Empire of Silence by Christopher RuocchioMy rating: 3 of 5 stars
There are aspects of this book that are amazing. The author is a fantastic writer of prose. There is some great world-building. And I really wonder what will happen going forward in this unique star-traveling future.
But the story is so very slow. Frustratingly slow. And the author gives our main character almost no wins to tide us over. Just screw-ups and failures and the wrong thing said at the wrong time, over and over. It tries your patience. We get way too much of his life before anything relating to the plot happens. It feels like 17th century picaresque for most of its length instead of a modern novel.
Since I started this book, I have also started and finished about 30 other books. It took me months to read this, a 20-page chunk at a time, maybe every second or third day, more often only one chunk a week. It was too much work with too little reward.
I know some people read for prose. I'm not one of those people. But the story is, ultimately, a good one; it's just postponed and stretched out and wandered away from again and again, put on the back burner. I almost DNF'ed a dozen times. But I wanted to know what was gonna happen. In the last 40 or 50 pages, it feels like we're back on track to find out.
So--prose is a 5. Setting and world-building is a 4 or 5. Characters and character development, probably near a four. And pacing--about a 1. IMO, of course.
I won't start the second book for awhile. Maybe when I do I'll love it. Right now I'm gonna celebrate a win, because it took a lot to cross the finish line.
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