eater, Volume 1 was the only mixed reading experience I had from The Sun Eater so far. I read that when I was so eager to read Demon in White, and I am glad I did because while they are not necessary, I did gain some quicker insight from reading The Demons of Arae. Thankfully, against all odds, I am very pleased to say Tales of the Sun Eater, Volume 2, while still a mixed reading experience, was mostly a positive reading for me. The last three titles in the collection, in particular, were great.
“What seemed good to one man was evil to another. Great men performed evils in the name of good. And worse, good tolerated evil and named that tolerance virtue. Those same men gratified themselves, saying this confusion of black and white was a mark of genius, touting their sophistication, their wisdom. But they had abandoned wisdom in the garden, reaching for what they could not grasp. Enlightenment. Godliness. Knowledge.”
Hadrian barely appears in this collection of short stories. In my review of Tales of the Sun Eater, Volume 1, I did mention the realization of how much my enjoyment of The Sun Eater has to do with reading Hadrian’s melodramatic and unforgettable narration. And, of course, I would prefer that way if I could. Even talking about Hadrian now instantly makes me want to go back to reading the main novels. But back to the point. Despite the lack of Hadrian in Tales of the Sun Eater, Volume 2, this collection somehow ends up turning into something superior to Tales of the Sun Eater, Volume 1 which has more of Hadrian in comparison.
“Papa always said they were worse than the Extras. That the Extras were still men underneath. The Cielcin were all monsters.”
Action-oriented short stories almost never worked for me, and when you put that into consideration, the fact that I still enjoyed reading The Dragonslayers and Fire in the Sky should say enough about the quality of these titles. In The Dragonslayers, although it was only one short sentence, the nod to Hadrian makes me excited to read Kingdoms of Death already. And Fire in the Sky is a story that could turn more emotional and poignant if it receives more page count and development as it deals with a sister doing her best to save her brother in the midst of a Cielcin invasion. Personally, Kill the King was the only short story, and the second longest one in the collection, that did not work for me. It did discuss the danger and insanity of cloning, but beyond that, I never felt it was an engaging short story for me.
“If you lived on this side of the water, my friend, I should be an assassin. For it would be unjust to slay you… But since you live on the other side, I am a hero and it is just.”
To elaborate on what I said earlier, the last three titles in Tales of the Sun Eater, Volume 2 were the best short stories in the series. As of now, anyway. Knowledge is the only title (the shortest one) in the collection to feature Hadrian as the main character. It was contemplative, philosophical, beautifully written, and tackled the nature of good versus evil. And then we have Good Intentions, the short story that features Valka Onderra as the POV character for the first time in the series. Valka is an irreplaceable character in the main series, and as expected, her POV was intriguing to read. The short story also addresses one of the main themes of the series. Which one is more monstrous, humanity or xenobites? Finally, if you have read The Lesser Devil, I cannot imagine you not liking The Four Devils, the continuation to Crispin Marlowe’s story from The Lesser Devil. Crispin’s struggle and feeling of insecurity are easy to relate with. The same can be said for Hadrian; he encountered the same feeling around Crispin. But having read The Lesser Devil and The Four Devils, Crispin is such a misunderstood character from the perspective of Hadrian, and I think he and Hadrian could have formed a strong brotherhood connection if they could sit, talk, and listen to each other. Which, I know, is easier said than done due to their father’s ambition and super strict upbringing. But this heartfelt short story, taking place during Empire of Silence, certainly made me like Crispin Marlowe further.
“Crispin could scarce remember a time his mother had even touched him, but neither could he remember trying himself. She had been remote as the outer worlds of the Delos system, far off as the morning star. But he held her then, as perhaps he never had, and said, “I’m just glad he’s alive.”
The main novels in The Sun Eater have launched the series into becoming the series of the year for me. I’m glad Tales of the Sun Eater, Volume 2, which was superior to Volume 1, allows me to end this year of The Sun Eater on an upbeat note. I cannot gauge the essentiality of this collection of short stories until I read Kingdoms of Death and Ashes of Man early next year. But for now, I will say this collection of short stories was good, and you bet I will read Kingdoms of Death in a week or two from now.
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