The end is nigh.

It has been nearly two hundred years since Hadrian Marlowe assaulted the person of the Emperor and walked away from war. From his Empire. His duty. From the will and service of the eldritch being known only as the Quiet. The galaxy lies in the grip of a terrible plague, and worse, the Cielcin have overrun the realms of men.

A messenger has come to Jadd, bearing a summons from the Sollan Emperor for the one-time hero. A summons, a pardon, and a plea. HAPSIS, the Emperor’s secret first-contact intelligence organization, has located one of the dreadful Watchers, the immense, powerful beings worshipped by the Pale Cielcin.

Called out of retirement and exile, the old hero—accompanied by his daughter, Cassandra—must race across the galaxy and against time to accomplish one last, impossible task:

To kill a god.

At the publisher's request, this title is sold without DRM (Digital Rights Management).

Praise for Christopher Ruocchio’s Sun Eater Series:

“Christopher Ruocchio’s Sun Eater series has proven to be one of the brightest debuts by a new author in recent years . . . Comparable to Frank Herbert or Gene Wolfe . . . There’s never been a better time to dive into one of the best new works of epic space opera today, just as it begins to reach its ultimate crescendo.” — Analog

“Space opera fans will savor the rich details of Ruocchio’s far-future debut, which sets the scene for a complicated series. Readers who like a slow-building story with a strong character focus will find everything they’re looking for in this series opener.” — Publishers Weekly

“Although stretched across a vast array of planets, the story line is often more focused on the intimate than on the expanse, giving it a wonderful emotional punch. This wow book is a must for fans of Pierce Brown and Patrick Rothfuss.” — Library Journal

“With the scope of Dune and a confessional, first-person voice that puts us into the mind of a possible madman, this is space opera at its most riveting and grandiose.” — Barnes & Noble

“ Empire of Silence is epic science fiction at its most genuinely epic. Ruocchio has made something fascinating here, and I can’t wait to see what he does next.” —James S.A. Corey

“A craftsman of rare ability, Christopher Ruocchio lures you into a future filled with danger, action, irony, vaulting prose, and a few, precious dollops of hope.” —David Brin

“Ruocchio could mash up genres at the Olympics and have the dais to himself. He wins gold, silver and bronze for the brilliant Sun Eater series, a head spinning stew of speculative future history, retrofuturist fantasy, and utterly entrancing recursive loops back through all of the oldest memes in the history of storytelling, all made new by Hadrian Marlowe, his creator-destroyer of imaginary worlds. You will lose yourself in these books and stay happily lost again and again.” —John Birmingham

Christopher Ruocchio is the author of The Sun Eater, a space opera fantasy series, as well as a former assistant editor at Baen Books, where he has edited several anthologies. He is a graduate of North Carolina State University, where he studied English Rhetoric and the Classics. Christopher has been writing since he was eight and sold his first novel, Empire of Silence, at twenty-two. To date, his books have been published in five languages.

Christopher lives in Raleigh, North Carolina with his wife, Jenna.

About the Author

Christopher Ruocchio is the author of The Sun Eater, a space opera fantasy series, as well as a former assistant editor at Baen Books, where he has edited several anthologies. He is a graduate of North Carolina State University, where he studied English Rhetoric and the Classics. Christopher has been writing since he was eight and sold his first novel, Empire of Silence, at twenty-two. To date, his books have been published in five languages.

Christopher lives in Raleigh, North Carolina with his wife, Jenna.