I HATE this book… READ IT! ~ Kingdoms of Death REVIEW~
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- čas přidán 7. 08. 2024
- My thoughts on Kingdoms of Death
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00:00 Spoiler Free
15:10 Spoiler Talk
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This book was an absolute masterpiece, and I never want to read it again.
😂
Sounds like what I said about The Road - the best book I never want to read again. 🤣
This is the weirdest response to a book I've ever heard of but I get it 😂
Damn it, I should have really comments before I commented. It's always frustrating when you read someone who can shorten exactly how you feel down to a sentence
Well simultaneously being satisfying
My friend reading Empire of Silence: “Is the rest of the series this dark?”
Me: 😶
This book is what cemented this series as one of the best I've ever read. The tragedy Hadrian and his followers are put through in this book is so deep, but the ending feels so real and rewarding after all of that. I don't often cry when reading sci-fi, but this one got me a few times.
I don't know why I keep talking about this, but as I said on the review of DiW, the sense of scale still continues to feel huge, as it should. As an example of scale of time (especially Palatine lifespan): I think it's at the start of KoD, where Hadrian talks to the cook at the place they have been staying. I remember it as a brief thought he had, but he comments something to the effect that this cook is the THIRD generation of this family of cooks that has served him during his stay.
The universe feels so vast, but so real and distinct. It’s sun eater. It feels like its whole own thing.
@@katieamarsh it really does.
I realised why I brought scale up again here. I just finished another series the other day, the Final Architecture series by Adrian Tchaikovsky. In terms of explaining scale, its the polar opposite to Sun Eater. It's a decent series, in general, but when a docking sequence between two ships that start on far opposite sides of a planet only take as much time as a short conversation, many times, I struggle to keep my suspension of disbelief going.
All I want to say is, it gets worse. Ruocchio gets power from our tears. Challenging stuff indeed but it is intentional. The minor criticisms though don't stop. Things like "I realized the voice was my own" and other cliches occur over and over. Might be intentional, Hadrian is melodramatic and he knows it, but it still can grate when these things keep coming up. Man, does Ruocchio make up for it though with other things.
I sobbed in Ashes of Man.
You're not alone.@@katieamarsh
Please edit this, it's a massive spoiler
@@amira-uf5yj womp womp
the voice thing was annoying in this one especially, ngl
I’m rereading Demon in White now. I’ve come to the conclusion that Gibson is one of the best characters in the whole series.
Just finished Howling Dark and started Queen Amid Ashes. This author is already one of my favorite of all time and I have been reading SFF for twenty years
I'm so glad so many people are discovering this series thanks to you. It's been one of my favorite series for years and I've been hoping it gets more publicity.
I waited until I finished the book to watch this.....and this book will haunt me for a long time.....This book makes A Storm of Swords look like a walk in the park. Such a fantastic read! This series is vastly under rated---thank you Daniel for lending your megaphone to shout this series praises from the mountaintops.
I've come to enjoy the discombobulated book starts. As readers, we experience what it's like coming out of the fugue. The passage of time is such an important part of this world that I like that we get to experience it also
I only found the beginning of Howling Dark confusing and didn't feel disoriented for the rest.
I remember when I read the second book and I had no idea what was going on. I thought I had missed a whole book or had bumped my head and forgotten bunch of stuff
@@TheEndless1986 I had the same experience!
Kingdoms of Death is possibly the most haunting book I've ever read. I am glad this and Ashes of Man were split, they feel like they need a break between their beats. AoM is probably the most defining book for Hadrian's journey into becoming the Suneater. It's also the most beautifully written of the series, imo.
I didn't love Empire of Silence but after your reviews I pushed through and Howling Dark was incredible
Yo props for the Trauma talk. I've been working on stories surrounding healing people for the last few years for my own personal enjoyment - and hopefully profit - one day, and we do not get enough of stories about people learning to work through the darkness and, if not totally healing, finding some measure of internal stillness.
Looking forward to readin this when I get there.
For me it's like the WoT reading routine all over again: devouring the book, then coming here for some fangirling with Daniel. This is my happy place now.
Dude, I have been checking multiple times a day for you to review this. It made me cry. It tore my heart out and it was so good. I am rereading them right now, I will finish Demon in White tonight, but I have gotten so much more attached to characters on reread. They’re stupid good on reread. Kingdoms is going to hurt even more.
So glad you’re banging out these suneater review videos almost as quickly as I’m reading through each book! As I don’t have a good book-friend to talk with about it, it’s so great to hear your thoughts!
I'm nearly halfway through Empire of Silence and I'm having a bit of trouble getting invested in it. You've convinced me to continue the series.
