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The Lesser Devil

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About this listen

Can the youngest son of a noble house save his family from a plot generations in the making?

Crispin Marlowe grew up in his brother’s shadow, but Hadrian is gone, and his grandmother - the Duchess of Delos - is dying.

Answering her summons, Crispin takes off on what should be a routine flight to the ducal palace from the castle at Devil’s Rest. But he is flying into a trap. There are whispers of treachery among the duchess’s many daughters, rumors of hidden knives in the planet’s court...if he can even make it there.

With no one coming to save him and only his sister, Sabine, and a few injured guardsmen to protect him, House Marlowe’s least famous son must make his heroic stand, and contend not only the foes arrayed against his house, but with the cultists who dwell in the mountains above his family’s ancestral home....

©2020 Christopher Ruocchio (P)2020 Recorded Books Adventure Fiction Science Fiction Space Opera
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Most relevant
Loved it. It completely changed my perspective of a specific character. If you like Suneater, read it!

A Must Read for Suneater Fans

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I Honestly really liked this little addition to the series, a nice little redemption arc and a peek of what’s going on at Hadrians home

Crispin redemption

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The story feels like it is going the motions, with detailed descriptions of battles etc. But the characters lack any depth and personality, it didn't really engage me.

Background listen

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I really loved Empire of Silence, and I listened to The Lesser Devil straight after finishing the first book. For me it was a huge dip in quality in almost every way.

It started off okay - I was interested in a different perspective of the aftermath of EOS from Crispin, but it got stale pretty quickly. Felt very much like filler and not really much point to the whole book.

I'm aware the author is Catholic, and obviously I have no problem with that, but adding a random village of futuristic catholics as a gateway to a redemption arc for Crispin felt overly sanctimonious and self-righteous for my taste.

The dialogue was pretty dull, and the ending felt flat as well.

All in all pretty disappointing. I'll continue with the main books for now, but maybe skip the rest of the novelas.

Nah, not for me

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