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The Sun Eater #Volume 1
Tales of the Sun Eater, Vol. 1
SEVEN STORIES FROM THE UNIVERSE OF THE SUN EATER WRITTEN BY AWARD-WINNING AUTHOR CHRISTOPHER RUOCCHIO AND COLLECTED HERE FOR THE VERY FIRST TIME.
A new horror comes to a centuries-old war... A machine witch on trial for crimes against her own humanity... Pirates in the black of space… Here are tales of the far future, of a time where mankind reigns across the galaxy: a time of war, of great evil, and of greater heroes.
Here are tales of the Sollan Empire, and of the barbarians who dwell in the cracks between its stars. Here are tales of strange, far worlds. Tales of battle, of desperation, and holy law. And here, too, are tales of a man who will change the fate and future of the galaxy as a whole. Tales of the Sun Eater, of Hadrian Marlowe himself.
A new horror comes to a centuries-old war... A machine witch on trial for crimes against her own humanity... Pirates in the black of space… Here are tales of the far future, of a time where mankind reigns across the galaxy: a time of war, of great evil, and of greater heroes.
Here are tales of the Sollan Empire, and of the barbarians who dwell in the cracks between its stars. Here are tales of strange, far worlds. Tales of battle, of desperation, and holy law. And here, too, are tales of a man who will change the fate and future of the galaxy as a whole. Tales of the Sun Eater, of Hadrian Marlowe himself.
195 pages, ebook
Published April 13, 2021
384 people are currently reading
2892 people want to read
About the author
Christopher Ruocchio
50 books5,002 followersChristopher Ruocchio is the author of The Sun Eater, a space opera fantasy series, as well as the Assistant Editor at Baen Books, where he has co-edited four anthologies. He is a graduate of North Carolina State University, where he studied English Rhetoric and the Classics. Christopher has been writing since he was eight and sold his first novel, Empire of Silence, at twenty-two. To date, his books have been published in five languages.
Christopher lives in Raleigh, North Carolina with his wife, Jenna. He may be found on both Facebook and Twitter with the handle ‘TheRuocchio.’
Christopher lives in Raleigh, North Carolina with his wife, Jenna. He may be found on both Facebook and Twitter with the handle ‘TheRuocchio.’
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 195 reviews
November 9, 2023
2.5/5 stars
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.
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.
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.
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.
You can order this book from: Amazon | Blackwells (Free International shipping)
You can find this and the rest of my reviews at Novel Notions | 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.
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)
You can find this and the rest of my reviews at Novel Notions | 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.
September 21, 2023
The short stories themselves are fine, but they are so short that they can't highlight Ruocchio's biggest strengths as a writer. I'm also a bit biased as I don't tend to like short stories.
July 4, 2025
Tales of The Sun Eater Volume 1
Tales of The Sun Eater Volume 1 is a series of short stories that show other characters in other places in the galaxy on their own adventures but it also has two stories about the protagonist Hadrien Marlowe and I confess that I had already seen that this series of short stories had not pleased most of the fans so I went with contracted expectations but I think that of everything I've read so far from The Sun Eater this one was the weakest so far and not just because it's a short story since I recently read Queen Amid Ashes which was another book of short stories and I really liked that one and I think that in this specific one the author didn't know how to make short and interesting stories that intrigue me without so much and I hope that in the next two volumes of short stories they will have better stories and characters and for now this one continues to be the weakest of the entire The Sun Eater series so far.
Tales of The Sun Eater Volume 1 is a series of short stories that show other characters in other places in the galaxy on their own adventures but it also has two stories about the protagonist Hadrien Marlowe and I confess that I had already seen that this series of short stories had not pleased most of the fans so I went with contracted expectations but I think that of everything I've read so far from The Sun Eater this one was the weakest so far and not just because it's a short story since I recently read Queen Amid Ashes which was another book of short stories and I really liked that one and I think that in this specific one the author didn't know how to make short and interesting stories that intrigue me without so much and I hope that in the next two volumes of short stories they will have better stories and characters and for now this one continues to be the weakest of the entire The Sun Eater series so far.
July 28, 2021
In general I'm not a big fan of short form fiction. Usually I feel like as the stories get shorter the conclusions and storytelling all feel kind of rushed, and I'm left wanting more (not in a good way). However, since I'm fully invested in what Ruocchio is doing with the Sun Eater series I wanted to read this not just to be a completionist, but also because I just want every story in this world I can get my hands on. I was not disappointed.
Is every story in this collection an absolute banger? No. But to me that didn't really seem like the most important thing. In the Sun Eater novels we only get one perspective, Hadrian's. Everything is filtered through his worldview and all the biases and personality traits that go with him. Also, if something doesn't happen that he does we don't know about it. The first volume of Tales does its job in filling in some of those gaps and seeing events without those biases. In that way it's extremely successful. It's also successful in that each story is very entertaining. Also Ruocchio gets to flex some of his writing chops here in that we learn he can write extremely well in multiple voices and not just Hadrian's. It's pretty insightful when we get POV stories from lower classes in this universe and the prose switches to be far more plain and less melodramatic. In that way we learn what Hadrian is like and not just that Ruocchio writes a certain way.
As for the content here, it is as varied as the different points of view that we get. We get some stories with Hadrian in them, but they are from the POV of others. We get some POVs from different parts of the universe and class system entirely that really adds some interesting worldbuilding. There was one in particular I was surprised to see. My two favorite stories in the collection do have Hadrian in them, but that's really not what makes them entertaining which I appreciated.
All in all I love reading in this world, and I'm all in on anything Ruocchio writes at this point. Even in a short fiction collection where not every story is going to knock your socks off as part of the larger universe it's fantastic storytelling.
