Listen free for 30 days

Listen with offer

  • Empire of Silence

  • The universe-spanning science fiction epic
  • By: Christopher Ruocchio
  • Narrated by: John Lee
  • Length: 25 hrs and 58 mins
  • 4.4 out of 5 stars (229 ratings)
Offer ends May 1st, 2024 11:59PM GMT. Terms and conditions apply.
£7.99/month after 3 months. Renews automatically.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Empire of Silence cover art

Empire of Silence

By: Christopher Ruocchio
Narrated by: John Lee
Get this deal Try for £0.00

Pay £99p/month. After 3 months pay £7.99/month. Renews automatically. See terms for eligibility.

£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Buy Now for £16.99

Buy Now for £16.99

Pay using card ending in
By completing your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and authorise Audible to charge your designated card or any other card on file. Please see our Privacy Notice, Cookies Notice and Interest-based Ads Notice.

Listeners also enjoyed...

Of Blood and Fire cover art
The Will of the Many cover art
Red Rising cover art
The Ember Blade cover art
Gunmetal Gods cover art
The Censor's Hand cover art
Red Rising: Sons of Ares, Volumes 1-3 Bundle (Dramatized Adaptation) cover art
The Darkness That Comes Before cover art
Antimage cover art
We Are the Dead cover art
Dune cover art
Unbound cover art
Winter's Reach cover art
The Midwest Witch: The Revelations of Oriceran cover art
The Emperor's Blades cover art
The Fire's Stone cover art

Summary

Hadrian Marlowe, privileged first son of a Duke, was destined for greatness, and he has become a legend. The Sun-Slayer. The Breaker of Sieges. The Crusher of Civilisations. His is a story which defined the course of worlds.

This novel is not that story - not the only laid out in the history books, charting the 300 years of his life. Rather this is Hadrian's story, told in his own worlds. Of being passed over by his father for rule in favour of his younger brother and sent to a military academy against his wishes. Of being kidnapped in transit to that planet and sold into slavery on a planet at the edge of our war against the Cielcen...and of how he used their eventual attack to claw his way back into the dangers and opportunities of politics.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying reference material will be available in your Library section along with the audio.

©2018 Christopher Ruocchio (P)2018 Orion Publishing Group

What listeners say about Empire of Silence

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    141
  • 4 Stars
    54
  • 3 Stars
    22
  • 2 Stars
    10
  • 1 Stars
    2
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    145
  • 4 Stars
    43
  • 3 Stars
    11
  • 2 Stars
    4
  • 1 Stars
    2
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    115
  • 4 Stars
    58
  • 3 Stars
    18
  • 2 Stars
    9
  • 1 Stars
    5

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

A story that never took off

Narrator was very good.

Story: lots of potential but lacked suspense. characters lacked depth. 10 words were used regularly when one would do. writer just got caught up in their world and forgot about building suspense.

in short it was boring

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

8 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Damn good fantasy sci-fi

Listened to this based on the recommendation of another listener who described it as ‘Name of the Wind’ in space - immediately sold on that! (Interestingly also how Orion publishing describe it whilst still managing to claim that it is totally original? Nice one!)

The initial set up of the story is perhaps too comparable for my liking. I freaking adored ‘Name of the Wind’ and there are some similarities that are slightly too close to the bone - if it wasn’t set in space it would basically be the same opening to the story (expect Marlow is chronicling himself) but as the book progresses and the characters develop, the story blossoms into something truly special.

Most impressive is the seemingly effortless blend of sci fi and fantasy elements and neither feels forced upon the other, fusing noble houses, knights, scholars and sword play with a wide array of completely believable alien races and planets - all beautiful written and, most importantly, granted the space to breath allowing the reader to form the image of them in their own mind. (Too often the author drastically over describes everything and it’s suffocating - the Space Knight series, comparable in its SciFan blend, is a particularly bad culprit!)

John Lee is fantastic.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

6 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

A superb first installment

A unique take on a space epic brought to life by an amazing narrator who captures the spirit of the book perfectly

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

fantastic space opera/fantasy

If you've read Red Rising of are a fan of space opera with that fantasy edge, this is the one for you. I loved it.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

There is no story

I picked this up as one reviewer said it was Name of the Wind but in space. sadly nothing could be further from the truth. 100 words are used rather than 1, and there is simply no plot. The only remotely interesting part is the first battle in the Colosseum, after which the author pretty much skips over the rest of the fights.
It really is more what you would expect from a prequel book, written after the conclusion of a story to help fill in the background.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

Never write one word when you can write 63!

This is a very very long book that probably would have worked better as a short story...... So much over description and needless padding. Pacy it is not! The main character is unbelievably naive and makes one really stupid decision after another. It is also difficult to believe that he would pine so much for parental affection considering the world he was 'birthed' into. Because it is narrated by John Lee (always a good listen in my opinion) I have persevered for about fifteen hours of this book but I am still waiting for it to really take off. I don't think I can finish it. it is far too slow and the 'hero' is such a bubbling irritating prat. I bought it because it had a lot of positive reviews. I suppose it is just a matter of taste.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Brilliant

A long listen but worth it and can't wait for the next one now. Hurry up.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Too Quiet!

Whenever I played this audiobook in the car or just on loudspeaker while cracking on with jobs around the house, it was too quiet even when cranked up to max. As you can imagine, not being able to hear an audiobook really impacted on the experience and I frequently found myself only getting pieces of the story. I would then have to go back to re-listen. There were parts of this story where I was really engaged and interested in what was going on, and other times when I was a bit bored. It's hard for me to say how much of this was due to not being able to hear it properly and where there may have been simply slow parts of the story.

That being said, it was pretty enjoyable, I'd give it a 7/10.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Empire of Silence Mac approved

Nearly devoured this in a single sitting
Can't wait to see what happens next woof woof

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars
  • TR
  • 12-03-24

Well written prose but lacking any real 'meat'.

The book borrows heavily from other notable space fantasy staples, most notably Dune - but with the narrative style of The Name of the Wind. While still listenable, I found this to match up to neither. Well written prose, but the plotting is too slow and the overly descriptive narrative, combined with John Lees particular style, made this a frustrating listen, especially towards the end. Too much talk and not enough action, combined with a first person narrative from an MC who is simply not that endearing.

I came away with 'Anthony Ryan' vibes, and not in a good way. That said, there was enough here to try the second book and hope things improve.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!