Read that shit gang. Trust 😂
@@-6ix559 I will.
The first 100-200 pages were kinda slow, but they were required to get Hadrian to a certain place so the story can pick off.
I'm at chapter 72 right now and the story just never bores me.
Seeing how much better the sequels are considered by people, I'm gonna keep reading to reap the payoffs.
@@Dmanfromspace I'm about 350 pages in and it is starting to get interesting.
So glad you are doing justice to this series with your reviews. They deserve wider recognition.
I don’t think I’ll ever read this series cuz I’m not into misery but yet I love watching your book reviews of them!!
Same here haha
You've convinced me to read this series.
Having just finished Suneater 5. YEAH. That was a wild ride. Can't wait for April.
Oooof I was getting choked up there toward the end where you were chatting about Hadrian and his father figure.
I really loved the review overall and its exploration of Hadrian’s traumatic experiences and the fallout from those. It’s been a thrill to track your reading experience of the series, and soon you’ll be caught up with us and ready for Disquiet Gods!
I've been waiting for this, it's not for the faint of heart 😔
I'm loving your reviews of the Suneater series! You are doing such a good job with them.
Being in your discord server and being able to have group therapy sessions in the sun eater channel really improved my reading experience of KoD 9/1! 😄
Dark Age and Kingdoms of Death are the only books I’ve ever read that I did not enjoy the experience but give a 10/10. They hurt so much bc I cared so much. It’s not at all what I wanted but it’s absolutely brilliant and made me feel things I wouldn’t allow myself to feel if I knew what was coming.
I said this before somewhere. It felt like a lifetime, but then realized I read it in two days. Truly an amazing experience.
Great video! And thank you for the recomendation
Just finished the first two books in the series. Hadrian reminds me of Lysander from the red rising series. His melodrama and how he perceives the world around him. Hadrian definitely outgrows Lysander, but the similarities are there.
I will not be able to unsee that thank you. 🙏
Ive read books 1-3 twice, and i have been putting this one off for months.... fine ill read it now
I had never heard of this series before I saw this thumbnail a few months ago. The thumbnail worked, I had to watch the video, or at least the spoiler free section. At the time I was thinking something like, how dark could it be? I've read A Storm of Swords, I've read Pierce Brown's A Dark Age, it can't be that bad. I started the series shortly after and just finished KoD a couple days ago. Wow was that so much more than I ever could have imagined. Such an amazing series and I can't wait to get to the last two books but also don't think I'll ever read this one again.
I’ve been waiting on this video for about a week, since I finished KoD. Usually, I slam right into the next book but I had to take a break. Got through the first half of chapter 1 of Ashes of Man and I just couldn’t continue without taking some time to sit in my feelings. As a huge Red Rising fan (***full series spoilers below***), I thought this was even darker than the loss of the Free Legions, Alex, Rhonna, Cassi, and all the rest of it combined. I have never enjoyed reading really dark mentally taxing stuff (Darrow in the prison comes to mind) but in Sun Eater, it’s just so compelling that I couldn’t stop.
Thanks for another great review and it’s time to get reading again!
Side bar: How did you audiobook people enjoy the voice of Dorayaica and the odd change in pronunciation. I preferred the previous one.
I like the voice for Doryraiaca but the pronunciation changing did kind of bother me. Turned out not to matter though since he gets a new name anyway.
This book had me just sitting and staring at a wall out of emotional pain at so many different points. I absolutely love this book because I love great character building, but Jesus, man.
Read this book this month as well and read the fifth one right after.
Also, not me crying again when you talked about the ending of this book...
I have been enjoying your book reviews immensely! You're really good at this, you should have a column in a sf and fantasy magazine!
Thank you for bringing this to everyone's notice, Daniel. I just ran through the first book and am already reading the second.
This book gave me the most lovecraftian vibes, hard read but character work. Now he truly understands the enemy. Their beliefs and zealotry. In order to beat an enemy like this, do you need to become them?
"Hadrian's life is a curse" no doubt no doubt no doubt
Daniel I love your channel by the way man. Reading the shadow rising at the moment, and your my guy to go to for anything wheel of time related
I won't watch the video now because I've just started reading Empire of Silence, but thank you for recommending this series so much. I had no idea about before you've talked about it.
Hope you enjoy EoS, Howling Dark (book 2) will give you a lot to chew on. It bridges genres well and is a fantastic read IMO.
As soon as I read the title, I knew what you meant.
I haven’t read this book in particular, but the concept of tragedy done good is so hard for me, because I both love it and hate it.
I finished Kingdom of Death last night. Your feelings for it mirror my own exactly, right down to the Terry Goodkind comparison.
