Happy New Year, friends! (I say, as we’re already about halfway through January). I hope everyone’s doing well. I’m foregoing the old “year in review” shtick and instead kicking off the 2025 blogs by reviewing the last book I finished in 2024. I’m happy to say I was able to wrap up book six of the Sun Eater series, Disquiet Gods, right at the end of the year (seriously, I finished the audiobook on my drive to a New Year’s party). So, so glad I was able to get it done. Let’s dive right in.
Disquiet Gods picks up about 200 years after Ashes of Man. Hadrian Marlowe now lives in relative peace amongst the people of Jadd, having been secreted away from the Empire by his allies before he could be imprisoned at the end of the previous book. He’s now largely disconnected from humanity’s ongoing war with the Cielcin, and he has similarly cut himself off from the Quiet, forgoing his gifted power and opting instead to focus on recovering from his many years in battle. He’s also building new bonds with his daughter, Cassandra, a spirited young woman who closely matches Hadrian’s own fire for adventure and discovery.
Of course, as seems commonplace for our protagonist at this point, it doesn’t take long for Hadrian to be pulled back into the galactic war. The Empire comes knocking on Hadrian’s door, promising they have the means to destroy the Watchers, those grim rivals to the Quiet. But things are never as simple as they’re meant to be, especially not when you’re Hadrian Marlowe. Faces new and old, along with a number of threats and omens, dog Hadrian’s path forward as he rockets toward that inevitable ending that was foretold all the way back in Empire of Silence.
To cut right to the chase, I felt Disquiet Gods was the most well-balanced entry in this series since Demon in White. This story boasts an impressive scope, even when compared to previous entries, and Ruocchio manages to pace everything quite well, nonetheless. What moments of calm Hadrian and his comrades are afforded are starkly contrasted by the many scenes of high-octane action, which are now plainly characteristic for this epic series. And in both respects, these are some of the most compelling offerings the series has had up to this point, especially in the latter half of the book.
The raucous third act, which features the return of the fabled Khan Sagara and an epic battle on the shadowy world of Vorgossos, is notably preceded by some deeply interesting sci-fi political drama. The leaders of the various human factions spread throughout the galaxy join together for a council, where they discuss how they might finally bring an end to the war with the Cielcin. There are so many characters to keep track of, but Ruocchio does well to keep everything (and everyone) in order, thanks to his tactful descriptions of the characters and their actions. Listening to the audiobook version also helped a great deal, as narrator Samuel Roukin offered a brilliant performance (he’s done a splendid job since book one) with distinctive voices for each of the many characters.
Disquiet Gods also offers deeper insights into what’s really at stake in this conflict, further expounding upon what was detailed in Ashes of Man. This becomes most apparent when Hadrian is assassinated and resurrected as a young man—something you could see coming a mile away, as the book kept not-so-subtly pointing out how he’s become an old man, but he appeared as a young man in his vision of himself destroying a sun.
The Quiet and the Watchers are a truly confounding duo of godly beings, but their reasons for doing what they’re doing can be boiled down to, I think, a primal struggle of life vs. death or light vs. darkness. The Quiet want the universe to flourish, while the Watchers want to tear everything down and start anew. To do this, they act through Hadrian and the Cielcin Prophet Dorayaica, respectively. The final scene of this story features a surprise encounter between the two of them, one that foreshadows what could be a very satisfying final confrontation.
Among other strong elements within Disquiet Gods, Cassandra is a great addition to the cast, as she brings a unique flair to all the action. She also serves as a great proxy for readers/listeners; as many new elements of the story and universe are revealed to us, Cassandra is there to sort of voice our curiosity and questions when needed. I do feel she can be a bit one-note at times, though it’s never to the story’s detriment.
Although, while the relationship between Hadrian and Cassandra is meant to be a prominent and meaningful aspect of the story, I feel like Ruocchio didn’t do enough to get us initially invested in this from the jump. The book’s opening two or three chapters spend more time thrusting Hadrian back into the politics game, followed by what seems like not enough scenes between him and his daughter before they leave Jadd to rejoin the Empire. This should’ve been reversed, in my opinion. If we’re meant to root for these two, why are we not introduced to Cassandra immediately, and then why is all the external conflict not filling in the gaps between her and her father afterward? And while we do still see their relationship both strained and strengthened by the events of their journey together, it seems clumsy to not place greater emphasis on this story element from the onset. If anything, it throws off reader/listener expectations in a poor manner.
Putting that gripe aside, though, I do still largely enjoy Ruocchio’s character work here. Again, Cassandra is a bright spitfire, and there’s a wonderful cast to back up her and her father. Other returning faces, such as Princess Selene and Lorian Aristedes, also continue to offer much in terms of fleshing out the world and dotting the story with fun and/or insightful dialogue. As previously noted, there are plenty of faces both new and old in this book, but none of them feel out of place or unneeded.
The return of Khan Sagara was straight up awesome. Sagara was an immediately intimidating force when he first arrived in Howling Dark, so I’m glad we finally got to see more of him this time around. Hell, we even got more than one version of him. TLDR; Sagara essentially died and split his mind into two bodies at the end of Howling Dark, but now his two selves are at war with each other. Crazy sci-fi shit, simply put, but it’s the kind of wild development that still feels right at home in the Sun Eater universe. Plus, it leads to some fantastic drama and action at the tail end of the book.
As for the “hero” of the tale, Hadrian has come such a long way from where this series started, and his evolution remains fully organic and believable. He has what feels like a “Paul Atreides accepting his fate and becoming the Kwisatz Haderach” moment here in Disquiet Gods when he’s killed by a member of the Sollan Chantry and subsequently resurrected by the Quiet. Reborn as a young man and fully revitalized in both body and purpose, he seems much more willing to accept this grim fate the universe has written for him. But that willingness isn’t forced upon him for plot purposes, it’s a natural progression of his character, given everything he’s seen and endured up to this point. And at this point, I’m pretty excited to see how it actually all ends.
Ultimately, Disquiet Gods is a complete victory for this series. It was a bit of a slow burn, in some respects, but when things picked up, they picked up. Ruocchio’s brilliant character work and story pacing are on full display here, and his sense of sci-fi scope feels eminent and powerful. Again, it’s got me very excited to see how it’ll all finally end, with Hadrian bringing about the death of a star and the annihilation of an entire alien race.
On paper, that probably sounds like a weird thing to be excited for, but in the context of this story, it means getting to see the payoff of an epic journey six books in the making. I’ll be waiting with bated breath for the finale later this year. Ruocchio has said book seven, titled Shadows Upon Time, should hopefully release by the end of 2025. So, until then, I’ll just have to find other books to read. I’ll be sure to let you know what I find.