Is every story in this collection an absolute banger? No. But to me that didn't really seem like the most important thing. In the Sun Eater novels we only get one perspective, Hadrian's. Everything is filtered through his worldview and all the biases and personality traits that go with him. Also, if something doesn't happen that he does we don't know about it. The first volume of Tales does its job in filling in some of those gaps and seeing events without those biases. In that way it's extremely successful. It's also successful in that each story is very entertaining. Also Ruocchio gets to flex some of his writing chops here in that we learn he can write extremely well in multiple voices and not just Hadrian's. It's pretty insightful when we get POV stories from lower classes in this universe and the prose switches to be far more plain and less melodramatic. In that way we learn what Hadrian is like and not just that Ruocchio writes a certain way.
As for the content here, it is as varied as the different points of view that we get. We get some stories with Hadrian in them, but they are from the POV of others. We get some POVs from different parts of the universe and class system entirely that really adds some interesting worldbuilding. There was one in particular I was surprised to see. My two favorite stories in the collection do have Hadrian in them, but that's really not what makes them entertaining which I appreciated.
All in all I love reading in this world, and I'm all in on anything Ruocchio writes at this point. Even in a short fiction collection where not every story is going to knock your socks off as part of the larger universe it's fantastic storytelling.
April 21, 2021
This was a good collection of stories, some weaker than others, none bad and a few really good ones. 3 with Hadrian, 4 without. They should definitely be read after Howling Dark as several of them contain spoilers for that book.
Here are some individual ratings and a list of what's in this volume.
The Demons of Arae (3/5) - This is the weakest of the set. It's mostly action which is fine but it gets bogged down by a bunch of expostion that needs to be crammed in.
Victim of Changes (4.5/5) - A great one scene story with lots of feelings.
Not Made for Us (4/5) - Another action one. I found the main character to be inconsistent. He shifted from being an idiot to competent too much.
The Night Captain (3.5/5) - This one was whatever. Nothing overly bad but nothing that caught my attention.
The Duelist (4/5) - Fun short, one scene duel.
The Parliment of Owls (4.5/5) - This one was great. The atmosphere was great, the main character was great and it has some wonderful final lines.
The Pits of Emesh (5/5) - The best of the collection! This gives you a look of what a story about Hadrian might look like if it was written by someone else who had heard only stories about him (you know the ones he always complains about?) I loved the writing style in this one.
Here are some individual ratings and a list of what's in this volume.
The Demons of Arae (3/5) - This is the weakest of the set. It's mostly action which is fine but it gets bogged down by a bunch of expostion that needs to be crammed in.
Victim of Changes (4.5/5) - A great one scene story with lots of feelings.
Not Made for Us (4/5) - Another action one. I found the main character to be inconsistent. He shifted from being an idiot to competent too much.
The Night Captain (3.5/5) - This one was whatever. Nothing overly bad but nothing that caught my attention.
The Duelist (4/5) - Fun short, one scene duel.
The Parliment of Owls (4.5/5) - This one was great. The atmosphere was great, the main character was great and it has some wonderful final lines.
The Pits of Emesh (5/5) - The best of the collection! This gives you a look of what a story about Hadrian might look like if it was written by someone else who had heard only stories about him (you know the ones he always complains about?) I loved the writing style in this one.
May 1, 2024
4.0 stars—-
A collection of seven short stories that is better than the sum of its parts. I don’t think any of the stories were 5 star reads on their own, but I enjoyed the collection overall. I do agree that Ruocchio is best when given 150+ pages to work with when telling a great story, but these are worth reading in my opinion.
Seeing Hadrian from other people’s perspective was my favorite part. The main series only follows his point of view, so to see his legend and see him in battle from someone else’s eyes was a needed part of the story for me.
A few of these stories also followed other characters in the Sollan Empire that had nothing to do with Lord Marlowe and his rise to stardom, and provided world-building and backstory to the Sun Eater universe that I’ve grown to love.
Demons of Arae- 4.0 stars
Victim of Changes- 3.5 stars
Not Made For Us- 3.5 stars
The Night Captain- 3.5 stars
The Duelist- 4.0 stars
The Parliament of Owls- 3.0 stars
Pits of Emesh- 3.5 stars
A collection of seven short stories that is better than the sum of its parts. I don’t think any of the stories were 5 star reads on their own, but I enjoyed the collection overall. I do agree that Ruocchio is best when given 150+ pages to work with when telling a great story, but these are worth reading in my opinion.
Seeing Hadrian from other people’s perspective was my favorite part. The main series only follows his point of view, so to see his legend and see him in battle from someone else’s eyes was a needed part of the story for me.
A few of these stories also followed other characters in the Sollan Empire that had nothing to do with Lord Marlowe and his rise to stardom, and provided world-building and backstory to the Sun Eater universe that I’ve grown to love.
Demons of Arae- 4.0 stars
Victim of Changes- 3.5 stars
Not Made For Us- 3.5 stars
The Night Captain- 3.5 stars
The Duelist- 4.0 stars
The Parliament of Owls- 3.0 stars
Pits of Emesh- 3.5 stars
October 31, 2022
So. Let's Review all these stories individually.
The Demons of Arae: Very good opener for the collection! Had some horrifying imagery, and the 3rd chapter lowkey scared the hell out of me. If this kind of thing comes up later in Sun Eater...I'll be very weary about it.
5 / 5
Victim of Changes: Really awesome to see a sequence that likely happens fairly regularly but that we haven't otherwise seen in Hadrian's tale, which I was very glad to see! Also very very unsettling in some ways - in a simultaneously similar and different way than the previous story.
5 / 5
Not Made For Us: First contact story? Let's. God. Damn. Go. This was very good! Also wasn't expecting to have a 1st person narration from a character not named Hadrian Marlowe that felt so distinct and recognizable. Overall, very good story to be able to read given how long before Hadrian it occurred.
5 / 5
The Night Captain: Very interesting concept. Was glad to explore something with pirates rather than the Cielcin in this one. Also awesome to see Hadrian in action without Hadrian being the narrator. I enjoyed the narrator and the short narrative this story explored, even if I think it might be the weakest of all the tales in this collection. (But hey, the weakest Sun Eater story is still better than MANY other stories, so I can't - and won't - complain).
