Shadows Upon Time by Christopher Ruocchio

29 Nov, 2025

Today I finished Shadows Upon Time by Christopher Ruocchio, the seventh and final edition of his epic science-fantasy Sun Eater series.

What a fun journey this series has been.

I picked up the first book, Empire of Silence, back in February of this year. Since then I've flown through each book of the series with perfect—and unplanned—timing to grab the latest installment right when it came out in mid-November.

It's a satisfying conclusion to the series and I think one that delivers on the promises that Ruocchio set up in the previous installments—though it is difficult for me to fully get into the headspace I was at while reading book one.

I believe the strengths and weaknesses of this book are similar to the last several. Ruocchio continues to throw readers into an amazingly crafted universe and world that is epic, mysterious and wholly engaging. And Shadows Upon Time—like Disquiet Gods before it—has a break-neck pace that made a massive, 864-page read feel far shorter than it actually is.

The worldbuilding and the plot of this book are its strengths, but I also think some of my biggest critiques with Ruocchio's writing style are improved here.

There are times in previous books where action sequences feel overly-detailed, oddly-paced, or just generally confusing. In Shadows Upon Time, however, I felt there was a more sharp, clear and direct writing style that made these sequences much more engaging to read. It's not quite the peak prose that Demon in White (book No. 3) offered, but it's one of his best efforts in the series.

What continues to let this series fall a bit shorter than it might otherwise might is a lack of developed secondary characters.

This is a critique I've had since book one. While there are a few books that do a better job in this area (Demon in White and Ashes of Man in particular) the characters surrounding our narrator and protagonist, Hadrian Marlowe, always feel a bit more like accessories to the plot or people for Hadrian to act off of than their own realized people. That remains the case in Shadows Upon Time.

Cassandra, in particular, is the most egregious example of a character that I felt was never really developed or believable—or someone who I had much of a stake in at all. The emotional weight of the entire series could have been improved significantly if this specific character had more of her own agency.

The Emperor is Ruocchio's most well-realized secondary character, and he has a few moments in this book where he really shines. I think some of my favorite scenes of the entire series are those where Hadrian and the Emperor are just in a room talking and politicking—Game of Thrones style.¹

Another mild critique is that some of the religious themes in this book have become a bit more heavy-handed and repetitive. Many of the same ideas that were thrown around in Disquiet Gods surface here once again... and again... and again. I'm much more excited when Ruocchio is exploring trans-humanism, or the politics of the Sollan Empire itself, or slowly unwinding some in-universe mystery.

Critiques aside, this book was a blast to read and as I mentioned at the top, I think this was a really strong ending to one of my favorite new series. Ruocchio has fully earned my trust as an author and I'll happily pick up whatever he is working on next.

Overall: 65

• Prose: 60
• Character: 55
• Worldbuilding: 80
• Plot: 70

Series Ranking: 60

1. Demon in White — 70
2. Shadows Upon Time — 65
3. Disquiet Gods — 65
4. Howling Dark — 60
5. Kingdoms of Death — 60
6. Ashes of Man — 55
7. Empire of Silence — 55

I use the 20-80 scale to rate things. For books I have four different categories, plus an overall grade. The overall grade is typically an average of the four main categories, though I reserve the right to round up or down based on other factors, like how thought-provoking or resonant a book might have been for me.

#blogs #books #fantasy