Sean

Ashes of Man was a letdown as far as Suneater books go. Each of the last four books have expanded upon the world, plot, and characters in major ways. This one felt like replaying the hits. It’s the same characters, with even Hadrian not undergoing much development (until maybe the very end), same plot devices, an impossible mission, followed by a huge culminating battle, and mostly planets and groups of people that have made appearances already.

🚨SPOILERS🚨

What really disappointed me was Valkas death. Valka had grown into a character I absolutely loved. Her relationship with Hadrian, her cool half-computer brain and everything she could do with it, even the way she connected with Gibson and other side characters were some of my favorite parts of the series. It’s foreshadowed throughout the book that she’s probably gonna die at the end, so I was ready for a massive emotional impact or a dramatic death. It didn’t give me either of those. She just kinda dies. It felt like a disrespectful write-off of a key character. In the manner of her death she gets reduced to little more than any other side character Hadrian cared about, which is not what she’d been at all. The fallout from her death, specifically hadrians reaction, ended up as the part with big stakes and impact on the story. Ultimately, setting up what feels like the very end of this long saga, now that Hadrian truly has no one left.

Somehow this series just keeps getting better. The emotional impact of this book was off the charts. To see what Hadrian goes through, what he’s reduced to, was jarring. And the ending…holy shit. That’s how a battle should be written. Then what happened next added a completely new emotion to the story that topped it off perfectly.

Demon in White leveled up from Howling Dark in a lot of ways. There were five distinct acts and each of them delivered what they were meant to. It started by adding genuine political intrigue by having Hadrian tangle with the emperor and make strong friends and stronger enemies at court. That was a completely new element. The battles with the Cielcin were as scary and epic as always. I wish Dorayaica had been a bit more involved given how much it’s built up as the true enemy, but it’s set up for more from it going forward. Finally, the academic and then quest parts of the book that went together were spectacular. Particularly the supernatural contact with the Quiet was a stunning scene that marked a real shift in who Hadrian is and will be. He’s still ridiculously dramatic about literally everything but now I feel like he’s earned it given everything he’s been through and the level of power/respect he’s cultivated amongst humanity.