4 / 5
The Duelist: Very brief story. Very short, very sweet. Loved what this was doing. Liked the characters, thought the comedic quips were a fun change from the rest of Sun Eater to this point, and using a combat story to exemplify the differences between a normal sword and a high matter sword. It also had a different end to the duel than I had expected, which was appreciated. It could've been more fleshed out, but felt very good as is.
4.5 / 5
The Parliament of Owls: Dude. This story was great. Amazing tone. Cool worldbuilding. Enjoyable characters, as well as concept that made this unique from everything else so far while also very clearly having a place in the universe. It also felt perfectly paced, even though I believe it could've technically justified it's own novella length. As it was though, it was just incredible - perfect, even. Easily my favorite story in this collection. Probably my favorite Sun Eater story, period, right behind Howling Dark.
6 / 5 XD
The Pits of Emesh: This one definitely got the most analysis out of me. Very much plays on the ideas of an unreliable narrators - and furthermore, the idea of how reliable "history" is. It was probably the most thought-provoking of all the tales as a result of this, and also stands on its own from the rest. I am very skeptical about the validity of the tale for MANY reasons that anybody who's read the tale and Empire of Silence will realize. Great story for making me think and squint at the page in very "WTF" fashion.
4 / 5
Full collection? 5 / 5 easily. Very very glad I fit this into the Sun Eater readalong. Well worth reading.
The Demons of Arae: Very good opener for the collection! Had some horrifying imagery, and the 3rd chapter lowkey scared the hell out of me. If this kind of thing comes up later in Sun Eater...I'll be very weary about it.
5 / 5
Victim of Changes: Really awesome to see a sequence that likely happens fairly regularly but that we haven't otherwise seen in Hadrian's tale, which I was very glad to see! Also very very unsettling in some ways - in a simultaneously similar and different way than the previous story.
5 / 5
Not Made For Us: First contact story? Let's. God. Damn. Go. This was very good! Also wasn't expecting to have a 1st person narration from a character not named Hadrian Marlowe that felt so distinct and recognizable. Overall, very good story to be able to read given how long before Hadrian it occurred.
5 / 5
The Night Captain: Very interesting concept. Was glad to explore something with pirates rather than the Cielcin in this one. Also awesome to see Hadrian in action without Hadrian being the narrator. I enjoyed the narrator and the short narrative this story explored, even if I think it might be the weakest of all the tales in this collection. (But hey, the weakest Sun Eater story is still better than MANY other stories, so I can't - and won't - complain).
4 / 5
The Duelist: Very brief story. Very short, very sweet. Loved what this was doing. Liked the characters, thought the comedic quips were a fun change from the rest of Sun Eater to this point, and using a combat story to exemplify the differences between a normal sword and a high matter sword. It also had a different end to the duel than I had expected, which was appreciated. It could've been more fleshed out, but felt very good as is.
4.5 / 5
The Parliament of Owls: Dude. This story was great. Amazing tone. Cool worldbuilding. Enjoyable characters, as well as concept that made this unique from everything else so far while also very clearly having a place in the universe. It also felt perfectly paced, even though I believe it could've technically justified it's own novella length. As it was though, it was just incredible - perfect, even. Easily my favorite story in this collection. Probably my favorite Sun Eater story, period, right behind Howling Dark.
6 / 5 XD
The Pits of Emesh: This one definitely got the most analysis out of me. Very much plays on the ideas of an unreliable narrators - and furthermore, the idea of how reliable "history" is. It was probably the most thought-provoking of all the tales as a result of this, and also stands on its own from the rest. I am very skeptical about the validity of the tale for MANY reasons that anybody who's read the tale and Empire of Silence will realize. Great story for making me think and squint at the page in very "WTF" fashion.
4 / 5
Full collection? 5 / 5 easily. Very very glad I fit this into the Sun Eater readalong. Well worth reading.
August 17, 2025
These were all solid stories, though as someone who's not terribly into the short story format I can't say that the experience was overly rewarding overall. I do like the expansion in worldbuilding you get through the non-Hadrian POV stories -- like what a Chantry trial looks like, what it was like for soldiers to wake up out of fugue and fight the Cielcin early on in the wars when they didn't even know what a Cielcin was, and what a corporate bounty hunter gets up to on the fringes of the Sollan Empire far from any place we travel to in the novels.
If you are doing this as a Sun Eater completionist like me then reading these one after the next is probably inevitable, though I do think many of them probably work better in isolation as part of the sci-fi story anthologies most were originally part of. I'm trying to fit them all in right now though in roughly chrono order during my full series read-through to get as close to the full Sun Eater experience as I can, and I think the stories are definitely adding to my attempt at maximization (though I wish Roukin had recorded audios for these already, as I'm dearly missing his narration).
For non-completionists mostly interested in the Hadrian-focused saga from the novels, the only essential one here is The Demons of Arae, which serves as an effective prelude to Demon in White and covers an important event between bks 2-3 that gets referenced many times in the novel to come.
The other one to hit would be The Night Captain, which gives a POV from a minor character from the Tamerlane (Halford) and brings him to life in a fun way that you just don't get from his few brief appearances in the novels. There's a couple of blink-and-you-miss-it nods in Demon in White to the event involving fending off pirates that's covered in the story that were fun for me to catch on my reread that I just did right after having read this one.
If you are doing this as a Sun Eater completionist like me then reading these one after the next is probably inevitable, though I do think many of them probably work better in isolation as part of the sci-fi story anthologies most were originally part of. I'm trying to fit them all in right now though in roughly chrono order during my full series read-through to get as close to the full Sun Eater experience as I can, and I think the stories are definitely adding to my attempt at maximization (though I wish Roukin had recorded audios for these already, as I'm dearly missing his narration).
