⭐⭐⭐⭐

Empire of Silence is a brilliant debut, the first in the forebodingly named Sun Eater series. It has been described as The Name of The Wind meets Dune and that’s…a pretty good description actually. Maybe throw in a little Star Wars and some Red Rising and you’d get a pretty good picture of what you’re in for.

Empire of Silence works as both a traditional coming of age fantasy and an epic space opera. To be sure, it wears its influences on its sleeves, especially Dune, but also feels unique and, as the first outing for a young author especially, it’s fairly remarkable, but maybe not for everyone. If you’re looking for a top-down view of an epic universe, this isn’t it, but the story might go there in later volumes.

The backdrop is grand, but we only see the smallest corner of the universe and only through the eyes of Hadrian, the protagonist. Most of the scenes and the story itself are fairly intimate. If you’ve read The Name of The Wind you’ll get that comparison right away, the viewpoint is similarly structured as is the purple prose, which I grew to enjoy once I got used to it. I felt like it worked, both for me as a reader, and as a voice for a character representing an entire universe. It didn’t work all the time, and it might be fun to see these worlds from another’s point of view, but in the main, I thought it felt right.

I think what I liked most, though, was a bit surprising to me. I had gone in expecting to immerse myself in a universe sweeping drama but found myself more and more invested in Hadrian and his day-to-day. As the tale moved on I realized I could relate to him quite a bit. Not so much the epic struggles, but the more mundane elements within them and within him. He struggles with privilege, fitting in, simple things like creativity and feeling trapped by circumstance. He’s unable, for a variety of reasons, to unlock himself and find his best future and his purpose, which is hinted at throughout and I’m sure I’ll be revealed in later volumes as beyond epic. He’s not always likeable, but he grew on me and by the end, I felt like I was pretty invested in what was going on with him and his friends.

If you pick this up and are at first put off by the structure, prose and awkwardness of its main character, I’d press you to stick with it. I don’t think it’s for everyone, but I’m very glad I kept going and I’m very excited to read future volumes.