Hello Fellow Journeyers,
We find our first review of a novella from Christopher Ruocchio's Sun Eater series post Empire of Silence in The Lesser Devil.
What's the story about: The Lesser Devil is a different tale (officially dubbed 1.5 in the series) because it revolves around Hadrian Marlowe's younger brother Crispin as he tries to foil a plot against himself and his sister while visiting his dying grandmother. It is recommended to read this after reading Empire of Silence, but does not have to be.
While you may be wondering why I'm writing a review on this short story, it's mostly because I really enjoyed Empire of Silence and wanted to read the novella as soon as I could after Empire ended. Also, since The Lesser Devil is a long short story in being close to 200 pages and about a six hour listen on audiobook, it seemed to validate a read and review in my book.
The first thing that should be stated is the difference in how the story is told from Crispin's perspective compared to Hadrian's. Crispin's story is told in the third person perspective compared to Hadrian's personal first person and I liked the distance this time. I'm not sure why Ruocchio decided to do this, but it works just as well. That being said, the distance distances the reader from the main character by only allowing so much entry into his head. While not much is lost, there is an air that feels like we're missing some of the personal substance.
The next aspect that works incredibly well is how fast the pacing and progression is since this is a short story. But because Empire of Silence established so much, none of the introductory things had to happen and it could focus solely on plot. Which I sorely appreciated compared to Empire. Crispin is an interesting protagonist. While I did find him strikingly similar to Hadrian (mostly because the author writes similarly I think) I liked how much more fleshed out he became here. He still maintains most of his brash arrogance and quirks, but he's likable enough to get behind. He experiences some desperate changes of heart and you grow with him naturally in a short period. The length of the novella is good for this as it gets enough time to breath without slowing down for any extended length of time. Again, quite refreshing compared to the main story's progression.
The final thing I will say on this short story is that I wished it had been longer. What I said before about substance of the main character speaks towards the short story as a whole. It felt strikingly absent of anything worth saying and rather just served as worldbuilding and furthering a lesser character's arc. Maybe this will change with the overall plot as the books continue, but for now it just seemed to be missing the charm and extra aspect to Empire of Silence that made that book so good.
★★★★ 3.5 Stars - The Lesser Devil was not what I expected, but was a fresh story after some fatigue from Empire. While a lot of the reason why the story should be told was lost on me, I definitely enjoyed reading it. I wasn't sure how it fit into the overall story of the universe with Hadrian, but maybe it wasn't supposed to? Either way, it was definitely a fast-paced, enjoyable read that was worth taking the time to explore. It made me appreciate Crispin more and was just plain fun.
Let me hear from you! If you like what you read, want to hear more thoughts on this book, other reviews, or talk book recommendations and Essential Reading, leave a comment below.
Rating system:
★★★★★ 5 Stars: It was amazing; I loved it. Read this book; it is definitely Essential Reading!
★★★★★* 4.5 Stars: It was nearly perfect. I really loved almost every aspect of it, but a few things kept it from being amazing.
★★★★ 4 Stars: It was very worth reading and satisfying; highly recommend.
★★★★* 3.5 Stars: I thoroughly enjoyed this story, but it was lacking in certain crucial areas.
★★★ 3 Stars: It was good, but could've been better or improved upon significantly.
★★★* 2.5 Stars: I wanted to enjoy it. Certain aspects were good, it was worth finishing, but many issues.
★★ 2 Stars: It was okay, I didn't feel strongly about it.
★ 1 Star: I did not like it. It was not worth finishing or I did not finish it.
*I round up based on the system on Goodreads. Also, there is no 1.5 Stars because it does not seem to have enough differentiation.