Sent 2/28/2025
And our shortest month comes to a close! Also, I’m twenty-eight as of this week, which feels . . . odd. I don’t know, it should probably feel weirder than it does. I can’t complain, because winter seems to have mostly broken here in Ohio.
Writing Updates
I’m hard at work on the prequel to The Mother Trilogy (working title: The Mother’s Chains), and already have some critique partners lined up to help me smooth out the new-reader experience. It’s at 16k words right now (53% done), and I hope to be done drafting by the end of next week. With a bit of luck and the Lord’s help, the manuscript can be finished and awaiting final edits by the end of March.
Regarding Luna . . . yes, that means I am pushing back the release date to . . . sometime in 2026. I’m seeking out developmental editors, searching for one with the right expertise to help me get these plotlines in order. I had to bite the bullet. Fret not, readers, for her time will come. The Cydenges invasion is inevitable. But for now it is imperative that I have it in best possible shape before publication. I will not settle for a sub-par ending. As far as publication goes, getting the prequel out is my main focus.
Book Reviews
So I’ve been continuing the Sun Eater series, as you can see. I finished three of them this month—does that make me the Sun Eater Eater? Premier Devourer of the Sons of the Sun Eater Eaters, perhaps. And so it was, for this must be. Stunning covers by Kieran Yanner as usual (took some digging to find the artists—I believe Empire of Silence, Book #1, was the only one by Sam Weber), although I have to complain about the twelve-pointed star of the Empire not being . . . twelve-pointed? Or am I seeing that wrong?
Demon in White | ★★★★★ — Easy five stars here. This is one of the best Sci-Fi books I’ve ever read, just a masterwork from cover to cover. Ruocchio’s high points are 10/10, and this novel was nothing but. What a magnificent story. Hadrian Marlowe is at the peak of his game, the height of his rising star, going from an ambitious anomaly to a full-blown legend. I really can’t see him topping this book with #6 and #7.
Kingdoms of Death | ★★★☆☆ — This one is . . . dark. If you can’t tell based on the cover and title. It’s . . . maybe a little over-the-top in that regard. He really hammers home the theme of his beloved main character suffering. If there’s one thing above all that Hadrian Marlowe knows how to do . . . it’s suffer. Eesh. I’m giving this a 3/5 because of my enjoyment level, and particularly the long drag that is our emotional low point of the series. It felt like beating a dead horse after a while.
Ashes of Man | ★★★★☆ — The artist not only did a stunning job with this cover, but managed to capture at least 90% of the annoying-ness of this character on her face. That’s impressive. 10/10 job. On a lesser note, the book was a slow burn but excellent once it got going, picking up again after Hadrian’s dark valley. There’s one twist in here that’s . . . quite bold, setting up for a very different book in Disquiet Gods. That’s one of Ruocchio’s strengths—taking the story and turning it into something new with each book. This fifth installment was strong, but slow.
Note: I have yet to read any of the companion novellas, which take place in the long (long) gaps between books, detailing the adventures upon which Hadrian picks up new members of his Red Company, etc. Good new: Book #6 is shaping up to be fantastic, potentially a new favorite.
And this would be Francis Grose’s 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue. I discovered it randomly on Project Gutenberg when searching for books on English Language history, and have since learned that it’s a somewhat famous and important work. For many of the terms and slang nicknames found herein, I looked them up to cross reference and found the primary cited source to be this exact book. I’m not sure how you’d star-rate a dictionary, nor am I sure I’d recommend this for everyone (certainly not children), as many of the entries are truly vulgar regardless of the time period—including some comically inconsistent censoring of foul language—but there’s also a wealth of fascinating historical data, etymology and political commentary of the times. What I was most interested in was the thieves’ cant explained in great detail . . . or Saint Giles’ Greek, as they called it in 18th century London, whence we get the phrase, “it’s Greek to me.” Many of the words described have trickled down into common English today, for instance ‘buggy’, defined in this dictionary as: “A one-horse chaise.” Having grown up in Pennsylvania, I know full well what a buggy is, but chaise is not a word you hear everyday.
Hope your own reading is going well, everyone! If you haven’t yet, consider checking out Mani for free on Royal Road! If you have already, I’d love it if you’d take the time to review it on Goodreads or your favorite platform. 🙂
— Jacob Gamber