For non-completionists mostly interested in the Hadrian-focused saga from the novels, the only essential one here is The Demons of Arae, which serves as an effective prelude to Demon in White and covers an important event between bks 2-3 that gets referenced many times in the novel to come.
The other one to hit would be The Night Captain, which gives a POV from a minor character from the Tamerlane (Halford) and brings him to life in a fun way that you just don't get from his few brief appearances in the novels. There's a couple of blink-and-you-miss-it nods in Demon in White to the event involving fending off pirates that's covered in the story that were fun for me to catch on my reread that I just did right after having read this one.
July 15, 2024
I really enjoyed these short stories. The universe Ruocchio created deserves to be expanded upon, and it's a nice reprieve between 700+ page books to live in some other stories in that universe.
4.0/5.0
4.0/5.0
August 26, 2024
I’ve been loving my Sun Eater experience so far, but sadly the Tales of the Sun Eater, Volume 1 short story collection let me down. Of the seven short stories compiled here, four piqued my interest enough to get 3.5-4 stars, two were slight misses at 2.5-3 stars, and one felt very disconnected and terribly boring getting a measly 2 stars. I guess as a whole a 3-star average seems fair. Overall, Tales of the Sun Eater, Volume 1 is just OK.
These stories are very quick reads. There are some entertaining moments, fun new perspectives, exciting action scenes, and a couple of revelations and teasers for book 3, Demon in White. But unfortunately, Ruocchio’s writing is much better when he’s given room to breathe in a full-length novel, in my opinion. A lot of the time these stories feel different than, and often disconnected from, the main books. We get such tiny crumbs to nibble on, the overall experience feels disappointing and sometimes pointless.
Would I recommend Tales of the Sun Eater, Volume 1? Maybe. If you're a psycho completionist like me, then yes. It's required to satiate your OCD. If you're not like that, then you're safe skipping this mediocre reading experience and moving on with the main story.
With this behind me... Demon in White, here I come!
Sun Eater
Book 1: Empire of Silence 5/5
Novella: The Lesser Devil 4.5/5
Book 2: Howling Dark 5/5
Novella: Queen Amid Ashes 4.5/5
Short Story Collection: Tales of the Sun Eater, Volume 1 3/5
These stories are very quick reads. There are some entertaining moments, fun new perspectives, exciting action scenes, and a couple of revelations and teasers for book 3, Demon in White. But unfortunately, Ruocchio’s writing is much better when he’s given room to breathe in a full-length novel, in my opinion. A lot of the time these stories feel different than, and often disconnected from, the main books. We get such tiny crumbs to nibble on, the overall experience feels disappointing and sometimes pointless.
Would I recommend Tales of the Sun Eater, Volume 1? Maybe. If you're a psycho completionist like me, then yes. It's required to satiate your OCD. If you're not like that, then you're safe skipping this mediocre reading experience and moving on with the main story.
With this behind me... Demon in White, here I come!
Sun Eater
Book 1: Empire of Silence 5/5
Novella: The Lesser Devil 4.5/5
Book 2: Howling Dark 5/5
Novella: Queen Amid Ashes 4.5/5
Short Story Collection: Tales of the Sun Eater, Volume 1 3/5
September 14, 2024
LE DOY 3 ESTRELLAS PORQUE ES UN BUEN COMPLEMENTO A LA SAGA DE "SUN EATER". PERO SIN MENTIR, SOLO DOS O TRES DE LAS SIETE HISTORIAS SON VEDADERAMENTE INTERESANTES
Para resumir: Los libros o novelas tienen 40.000 palabras o más. Las novelas cortas o novellas (termino que se ha popularizado los últimos años) tienen entre 17.500 y 40.000 palabras. Además, estos escritos suelen tener menos personajes y tramas secundarias. Siendo consideradas construcciones literarias más simples.
Hoy en día, cuando un autor populariza una saga de su creación, por lo general complementa la trama entre los libros con novellas cortas centradas en spinoffs de los personajes secundarios, o sobre relatos de tiempos pasados a la cronología principal de la saga. Las posibilidades son muchas y variadas, pero lo bueno de las novellas es que llenan huecos en los vacíos de la historia, al mismo tiempo que expanden el universo con historias complementarias y autóctonas. Es un sistema elegante, al que cada vez más autores modernos se adhieren para expandir y popularizar más sus sagas (al mismo tiempo que les ayuda a vender más libros).
Muchas novellas están compuestas por relatos cortos que sus autores han ido acumulando con los años, o publicando en revistas esporádicamente. Este es precisamente el caso de este libro. "Tales of the Sun Eater" (Cuentos del Devorador de Soles) es una acumulación de cuentos sobre distintos personajes que viven en el mismo universo que Adrian Marlow (protagonista original de la saga), y sobre los que hemos visto u oído muy poco en los libros.
Las historias son variadas y narran hechos que; o han sido mencionados brevemente en el pasado por los personajes, o son completamente nuevos. Puedo decir con sinceridad que los primeros son los más interesantes, ya que los otros son en su mayoría inconsecuentes para la saga. Pero tiene su atractivo el narrar situaciones "poco convencionales" y a veces ridículas, que le suceden a personajes que conocemos o con los que nos hemos encariñado. También es bueno ver locaciones nuevas que solo han sido mencionadas muy muy brevemente, y conocer rincones poco explorados de un universo literario que creíamos conocer.
Con todo, este libro empieza muy bien. Narrando la "Batalla de Arae", planeta en donde nuestro protagonista se encontró por primera vez cara a cara con los llamados "Minos". Esta es una agrupación de seres humanos que han usado tecnologías y ciencias profanas para "perfeccionarse" as si mismos al extremo. Los "Minos" son seres despreciables que no tienen reparo alguno en mutilar y experimentar con seres humanos de todas las edades y géneros. Así como tampoco tienen reparo en negociar con los peores enemigos de la humanidad, los terribles "Cielcin". Esta una buena historia, que da contexto al gran odio que Marlow siente por los "Minos" y que se ve plasmado en los libros. Además de que tiene muy buenas escenas de acción.
