Howling Dark

Howling Dark is the second novel in Christopher Ruocchio's Sun Eater series, a blend of space opera and epic fantasy narrated by Hadrian Marlowe as an older man looking back on his life.

The story picks up roughly fifty years after Empire of Silence, though thanks to time spent in cryonic suspension only about twelve years have passed for Hadrian. He has spent them far from the Sollan Empire's core, captaining a mixed company of mercenaries, former gladiators and disguised Imperial legionnaires, and carrying frozen Cielcin prisoners.

His goal is Vorgossos, a lost planet said to be ruled by someone who can reach the Cielcin, the alien enemy humanity has fought for nearly four hundred years. Hadrian hopes to use that contact to negotiate a peace.

Finding Vorgossos means dealing with the Extrasolarians, humans living outside Imperial control. When a lead appears and his superiors order him back to the fleet, Hadrian disobeys and is declared a fugitive. The road takes him through strange and dangerous space and into the court of Kharn Sagara, whose society challenges his sense of right and wrong, and finally to a world of technological horrors and an ancient enemy.

Readers who liked the political intrigue and far-future grandeur of the first book will find a darker, stranger and larger sequel. Reviewers note a slow opening stretch and a strong final act. It was nominated for the 2020 Dragon Award for Best Military Science Fiction or Fantasy Novel.