I felt like a psychopath, because I loved this book so much. It horrified me, but it was exactly what the story needed, because yeah things have been going a bit too well for Hadrian. This also really sets up his motivations for destroying an entire species and you know what, I can't even blame him, they need to be stopped. His hypocrisy has been a fun little thing to witness throughout the books also. He hates the Extras for their body augmentation, he hates cloning, he looks or at least looked down on homunculi, but the dude has never seen the inside of a womb. He was genetically engineered to perfection and artificially birthed, take a look in a mirror my guy. Ugh one of my favourite protagonists ever in what's becoming one of my favourite series even if I have issues with how little the rest of the cast is developed. On to the next book.
I'm getting through this myself (on book 2). Excited to catch up to watch the spoiler section.
I watched a few of Roucchio's videos after your recommendation... He actually has a lot of the Berserk deluxe on his shelf.
You make me fear because I’m about to finish Demon in White then I’m going to take a break for Ship of Destiny before returning for this book. You frighten me.
Great vid dude!
Woo! I found this series from your channel and I’m caught up to you now! My favorite series in a long time, and I’m loving it more and more as I go.
SPOILER:
I’m glad a certain cyclops character didn’t die off page. 😢
Which one is darker? Dark Age vs Kingdom of death?
I skipped the torture because it simply is not for me... but it really reminded me of 1984. At least the start of the book. I loved the political side of the commonwealth and the rest... too much pain to unpack, i did not realize i was finishing the book before i turner the last page.
Yeah i have to agree. I read empire of silence and was like yeah not for me. Im glad youve done these reviews because im definitely going to pick it up again.
I watched the first review of this series and had to give it a shot. I have not been disappointed! I usually listen to audible and it’s been one of the better stories that immediately immersed me into the story. The character/universe building to the introduction of side characters were written so well that I didn’t have a problem with following along. Thank you so much to introducing me to the series and I think it’s in my top 5 at least
I 100% agree with your critiques and think the only objective weak points of the writing are the repetitive turns of phrase and the confusion with so much happening off page between books. I noticed it in the earlier books, but its especially glaring here. Either way, still an all timer and cant wait till 4/2 (patiently skipping the arc).
When I tell people about the series I usually say Demon In White is the best (so far.. though I am reading the early release of Disquiet Gods now and it’s fantastic) not because Kingdoms of Death and Ashes of Man aren’t good, they are just as fantastic, but that they are hard but necessary beats of the story.
Christopher deserves all the praise and notice he’s getting. He’s making something truly special here and the only way he’s going to get the recognition he deserves is through grass roots attempts.
Thank you Daniel for giving him some notice.
Great review mate
This is the right response. But I implore you, after you read Ashes of Man, PLEASE track down the short story Royal Game from Grimdark Magazine #34, and PLEASE read at least Daughter of Swords from Tales of the Sun Eater Vol 3 before you read Disquiet Gods.
That is a snazzy cardigan my man. 👍(Also this review has made me finally cave and start reading this series thank you for your service).
finished this one last night and its easily my favorite so far, i love stories that hurt me and god damn Ruocchio nailed it this time
I hope a dutch translation exist since we dont get a lot of fantasy translated(except garbage from Terry Goodkind) and for full immersion i like reading books in my native language. Thanks for the vid!
I'm just now finishing this book. I had a lot of the same feelings, and I really had to give Rouccio props when a tear came to my eye when the Tamerlain opened fire. I was so invested in the feelings of loss until then. That moment provided so much relief I almost shed a tear.
Just gonna put it out there, but KoD and AoM were supposed to be one book before Ruocchio split it into two. He made it very clear that this was going the be the darkest book in the series, you’ll see why when you catch up with the next book.
Old man Daniel and his cardigan is back. 😜
What a lovely sweater.
Hi 👋 it’s nice watching ur book review. This how u started ur videos. Which I liked 🎊🥳🎊🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳
One of my favorite series of all time. I hesitated giving it a try for quite some time now but once I seen you review it I took a chance and fell in love. I can’t understand why it hasn’t garnered more attention. The prose is much better quality than most sci fi and fantasy. This entry was the top quality but hard to watch what my favorite characters go through at time.
This is the arc Daenerys needed to justify her scorching King's Landing. I was waiting for something like this in Suneater to drive Hadrian to earn that moniker after his denial that he would ever do so in previous books (currently reading Ashes of Man, only a few chapters in).
