Kingdoms of Death by Christopher Ruocchio

At a Glance: Ruocchio Goes Grimdark

Kingdoms of Death is by far the most dark the Sun Eater series has gotten so far, we have seen Hadrian down before, but never the way he is throughout this part of the series. Book 4 in the series truly hits the realm of the Grimdark genre, and shows just how evil the Cielcin race and more specifically our antagonist Syriani Dorayaica really can be, and what an overwhelming threat they really are. I could not put this down, and while it’s certainly darker than before, it all felt like it served a purpose, and that purpose is breaking Hadrian Marlowe, the one character I didn’t think it was possible to break.

This takes place something around 100 years or so after Demon in White where Hadrian solidifies himself as the ultimate bad ass, the god emperor reborn, the hero we have all been waiting for, and thrusts us into the story eluding to Hadrian being under house arrest while he’s investigated for the events at the end of the last book. His story has spread among the stars with even more vigor, and now he’s being handed yet another impossible task to sequester him away from the political and religious enemies alike.

This book is split between Hadrian’s visit to the capital of the Commonwealth Padmurak, which is basically a system that has to have taken inspiration from the book 1984, everything is controlled through a totalitarian regime. The other half takes place mostly on Syriani Dorayaica’s worldship the Dharan-tun where we get to see how the Cielcin live, their culture, and just what makes the Prince of Princes Dorayaica such a threat.

Uncharted Territory: Leaving the Sollan Empire

In Kingdoms of Death we finally get a glimpse into the Lothrian Commonwealth, which is a totalitarian controlled system and world, where everything is regulated, from behaviors all the way to the citizen allowed speech, we see just how “free” the people of the Commonwealth are not. The second largest population of humanity in the universe is run by their Grand Conclave, a group of “elected” by the people, where each planet in their system is ruled by it’s own conclave of appointees. They claim to have no “kings or masters” but it is evident as Hadrian and the Red Company explore Padmurak that there is a clear hierarchy structure that controls the population at large.

Where the Commonwealth was interesting to see and does truly feel like something out of 1984 with it’s own unique Ruocchio spin, the part I was most excited and then horrified to see was Syriani Dorayaica’s worldship the Dharan-tun, and the Cielcin’s sacred city of Akterumu on Eue. Getting to see the world that bred the evil that is the Cielcin, and learn more about the culture that bread these creatures was an absolute thrill, even if it did come at the cost of 7 years of imprisonment and torment.

We also get a better understanding of Hadrian’s new ability granted to him by The Quiet, and how his vision can be an incredibly powerful tool, but has very very clear rules set and limits to keep it from feeling like something all powerful and totally unbelievable or convenient for the plot.

Character Despair: The Breaking of a Hero

Hadrian Marlowe has always been a complicated protagonist, and we even have the foresight of knowing how the series ends, but if Demon in White showed us Hadrian’s resistance to the inevitable destruction of that Gododdin sun, Kingdoms of Death might be the sole reason Hadrian is willing to make that impossible choice. This book does an incredible job of showcasing how even the strongest willed person can be whittled down to the barest shell of the person they once were when under extreme circumstances.

The other standout in this book is Syriani Dorayaica, an antagonist with depth, who is no longer just the background threat told through whispers and second hand stories, but now on full display. We get 7 years and majority of the book with him as he breaks down Hadrian bit by bit, all while giving us incredible insight into his motivations, but also through some incredible conversational moments between Dorayaica and Hadrian where we get to see the deep respect he has for humanities hero, even noting some similarities between the two. We also get to see how absolutely unhinged and demented he and by proxy the Cielcin as a whole can be.

While we don’t get to spend a ton of time with the rest of the Red Company, what we do see of them solidifies what incredible characters they all are in their own rights. Christopher Ruocchio manages to put as much care and effort into side characters as he does our main protagonist in these stories, and that really shines through in this one as we see just how dedicated they are to Hadrian and his overall mission through some of the most painful scenes I’ve read to date.

Brutality With Purpose: Grimdark Tones That Set The Stage

Kingdoms of Death does not achieve the pacing perfection that the last book, while the scenes through the middle of the book during Hadrian’s imprisonment very much serve a purpose, and I can fully identify the need to spend the time to truly break down someone who has been the aura king in the last 3 books, it did drag at times. It wasn’t so much the nature of the content being dark during those parts, but more-so that the point was made after a while but still continued on.

With that though, there was some incredible moments in those slower scenes, of some truly psychologically uncomfortable things Hadrian had to endure that I don’t think could have been removed and while they were dark, they very much needed to happen and serve a larger purpose.

