Kingdoms of Death: The Sun Eater: Book Four Paperback – June 13, 2023

Sun Eater is my favorite science fiction series of all time and the reason is because of entries like Kingdoms of Death. Demon in White was my favorite book of 2021, and even though it is only March I find it hard to believe I will read a book in 2022 that will eclipse Kingdoms of Death.The book starts like an absolute thrill ride. We are thrown into the action similar to the way a James Bond film starts. From then on it pretty much never stops. No I don't mean this book is non stop action. What I mean is the book never stops in terms of holding your attention and gripping you emotionally. Yes the thrills and action are there, but really what makes Kingdoms stand out is Ruocchio's best character work to date.Part of the way that he accomplishes that is by having this book go to some pretty dark places. Make no mistake while this is a great book I would not call it a "fun" book. I'm going to avoid spoilers as to why, but just know there isn't dark for dark's sake here. Ruocchio uses it as a tool that is appropriate for the job for both his story and characters.Additionally I would be remiss if I didn't mention some of the world building and lore we get in this volume. We visit new parts of the Galaxy we have only heard of in early books such as the Lothrian Commonwealth. I loved the way that portion of the book was executed and how Ruocchio used it to make a few salient points without being preachy. More importantly we get some really fantastic Cielcin lore in this book. You'll get some answers, but also a whole new set of questions and plenty of the trippy sci fi stuff that is the hallmark of Sun Eater.My final thoughts are that this book is an absolute home run, and I am going to be thinking about it for a long long time. I'm going to have to mull over whether I think this book is superior to Demon in White. While I loved every page of DiW and it did so many separate things that were phenomenal, KoD feels like a more complete story rather than interconnected stories and the character work and emotional impact is off the charts. Either way this is one of my favorite sci fi books of all time and everyone should be reading this series.

The writing I have come to expect from Christopher, with scenes that will be seared into memory. Also, very VERY dark thematically. The middle third of the book Hadrian and the reader are exposed to both torture of the body and mind. Once hope appears the gut punches still continue as our hero fights toward that closing narrow window of survival and escape.You will make it reader, and so will Hadrian. There will be scars.

Ruocchio achieves two impressive feats simultaneously, with this book. Two achievements that should be contradictory, but that co-exist in perfectl harmony here:1. Kingdoms of Death is likely to become one of the best book sequels ever written in a sci-fi saga.2. Kingdoms of Death is likely to become one of the best book sequels ever written in a sci-fi saga that no-one wants to read more than once.What a book.

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 series, it's at 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 book was captivating. The story was so dark and horrific, revealing and sad. It was so well written I couldn’t put it down. The events were so unpredictable. This author did an absolutely amazing job with this part of the series, though dark it was necessary. I felt like I was in the story.

This series is just getting better and better! It’s a dark book but as always there is hope within the story. Looking forward to the next one.

Earth and Empire! What did I just read? This fourth book in the SunEater series is certainly one of the best and that speaks volumes, since the first three were so good. This story was one of the darkest and most emotional that I have read in quite some time. Ruocchio does a masterful job of putting the reader directly in the story, with all of the torture, torment, loss, love, grief, and recovery that Lord Hadrian Marlowe must endure. Much of the backstory of the Cielcin and Doryaica were fascinating to read, although painful times to spend with Hadrian. This series just gets better and better!!I also listened to part of this on Audible and Samuel Roukin does an amazing job with all of the characters.