It’s hard to judge this book on its own because I know how important it is to the setup for the rest of the series despite how painful it was to read. This one had Iron Gold (or maybe it was Morningstar) levels of stress. Also I think you will love Ashes of Man 😅
Did anyone get through the Cyberpunk book? I could not finish it to save my life
Hi, I want to get into this series. Does anyone know if Empire of Silence is out of print? I can’t seem to find a physical copy, paperback or hardcover. Thanks.
Okay...that's it..! I'm picking up Sun-Eater. My tbr can go to hell..😭
You've already convinced me to read it before I finish Malazan, why do you try to get me to stop in the middle of a book?
Will you ever consider reading and reviewing any Warhammer Fantasy / Warhammer 40k books? I think you’d adore the Gotrek and Felix novels.
0:00 The Goblin sending mixed messages XD
I just finished it. I'm in the middle of book 5 now. I thought it was incredible.
Why is it impossible to get physical copies of this series (especially of the first book ) ?? >< I wanna read it >
That cardigan tho :D
Once the final book is out I cant wait to read the whole series again!
I love the sweater
Bleak does not begin to describe how crushing this book is ... and yet crushing Hadrian was required to go forward
just started this series so i cannot watch the whole video but thank you for introducing it to me
So tragically, terribly, painfully good.
Have not started this series yet!! If it is too sci-fi I wont be trying it. That sweater bro.......
As someone who has only experience Berserker through your videos, I got to say your reviews are very tempting, but that level of grim is not for me. And I don't know if it would ever be. But thanks for your hard work.
I just finished Kingdoms of Death. This is my favorite book In the entire series so far. This book… I fucking cried for the first time since 2019. This book has just done something for me. It just made something click for me in my life. I love this book. I understand it and I just love it. Also, this book really reminded me of Night by Elie Wiesel.
Hey can you please do a review of the book “no need to mention it” - I read it last week and it’s hilarious and would love your review on it
Jeez this book was too good…but so depressing. This series is revitalizing my love for reading. I fell into a slog over time and just reread old favorites and not try anything new. Christopher Ruocchio is outstanding and easily becoming one of my favorite authors. It’s scratched that itch for something new I’ve had for a while now. On to Ashes of Man, let the pain continue. 10/10
Farseer was way more brutal than this. But yeah it was still rough. Broken Earth also felt more brutal, but i think the themes resonated with me more as a black female.
I think the losses of this book are foreshadowed and the audiences are primed for them as well, so that helps take away SOME of the pain. Next book hurt me way more, which was surprising.
Robin Hobb don't play.
I couldn't make it through the misery of the first book. Your telling me they get worse? No thanks, I think I'm getting burned out on grimdark guff.
Christopher isnt a grimdark writer......he is explicitly not a fan of grimdark and the lack of hope and dreariness so common for the subgenre. He's all about hope and recreation of hero narratives. There's darkness for sure but the books are pretty much philosophically opppsed grimdark.
@@Isaiah_McIntosh I felt like I was reading warhammer 40k with all the Roman Empire aspects and the anti alien war. The first book felt like a day in the life of warhammer nobility versus a space marine or grunt in the army. The absolute oppressive dark tone is totally grim dark.
This is the perfect Journey before Destination series. Of course Hadrian escapes. Its not even a spoiler given what we know from page one of Silence. But how it goes down was so wild my wife has to ask if something was up today.
Man buckle up for ashes of man, as some people have said Kingdom of death and Ashes of Man were supposed to be one single book and it shows, tonally they are on the same vibe and Ashes of Man focus heavily on the consequences of Kingdom of Death. I believe however that because he had to split the book in two parts he made them longer and sometimes they drag a little bit. However I'm a huuuuge fan of these books (went over the five of them in 1 and half week ahah)
to be fair, even Robert Jordan had a habit of repeating things... a LOT (i.e. tugging their braid, sucking their teeth, licking their lips, etc. etc. etc.)
It was a difficult read but worthwhile nonetheless…I’m now reading Ashes of Man and I’m v worried about what’s to come.
😅 Ahhh Listening to your review and reading the comments makes me undecided . Sounds like a series very well written and is tempting but I am not in the mood for pain 😅 . Ahh Anyone can suggest a good book but with less missery ?
I'm about 25% into Kingdoms of Death and now.....I am afraid.
That fear is reasonable...
Such a shame you don't do many book reviews cause of the algorithm
I'm going through red rising rn but when I'm done this series is definitely next lol
Pallino
I read KoD and AoM as one book...it was sooooooo gooooood!
Once Again, thank you for recommending this series of book.
I don’t know how long it will take for me to process & recover from this book. It pierces the heart and soul.
Got 3 and a half hours left in the audiobook, and while I knew this scenario was coming I’m still real sad as it’s happening.