Howling Dark cover art

Howling Dark

Sun Eater, Book 2

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Howling Dark

By: Christopher Ruocchio
Narrated by: Saul Reichlin
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About this listen

The second novel of the galaxy-spanning Sun Eater series merges the best of space opera and epic fantasy, as Hadrian Marlowe continues down a path that can only end in fire.

Hadrian Marlowe is lost.

For half a century, he has searched the farther suns for the lost planet of Vorgossos, hoping to find a way to contact the elusive alien Cielcin. He has not succeeded and for years has wandered among the barbarian Normans as captain of a band of mercenaries.

Determined to make peace and bring an end to nearly 400 years of war, Hadrian must venture beyond the security of the Sollan Empire and among the Extrasolarians who dwell between the stars. There, he will face not only the aliens he has come to offer peace, but contend with creatures that once were human, with traitors in his midst, and with a meeting that will bring him face to face with no less than the oldest enemy of mankind.

If he succeeds, he will usher in a peace unlike any in recorded history. If he fails...the galaxy will burn.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2019 Christopher Ruocchio (P)2020 Orion Publishing Group Adventure Dystopian Military Science Fiction Space Opera Fiction Interstellar

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All stars
Most relevant
4.25

After finishing this book, I can see why this series is getting hyped. This is a vast improvement over the first book, which felt much more like a very very very slow prologue. I was worried to start with, the start is strange and to be honest, I feel 80% of it is unnecessary, and I'm sorry, I don't care about Jinan or their relationship.

Additionally, I'm also getting really annoyed with narrator Hadrian's constant spoilers about the future. This REALLY gets on my nerves and I can't stress enough how bad the practice is. I am here reading an epic, where I expect story beats to be unavailed over several books. I don't want them to be flippantly dismissed the way they are, it simply destroys hype and expectation! There's already a lot going into the next book, why ruin that?

However, with all of that being said, once we move on from that awkward intro, when Hadrian begins to move forward, the book becomes good. And holy, hot damn, that build and ending is absolutely worth it! There were some good twists in there, some foreshadowed some not, but I enjoyed it all quite a lot!

Looking forward to seeing where this series goes!

Weird start, great build, amazing end.

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After reading the first book and additional novellas. I have gained an interest into the characters lives. If you have enjoyed dune or Hyperion this book will tick a lot of boxes for you.
One of the downsides is that the story tends to get bogged down in the middle of the book and doesn’t pick up again until near the end. On to the demon in white next!

Continuing a captivating plot!

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This is the second book in the sun eater series, and carries on the adventures of Hadrian Marlow.
This book is a little bit slower than the first, but it makes up for that with the overall plot and the introduction of new characters. The narrator has also been changed and as much as I love listening to Jon Lee, the new narrator is an even better fit for how the story is told.

Excellent second book

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Maybe it is me being an old man, but I really felt that at times it was disjointed, having said that the words, descriptions and phrases used made up for the slow times. A long book and I have already purchased the other two, but will give them a miss for the time being. need something more realistic for a while.

A bit difficult to get into, I was never gripped.

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As others have said the switch in narrator took a bit of getting used to. That being said after a while I eventually forgot all about the first narrator.

I adore the prose from this author. There’s a quality Tobit that elevates the story, and the characters. I especially appreciate that while Hadrian could so easily be an edgy Mary sue there’s a realness to him that stops that from happening.

Genuinely intrigued to see where this story goes.

Took a while but it’s got me hooked

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