Book Review: Tales of the Sun Eater, Volume 1 (The Sun Eater, #2.7) by Christopher Ruocchio
Cover art illustrated by Nathan Anderson
Tales of the Sun Eater, Volume 1 by Christopher Ruocchio
My rating: 2.5 of 5 stars
Series: The Sun Eater (Book #2.7 of 7)
Genre: Sci-fi, Space Opera, Science Fantasy
Pages: 172 pages (Kindle edition)
Published: 16th April 2021 (Self-Published)
Tales of the Sun Eater, Volume 1 is a mixed-quality collection of short stories in The Sun Eater series.
Against my own feeling of impatience to read Demon in White, the third novel in The Sun Eater series by Christopher Ruocchio, as soon as possible, I am also determined to read every book and story in the world of the series. Because of my completionism attitude, I have read the two available novellas or short novel spin-offs in the series, The Lesser Devil and Queen Amid Ashes, and I had a great time reading both of them. Tales of the Sun Eater, Volume 1 is the first collection of short stories in The Sun Eater I read. It comprised seven various stories in The Sun Eater universe, related to Hadrian and not. Although I did not regret reading this, I also must admit I had a mixed reading experience of it. Mostly negative. And unlike the previous novels and titles in the series I read, I am quite confident I will not reread any of the stories here in the future.
“And if it was a great sin for the ancients to falsely condemn the innocent, it was a far greater evil not to burn the guilty.”
Reading this collection made me realize something. Most of my enjoyment with The Sun Eater series relies heavily on Hadrian’s narration and the important individuals surrounding him. Take those away, and my enjoyment of the stories significantly decreases. Overall, Tales of the Sun Eater, Volume 1 is an action-packed collection of short stories revolving around new and insignificant characters. With the exception of Victim of Change, a great and tense short story about a judge deciding the fate of a mother who turned into a daimon, the other short stories without Hadrian ranged from underwhelming to straight-up boredom. Not Made for Us was a forgettable action-oriented short story, The Duelist was good but way too short, and The Parliament of Owls was honestly a 1 star read for me. It was totally boring, and I did not enjoy reading that title. At all.
“Something’s coming. Mark my words. This war of ours is about to get a good deal worse.”
It is fortunate the remaining three short stories I haven’t talked about have Hadrian in them. The first title in the collection, The Demons of Arae, felt the most significant to the main series of novels as it depicted Hadrian as the narrator. And it displayed a possible omen of the terrifying monstrosity to come next in Demon in White and more. As for The Night Captain, it was alright. It takes place after Howling Dark, and it was a bit refreshing to see how Hadrian is viewed in the eye of a stranger. And finally, we have The Pits of Emesh. As the title says, the short story is about Hadrian and his fellow myrmidons in Empire of Silence. This is the last and the only title exclusive to this collection of short stories; the previous six were first available in other anthologies. And even though this is not narrated by Hadrian, we get to witness Hadrian, Switch, and Pallino from the perspective of an unnamed narrator.
“I HAD THIS FROM ONE WHO WOULDN’T HAVE LIED, one who knew the man personally—Marlowe the Great—when he was little more than a slave. There are those who say the man’s greatness was writ upon the stars, and maybe that is so—it is certainly so now—but I do not believe such things. Heroes are not born, but made, and are made mostly by we historians and by the panegyrists and the troubadours, not by themselves.”
From reading Empire of Silence, The Lesser Devil, Howling Dark, and so far, I can definitely say I am a big fan of The Sun Eater series. I think the main series is something special. Generally speaking, though, I am not a fan of reading short stories. Very few authors—Ken Liu and Ted Chiang, from the top of my mind—can pull them off brilliantly. Because of this, if you still feel interested in giving the collection a read, I urge you to do it. However, if someone asks me whether I recommend Tales of the Sun Eater, Volume 1, I honestly can’t recommend it wholeheartedly. Ruocchio is at his best when his storytelling is allowed the longer format. As I said, The Demons of Arae is the only title that felt relatively significant to the main series. The plus side of finishing this collection is I can read Demon in White without feeling like I have missed something crucial now. I hope Tales of the Sun Eater, Volume 2 will provide a superior collection of short stories.
“There are those among the scholiasts who say that a strong man is he who forces his will on others, and that it is the weak who are so forced, and that this—not strength of arms—is what separates great men from lesser ones.”
You can order this book from: Amazon | Blackwells (Free International shipping)
I also have a Booktube channel
Special thanks to my Patrons on Patreon for giving me extra support towards my passion for reading and reviewing!
My Patrons: Alfred, Aliysa, Ambrosius, Andrew, Andrew W, Annabeth, Arliss, Barbara, Biskit, Brad, Cade, Chris, Cullen, Dan, David, Dernerror, Donuts, Dylan, Edward, Elaine, Elias, Ellen, Francesca, Frank, Garrick, Gary, Gregory, Hamad, Helen, Jenn, Jesse, Jimmy Nutts, Joie, Kristina, Lara, Lourdes, Luis, Melinda, Michael, Michael, Mike, Miracle, Mordie, Nicholas, Norbert, Radiah, RCT, Redmischief, Samuel, Sarah, Sarah, Scott, Shawn, Tori, Tracy, Trish, TS, Wendy, Wick, Xero, Yuri, Zoe.
2 thoughts on “Book Review: Tales of the Sun Eater, Volume 1 (The Sun Eater, #2.7) by Christopher Ruocchio”
Short story writing is a specialized art, I think, and not all writers understand it.
I’ve heard authors call short stories “condensed novels” and they’re really not.
Science Fiction short stories are even more difficult to write because all the world-building is condensed, implied, or caught from the corner of the eye as a passing detail or bit of colour.
I’m reading the series the same as you, in order with the spin-offs, I’m currently around 10% in Demon in White.
Funny how my opions on Tales are almost the same as yours, but mine would lead to a 3.5/4 star rating ^_^ I actually thought The Parliament of Owls was up there with the pirate and the Arae story. To me Lesser Devil is by far the weakest one in the series up until now, that’s like a 2 star book at best. Whining two times a page about “what would Hadrian do”, get’s old pretty quickly. It was 30 years ago, he acted like a dick and fled with mommy’s help, get over it.