Otra historia nos muestra un poco del funcionamiento del "Sagrado Chantry", que es el equivalente a la iglesia o clero en este universo. Esta organización es temida por todo el Imperio e incluso por sus enemigos, siendo además uno de los principales pilares de la humanidad en su guerra contra los Cielcin. Fue bueno ver como funciona por dentro esta organización, porque hasta ahora solo se habían visto básicamente sus acciones en el campo y modo de operar, pero no la política o burocracia interna de la misma. Lo cual es interesante de ver.
Hay uno o dos más que son algo interesantes. Como el relato de un detective privado en este universo sci-fi tan caótico. Y una historia sobre el duelo de un par de nobles del imperio por el honor de una dama. Pero los demás son "estándar" (por decirlo de alguna manera).
Aún me quedan dos libros más como este por leer. Y me he propuesto hacerlo antes de empezar a leer la recta final de la saga principal.
Con todo, si eres un fanático de "Sun Eater" (como lo soy yo) te gustarán estos relatos. Así que se los recomiendo.
Pero otras personas no los entenderán en absoluto.
Para resumir: Los libros o novelas tienen 40.000 palabras o más. Las novelas cortas o novellas (termino que se ha popularizado los últimos años) tienen entre 17.500 y 40.000 palabras. Además, estos escritos suelen tener menos personajes y tramas secundarias. Siendo consideradas construcciones literarias más simples.
Hoy en día, cuando un autor populariza una saga de su creación, por lo general complementa la trama entre los libros con novellas cortas centradas en spinoffs de los personajes secundarios, o sobre relatos de tiempos pasados a la cronología principal de la saga. Las posibilidades son muchas y variadas, pero lo bueno de las novellas es que llenan huecos en los vacíos de la historia, al mismo tiempo que expanden el universo con historias complementarias y autóctonas. Es un sistema elegante, al que cada vez más autores modernos se adhieren para expandir y popularizar más sus sagas (al mismo tiempo que les ayuda a vender más libros).
Muchas novellas están compuestas por relatos cortos que sus autores han ido acumulando con los años, o publicando en revistas esporádicamente. Este es precisamente el caso de este libro. "Tales of the Sun Eater" (Cuentos del Devorador de Soles) es una acumulación de cuentos sobre distintos personajes que viven en el mismo universo que Adrian Marlow (protagonista original de la saga), y sobre los que hemos visto u oído muy poco en los libros.
Las historias son variadas y narran hechos que; o han sido mencionados brevemente en el pasado por los personajes, o son completamente nuevos. Puedo decir con sinceridad que los primeros son los más interesantes, ya que los otros son en su mayoría inconsecuentes para la saga. Pero tiene su atractivo el narrar situaciones "poco convencionales" y a veces ridículas, que le suceden a personajes que conocemos o con los que nos hemos encariñado. También es bueno ver locaciones nuevas que solo han sido mencionadas muy muy brevemente, y conocer rincones poco explorados de un universo literario que creíamos conocer.
Con todo, este libro empieza muy bien. Narrando la "Batalla de Arae", planeta en donde nuestro protagonista se encontró por primera vez cara a cara con los llamados "Minos". Esta es una agrupación de seres humanos que han usado tecnologías y ciencias profanas para "perfeccionarse" as si mismos al extremo. Los "Minos" son seres despreciables que no tienen reparo alguno en mutilar y experimentar con seres humanos de todas las edades y géneros. Así como tampoco tienen reparo en negociar con los peores enemigos de la humanidad, los terribles "Cielcin". Esta una buena historia, que da contexto al gran odio que Marlow siente por los "Minos" y que se ve plasmado en los libros. Además de que tiene muy buenas escenas de acción.
Otra historia nos muestra un poco del funcionamiento del "Sagrado Chantry", que es el equivalente a la iglesia o clero en este universo. Esta organización es temida por todo el Imperio e incluso por sus enemigos, siendo además uno de los principales pilares de la humanidad en su guerra contra los Cielcin. Fue bueno ver como funciona por dentro esta organización, porque hasta ahora solo se habían visto básicamente sus acciones en el campo y modo de operar, pero no la política o burocracia interna de la misma. Lo cual es interesante de ver.
Hay uno o dos más que son algo interesantes. Como el relato de un detective privado en este universo sci-fi tan caótico. Y una historia sobre el duelo de un par de nobles del imperio por el honor de una dama. Pero los demás son "estándar" (por decirlo de alguna manera).
Aún me quedan dos libros más como este por leer. Y me he propuesto hacerlo antes de empezar a leer la recta final de la saga principal.
Con todo, si eres un fanático de "Sun Eater" (como lo soy yo) te gustarán estos relatos. Así que se los recomiendo.
Pero otras personas no los entenderán en absoluto.
April 18, 2023
If you’re a fan of Ruocchio’s writing when it comes to action scenes, would recommend but personally I felt this collection was missing some of my favourite elements of the series such as expanding on the worldbuilding and spending much more time in Hadrian’s head (he was in some stories but not all and it was mainly during action scenes).
June 8, 2025
This review will be unusual from me as this book itself is unusual from the various sun eater books I've read.. or just books in general as this is essentially a collection of anthologies. I'll be posting my immediate thoughts on each short story as I read them and posted on twitter then elaborate on my final thoughts afterwards.
Short Story 1: Demons Of Arae.
CR had said in the synopsis that it was made even before Sun Eater & that couldn’t have been more evident with how subpar the writing is compared to what I’m used to from him. Had a funny scene & a one liner or two but overall mid.
Short Story 2: Victim Of Changes.
Better than Demons of Arae both in terms of concept(more intriguing) & the technical level of the writing. Idk where I stand on the moral scale for this one. It’s disturbing the message it sends from both perspectives but interesting overall.
