The Howling Dark by Christopher Ruocchio
If the collective conscience in a society is quiet, can you tell, or is the silence loud, does that type of darkness howl? In this novel
Hadrian experience firsthand the darkness that hides in the shadows of the
Solean Empire and we as the reader are privy to looking behind the curtain with him.
"Evil is older than we, other than we—or is greater than, extending back and forward across all of conscious Time. Reader, there are other devils than Man. And by our evolved reason we may be sure of understanding human devils only."
In this review I will explicitly go into key components of the book inside of the blurred boxes, which means this review contains spoilers, you've been warned.
Artistry and Craft
From The Lesser Devil, Ruocchio's previous novella, I hoped to read more into the part of his world where there were Catholics in space. Unfortunately, there was no Catholics, but I did find that The Howling Dark helped me to see God in a new light. This came from one of Hadrian's melodramatic reveries that was very much not supposed to be how I took it, yet it happened anyways. It was the concept of not being able to understand aliens, out of which somehow it dawned on me that I came from God. That's why He can see me clearly while I learn a bit at a time of who He is. I was made in His image, not the other way around. We are taught this concept in church, but sometimes literature can help give readers perspective or help shape their imagination.
Another biblical concept the book touched on was the leviathan and beasts. They are directly correlated with chaos in The Howling Dark, echoing biblical literary narrative themes, correlating and representing them with the unknown.
There was also a lot of Christian poetry and writing referred and mentioned to in this book for example; Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, Dante, or Virgil, which played parts in the novel to greater or lesser degrees showing how evil, grief and the path one choices has been the same thought humanity's story.
Another reason why I decided to pick up the Sun Eater series by Christopher Ruocchio was because I really love sci-fi and exploring philosophical themes through the mode of "modern mythology." On the other hand, I also picked up the book because I heard that it was considerably "clean", (whatever that is supposed to mean), compared to most sci-fi space operas in terms of sexual content.
Before getting too much into what happened, I would like to premise that I do not avoid books because of dark themes or difficult subjects. Rather, I think that's what oftentimes makes books not just a surface-level gripping read, but a moral inquiry into how we as human beings can interact with each other better, and the nature and crisis of sin and how it can pervert a culture or community. That being said, I don't appreciate graphic portrayals or explicit portrayals frequently in books.
The Howling Dark has one such scene that, even though not frequent is substantial enough that I feel readers should be warned before reading the novel.
In the beginning part of The Howling Dark and even in Empire of Silence, I had no problem skipping explicit language if it was too much for me; I oftentimes found that it supported the story and the world-building, and I appreciated it because it wasn't jarring for the reader, but also often times the main character as well.
However, in The Howling Dark, this was quite different. About halfway through the book on pages 341 to about 344, there was an explicit and violent part I found stepped over the line for me. I got weird vibes from the buildup for it, and flipping a page to double check my feelings, I saw a particular word that sent alarm bells ringing. I was aware of the violence and some body horror elements I would encounter, and I thought they extended to the parts I already read in the book. So what I wasn't expecting was the highly aggressive sexual harassment interaction with the main character. There is a bit of this in the first book, but only shadows and crudeness so as to portray what abuse of power and dehumanization does on all levels of society, even dwelling and inhabiting the language and word choices people choose to implement into their vocabulary. This scene crossed a line for me; it didn't merely allude but showed it in a graphic and jarring way. This oversexualization I found startling, and I'm thankful that I didn't read all the way through. I never would have thought to call the author's writing vulgar and unnecessary... But I am... ★★★.5
Themes and Messages
The novel explores how true evil is in the casual and calculated use of others, ripping their humanity away from them. This portrayal of evil can be seen affecting the majority in the castes in the novel, as well as embedded in the betrayal and hypocrisy some of the main characters have.
For example, throughout the book, Hadrian makes a decision that betrays not only his empire and the human race but his lover Jain, maiming another general and killing three good soldiers in the process. Hadrian is able to rationalize his betrayal as well as the deaths and forgive himself even though he irreversibly hurts people and relationships by his own calculated choices. On the other hand, Switch, who betrays Hadrian does so out of fear. And yet Hadrian hates and shuns him for it. This betrayal of trust makes Hadrian face how painful betrayals are, but being unwilling to face his own and unable to observe how it's affected others, he lashes out at Switch. Another big theme is the silence of collective conscience, meaning the silence where people in a society should speak up. There are some also significant messages digging into "what makes a human, human? A "human" is explored further in this book, as well as the dehumanization, which mostly I appreciated apart from the scene I discussed above, of course. ★★★★
Final Thoughts
I would recommend this book with a clear warning to readers; You should brace yourself for, and consider skipping, some content if you're a sensitive reader like me. but overall it was good. 4 out of 5
Content Discretion:
Death, greed, control, heavy gore, sexual assault, body horror, language, innuendo.
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