Once we end up on Eue though, I quite literally couldn’t stop reading, not only was it fascinating to see the grand culmination of the Cielcin’s home world, but everything that came after was incredible. The Suppliants is where this really took off (about the 60% mark), and from that point on this book was flawless. Ruocchio truly put me through the ringer, my jaw was on the floor more times than I could count, I was angry, emotionally destroyed, and in the end I got one of the most bitter sweet moments ever in my time reading.

Between the Sheets: Hadrian Didn’t Have Sheets

Kingdoms of Death is very much plot focused, and while we do get some incredibly deep moments between Valka and Hadrian, they are purely emotional and just serve to deepen the connection of two people who have spent multiple lifetimes together, which gives this one a 🌶️ (1.0) on our spice scale.

Let’s be real, at this point in the series if you’re looking for some sexy time to break up the bleak chaos that is Hadrian’s life, you’re might be a little delusional. What this book lacks in spice it makes up for in emotional connection ten fold, found family, deep romantic bonds, and shared emotional trauma are what make these books amazing.

Bro Reading Comfort: Might Cry at the Coffee Shop

Unlike the last book, this one is full of hugely emotional moments and absolutely devastating moments that even the manliest of men are likely to not be able to hold it together earning this one a 😳😳 (2.5) on our comfort scale.

The cover on this one is super cool and I love getting to see Syriani Dorayaica in the pale flesh every time I open it up, but that certainly isn’t the reason I’m rating this one the way I have. It’s very much so because of the emotional beats of the story told, and how I was devastated more than a few times reading certain parts of this book, and I certainly don’t want to explain to the concerned barista why I’m misty eyed while sipping on my coffee.

Darkness Factor: 7 Years of Hell

Kingdoms of Death certainly lives up to the name, and with that is by far the darkest of the series so far, we spend countless chapters with Hadrian in the pits of pure hell and agony which earns this one a 💀💀💀💀💀 (5.0) on our darkness scale.

7 years is truly felt in the pages (it’s like 3/4 of the book honestly) as you read through the absolutely brutal physical and psychological torture Hadrian endures at the hands of Syriani Dorayaica and his brood. Ruocchio goes into Grimdark level detail during some of the more brutal scenes, but especially in the moments where the torment is more psychological than physical. Now I know that might sound like it’s almost at a gratuitous level, but it truly does all serve a purpose to help the reader make sense of this ultimate galaxy changing decision that Hadrian has told us about since the beginning of it all.

Book Battlefield: Grimdark Sci-Fantasy

Kingdoms of Death somehow manages to blend multiple genres, tropes, and themes from Fantasy, Grimdark, and Sci-Fi in a spectacular blending to create something I can’t truly place into any one category, but manages to do it in a way that doesn’t feel like the book is lacking. The character work as always is top notch, but the visceral emotions that I felt reading through the torment and torture of Hadrian truly is on par with some of my favorite Grimdark fantasy stories I’ve read.

The Sun Eater series has always had a bit of that cosmic horror element and psychological creepiness, but book four has really found a special way to build on that in an epic way. The philosophical undertones and prose are also incredible, and make this book so much deeper than the hero being broken, but really help pose that question of morality around the choice that was made by Hadrian in the very beginning of the series.

Should You Bother?

For the Grimdark Fans: This has all the tones and despair that I can’t get enough of from the Grimdark fantasy genre and certainly will be an enjoyable read for anyone who finds the darker scenes compelling.

For the Hadrian Haters: This is the book for you, if you don’t like the “Gary Stu” nature of Hadrian as a character, you’ll feel vindicated in this one

For Fans of Antagonist: Syriani Dorayaica is shaping up to be one of my favorite antagonist in anything I’ve read. He’s twisted, cruel, zero remorse, but somehow also has moments of being relatable, and even has parallels to Hadrian that can’t be denied.

Final BroMantasy Verdict

Kingdoms of Death was a journey unlike anything in the Sun Eater series so far, venturing into new parts of the universe, leaning into the Grimdark storytelling, giving us a great look into the antagonist of the story, and delivering an absolute page turner in the second half, earning it a 4.5/5.

In a series as long as the Sun Eater, it’s unrealistic to think that every book is going to be a 5 star, but that doesn’t mean that Kingdoms of Death wasn’t an absolutely incredible read. This one gets deep into the dark themes, and had some of the most emotionally devastating moments in the series for me personally, while also giving you some small glimmers of hope, and one specifically bitter sweet moment that had me completely emotional towards the end of this all.

I really think that the middle could have probably been cut down like 50 pages, but honestly it almost feels like a nitpick at this point because of how ridiculously obsessed I was with this book for the last around 40%. I literally couldn’t put it down, once my eyes got heavy I’d switch to audio because as tired as I was I couldn’t stop thinking about what was going to happen next.

I literally started Ashes of Man minutes after I finished Kingdoms of Death because I’m fully addicted to what Christopher Ruocchio is slipping me between the pages of the Sun Eater series.