Short story 3: Not Made For Us.
This one had an interesting premise but ultimately left me disappointed. The amount of potential in it that ultimately went no where is staggering but again it’s pre empire of silence Ruocchio throwing in last minute short stories as an editor’s privilege in Bein so understandable.
4th Short Story: The Night Captain.
A nice look into those who watch-over the crew, journey and ship when in cryogenic fugue. Better than the last one which isn’t saying much. The only good one so far still remains to be Short Story 2: Victim Of Changes.
Short Story 5: The Duelist.
Finally another good one. Had a bit dose of humour as expected (Ruocchio said it would in the synopsis after all) and was engaging. Would love to see more of such duels short stories.
Short story 6: The Parliament Of Owls.
This one was even better than The Duelist. Really liked the perspective of the Bounty hunter & the underworld of Sun Eater. A complete story with fun characters. This makes it 3/6 good stories so far. Hoping last one is good so it goes out with a bang.
Short Story 7: The Pits Of Emesh.
This was the best one by far. It plays a bit on the reliability of Hadrians journal as the narrator. Some bold claims which I can see working in universe to slander Hadrian’s reputation in a reverse meta way. Was an engrossing read all the way.
Overall The Tales Of The Sun Eater Volume One was 3/5 stars: 4/7 good stories with 6/7 interesting concepts (interesting to me at least). If the story sequences were in the order of publication, it makes sense how the farther you went the better the quality of the short stories with the Victims of changes being the outlier to that trend.
If this is the weakest collection as most claim, then this is a very good news to me since it'll mean the others are at least 3.5 stars upwards. Next up is volume 2
Short Story 1: Demons Of Arae.
CR had said in the synopsis that it was made even before Sun Eater & that couldn’t have been more evident with how subpar the writing is compared to what I’m used to from him. Had a funny scene & a one liner or two but overall mid.
Short Story 2: Victim Of Changes.
Better than Demons of Arae both in terms of concept(more intriguing) & the technical level of the writing. Idk where I stand on the moral scale for this one. It’s disturbing the message it sends from both perspectives but interesting overall.
Short story 3: Not Made For Us.
This one had an interesting premise but ultimately left me disappointed. The amount of potential in it that ultimately went no where is staggering but again it’s pre empire of silence Ruocchio throwing in last minute short stories as an editor’s privilege in Bein so understandable.
4th Short Story: The Night Captain.
A nice look into those who watch-over the crew, journey and ship when in cryogenic fugue. Better than the last one which isn’t saying much. The only good one so far still remains to be Short Story 2: Victim Of Changes.
Short Story 5: The Duelist.
Finally another good one. Had a bit dose of humour as expected (Ruocchio said it would in the synopsis after all) and was engaging. Would love to see more of such duels short stories.
Short story 6: The Parliament Of Owls.
This one was even better than The Duelist. Really liked the perspective of the Bounty hunter & the underworld of Sun Eater. A complete story with fun characters. This makes it 3/6 good stories so far. Hoping last one is good so it goes out with a bang.
Short Story 7: The Pits Of Emesh.
This was the best one by far. It plays a bit on the reliability of Hadrians journal as the narrator. Some bold claims which I can see working in universe to slander Hadrian’s reputation in a reverse meta way. Was an engrossing read all the way.
Overall The Tales Of The Sun Eater Volume One was 3/5 stars: 4/7 good stories with 6/7 interesting concepts (interesting to me at least). If the story sequences were in the order of publication, it makes sense how the farther you went the better the quality of the short stories with the Victims of changes being the outlier to that trend.
If this is the weakest collection as most claim, then this is a very good news to me since it'll mean the others are at least 3.5 stars upwards. Next up is volume 2
December 6, 2023
Some stories are really good but most of them are meh to me.
September 18, 2024
Filler stories, fun for true fans and lovers of the Sun Eater series. Probably not necessary though.
September 7, 2022
4,5 avis à venir.
Une collection de plusieurs Novellas. J'en ai adoré certaines plus que d'autres
Avis Lecture 🧐📖 "Tales of The Sun Eater, Volume 1", Le Dévoreur de Soleil, Christopher Ruocchio ☀
Attention : photo du recueil "The Lesser Devil and Other Stories" qui comprend la novella The Lesser Devil (lue après le tome 1) ainsi que "The Demons of Arae" (lue après le tome 2) et 6 autres novellas du recueil cité plus haut.
(soucis d'esthétisme 😂 la cover est quand même plus canon 😇)
Alors on peut dire que Ruocchio écrit bien et Ruocchio écrit vite ! Et comme si cela ne suffisait pas (soyons honnête, je suis un grand fan de novella, alors pour moi c'est du pain béni 😂) l'auteur nous offre quantité de side Stories, des nouvelles venant enrichir l'univers ! 🤩 Est ce qu'elle sont toutes obligatoires ? A ce stade (donc déjà 8 lues 😱) : NON ! (bon après c'est Ruocchio donc quand tu aimes son univers et sa plume... 😍 Je vous dirai oui 😂)
On est pas à Sharakhaï où l'apport même léger pour certains, permet d'en apprendre plus, et encore moins sur PowderMage où pour moi elles sont un passage obligé.
Pourtant, c'est avec plaisir que je me plonge dedans. Alors toutes ne sont pas de même niveau et ne m'ont pas touché de la même manière.
J'ai notamment beaucoup aimé "The Night Captain" où l'on découvre un peu plus la vie dans les vaisseaux, quand la plupart des gens sont en fugue cryogenique (donc en stase pendant des années de voyage). La vie, le quotidien, le calme, le silence et les pirates de l'espace... 😱
Et si je devais en choisir deux autres ça serait : "The Parliament of Owls", Vraiment je l'ai trouvé superbe, et "The Pits of Emesh" faisant référence à un endroit vu dans le tome 1😍. J'ai notamment beaucoup aimé le style de celle ci 👍
L'univers continue de hanter mes lectures, que ce soit dans les romans ou les novellas et c'est un régal à chaque fois.
