Empire of Silence: The Sun Eater: Book One

There's just something about this book that grabbed me by the throat and didn't let go. It gave me nearly everything I look for in fiction; provides escapism while being thought provoking, interesting and flawed characters, and palpable descriptions of emotion. The blurb on the back of the book, a quote from Library Journal, says it better than I can: "Although stretched across a vast array of planets, the story line is often more focused on the intimate than on the expanse[...]". And y'all, that is my sh*t. That being said, the book is not without it's flaws; there are too many references, a handful of overwritten sentences, and the literary inspirations for the story make themselves very obvious, toeing the line of being almost derivative for the first quarter of the book. But I find these flaws to be quite charming! They do not take away from the story or affected my enjoyment at all. Overall, it's an excellent story written by a very talented author and has become a favorite of mine. I hear the rest of the series is even better!