Ça permet aussi de me poser, entre deux tomes. D'ailleurs je commence très bientôt le tome 4 😱💗
Et vous ? Vous avez des Novellas, nouvelles ou recueil de nouvelles que vous souhaitez lire prochainement ? 😊
Une collection de plusieurs Novellas. J'en ai adoré certaines plus que d'autres
Avis Lecture 🧐📖 "Tales of The Sun Eater, Volume 1", Le Dévoreur de Soleil, Christopher Ruocchio ☀
Attention : photo du recueil "The Lesser Devil and Other Stories" qui comprend la novella The Lesser Devil (lue après le tome 1) ainsi que "The Demons of Arae" (lue après le tome 2) et 6 autres novellas du recueil cité plus haut.
(soucis d'esthétisme 😂 la cover est quand même plus canon 😇)
Alors on peut dire que Ruocchio écrit bien et Ruocchio écrit vite ! Et comme si cela ne suffisait pas (soyons honnête, je suis un grand fan de novella, alors pour moi c'est du pain béni 😂) l'auteur nous offre quantité de side Stories, des nouvelles venant enrichir l'univers ! 🤩 Est ce qu'elle sont toutes obligatoires ? A ce stade (donc déjà 8 lues 😱) : NON ! (bon après c'est Ruocchio donc quand tu aimes son univers et sa plume... 😍 Je vous dirai oui 😂)
On est pas à Sharakhaï où l'apport même léger pour certains, permet d'en apprendre plus, et encore moins sur PowderMage où pour moi elles sont un passage obligé.
Pourtant, c'est avec plaisir que je me plonge dedans. Alors toutes ne sont pas de même niveau et ne m'ont pas touché de la même manière.
J'ai notamment beaucoup aimé "The Night Captain" où l'on découvre un peu plus la vie dans les vaisseaux, quand la plupart des gens sont en fugue cryogenique (donc en stase pendant des années de voyage). La vie, le quotidien, le calme, le silence et les pirates de l'espace... 😱
Et si je devais en choisir deux autres ça serait : "The Parliament of Owls", Vraiment je l'ai trouvé superbe, et "The Pits of Emesh" faisant référence à un endroit vu dans le tome 1😍. J'ai notamment beaucoup aimé le style de celle ci 👍
L'univers continue de hanter mes lectures, que ce soit dans les romans ou les novellas et c'est un régal à chaque fois.
Ça permet aussi de me poser, entre deux tomes. D'ailleurs je commence très bientôt le tome 4 😱💗
Et vous ? Vous avez des Novellas, nouvelles ou recueil de nouvelles que vous souhaitez lire prochainement ? 😊
October 16, 2022
Solid collection
November 17, 2024
First of all, I must say, Ruocchio's writing style is getting just better n better with each book in the series.😍😍
'Tales of the Sun Eater, Volume I' is a collection of seven short stories from the suneater universe. All the stories are brilliantly crafted. Some stories are important to fill in some gaps in the main series while others add to the world building and our understanding of the main character, Lord Hadrian Marlowe.
Victims of change, The Night Captain and The Duelist (too short, though) were my favourites. Pits of Emesh, The Parliament of Owls and others were just fine. All in all I loved the collection.😍😍
'Tales of the Sun Eater, Volume I' is a collection of seven short stories from the suneater universe. All the stories are brilliantly crafted. Some stories are important to fill in some gaps in the main series while others add to the world building and our understanding of the main character, Lord Hadrian Marlowe.
Victims of change, The Night Captain and The Duelist (too short, though) were my favourites. Pits of Emesh, The Parliament of Owls and others were just fine. All in all I loved the collection.😍😍
February 16, 2025
7 pretty good stories in the Sun Eater universe. I prefer the stories that do a bit of world-building to those that are just action sequences, which were the bulk of this collection.
October 12, 2024
3.25 Stars overall. Honestly, you can skip this collection. A few of the stories are good but they don’t really add much to the universe. I don’t think you’d miss a beat skipping them. And the writing quality isn’t anywhere near that of the novels. And there seemed to be some inconsistencies as well. But if you are in love with the series and are looking for some extra stories, then these may be just what you’re looking for. Individual ratings below:
1. The Demons of Arae: 4
2. Victim of Changes: 2.5
3. Not Made For Us: 2
4. The Knight Captain: 4.5
5. The Duelist: 3.5
6. The Parliament of Owls: 4
7. The Pits of Emesh: 2.25
Quotes:
- “Light brings order to creation, and that in darkness order grows ever less... And from that darkness—the infinite chaos and potential that exists in the absence of light—anything might happen… That is why we fear the Dark. Not for what it contains, but for the threat that it might contain anything.” (p31-32)
- “Any progress which is accompanied by loss is no progress at all.” (p36)
- “The men all said Marlowe was mad, but was it madness if all the stories about him were true?” (p126)
- “History is a funny thing. It’s not the truth. The truth exists only in the world itself, and though some men speak it, others do not.” (p174)
1. The Demons of Arae: 4
2. Victim of Changes: 2.5
3. Not Made For Us: 2
4. The Knight Captain: 4.5
5. The Duelist: 3.5
6. The Parliament of Owls: 4
7. The Pits of Emesh: 2.25
Quotes:
- “Light brings order to creation, and that in darkness order grows ever less... And from that darkness—the infinite chaos and potential that exists in the absence of light—anything might happen… That is why we fear the Dark. Not for what it contains, but for the threat that it might contain anything.” (p31-32)
- “Any progress which is accompanied by loss is no progress at all.” (p36)
- “The men all said Marlowe was mad, but was it madness if all the stories about him were true?” (p126)
- “History is a funny thing. It’s not the truth. The truth exists only in the world itself, and though some men speak it, others do not.” (p174)
November 20, 2023
This is part of the Sun Eater read along in Mike's Book Reviews discord (Join Us! https://discord.gg/ef7KzJPZ )
I usually dont love short stories so I was pleasently surprised by quite a few of them in this collection. I actually really loved the first two in particular. The first story features the best action sequence in the Sun Eater series yet in my opinion. Cool factor off the charts! The second one is a super deep microcosm of my favourite theme from the Sun Eater universe - what makes someone human? This is one of the best examples of that question being asked to the reader.
There are a few stories here that I just had trouble getting invested in, they were entertaining and fun once I finished them. I think this is mostly a me-thing given that I just don't love short stories as a whole. I can acknoweldge that every story in this collection seems to land exactly how Ruocchio intended it too.
Overall, it expanded the wrold, had massivley cool moments and was varied enough as a collection to be very very enjoyable. I would reccomend including this in any read through of the Sun Eater universe.
I usually dont love short stories so I was pleasently surprised by quite a few of them in this collection. I actually really loved the first two in particular. The first story features the best action sequence in the Sun Eater series yet in my opinion. Cool factor off the charts! The second one is a super deep microcosm of my favourite theme from the Sun Eater universe - what makes someone human? This is one of the best examples of that question being asked to the reader.
There are a few stories here that I just had trouble getting invested in, they were entertaining and fun once I finished them. I think this is mostly a me-thing given that I just don't love short stories as a whole. I can acknoweldge that every story in this collection seems to land exactly how Ruocchio intended it too.
Overall, it expanded the wrold, had massivley cool moments and was varied enough as a collection to be very very enjoyable. I would reccomend including this in any read through of the Sun Eater universe.
September 24, 2024
This first short story collection by Ruocchio is quite the mixed bag. While all of them are great additions to the world building of the Sollan Empire and its adversaries, their quality ranges from dull to entertaining.
Ruocchio got a little over the top with his writing here. You can already see his talent for prose, but in his early works he hadn't yet figured out how to dose and finetune the melodrama and the flowery expressions. Especially in 'The Demons of Arae' his writing can be insufferably overdramatic.
I love Ruocchio, I love this series, and I want to read everything that exists within this world - but if you're not a super Sun Eater powerfan, none of the stories in this collection is required reading.
Ruocchio got a little over the top with his writing here. You can already see his talent for prose, but in his early works he hadn't yet figured out how to dose and finetune the melodrama and the flowery expressions. Especially in 'The Demons of Arae' his writing can be insufferably overdramatic.
I love Ruocchio, I love this series, and I want to read everything that exists within this world - but if you're not a super Sun Eater powerfan, none of the stories in this collection is required reading.
August 5, 2024
Tales of the Sun Eater is a good set of short stories that, whilst certainly not necessary to the Sun Eater series, are well-written and add some depth to the universe.
“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.”
There isn’t too much to say about this. Fun and interesting short stories which highlight Ruocchio’s range whilst also being not really essential to the Sun Eater experience. I did enjoy this, though I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone but the BIG Sun Eater fans.
“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.”
There isn’t too much to say about this. Fun and interesting short stories which highlight Ruocchio’s range whilst also being not really essential to the Sun Eater experience. I did enjoy this, though I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone but the BIG Sun Eater fans.
August 17, 2024
Short stories - some good, some GREAT!!
These short stories cover a wide range of time, places, and people in the Sun Eater universe. The best of them focus on Hadrian Marlowe and various times in his history. The other stories feature humunculi, Cielcin, common soldiery, and Extrasolarians. If you enjoy the first two novels, definitely read the first two novellas and these short stories. Ruocchio does a great job of building his universe and connecting PEOPLE to the events he recounts.
These short stories cover a wide range of time, places, and people in the Sun Eater universe. The best of them focus on Hadrian Marlowe and various times in his history. The other stories feature humunculi, Cielcin, common soldiery, and Extrasolarians. If you enjoy the first two novels, definitely read the first two novellas and these short stories. Ruocchio does a great job of building his universe and connecting PEOPLE to the events he recounts.
October 18, 2023
Un Ruocchio che non tradisce nemmeno nella forma breve, sebbene lo preferisca con le storie di più ampio respiro. Una raccolta con un tema focale (il combattimento, la lotta, lo scontro) che risulta, a volte, un poco ridondante, ma grazie a una prosa sempre sontuosa è difficile annoiarsi e la semplice lettura di alcuni passaggi è comunque piacevole.
Terzo racconto che sfiora il capolavoro
The Demons of Arae ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Victim of Changes ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Not Made for Us ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Night Captain ⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Duelist ⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Parliament of Owls ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
The Pits of Emesh ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Terzo racconto che sfiora il capolavoro
The Demons of Arae ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Victim of Changes ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Not Made for Us ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Night Captain ⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Duelist ⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Parliament of Owls ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
The Pits of Emesh ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
May 19, 2023
Tales vol. 1
We get some lore, some of Had's life from a different POV, some Cielcin and some Extrasolarians. There's even a detective story! Wonderful addition to the universe.
We get some lore, some of Had's life from a different POV, some Cielcin and some Extrasolarians. There's even a detective story! Wonderful addition to the universe.
December 31, 2023
-The Demons of Arae 5/5
-Victim of Changes 4/5
-Not Made for Us 4.5/5
-The Night Captain 4/5
-The Duelist 3/5
-The Parliament of Owls 4/5
-The Pits of Emesh 3/5
-Victim of Changes 4/5
-Not Made for Us 4.5/5
-The Night Captain 4/5
-The Duelist 3/5
-The Parliament of Owls 4/5
-The Pits of Emesh 3/5
September 25, 2024
These little stories are delightful. It really fleshes out the Suneater world.
July 3, 2025
On one hand, I'm upset I didn't read these Tales in publication order. But on the other hand, I am glad I am reading these after book 5. It was really nice to read about Hadrian in the Colosseum on Emesh again! Very nostalgic, in a way.
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