73 pages • 2-hour read
Empire of Silence
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Chapters 1-11Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of child abuse, emotional abuse, graphic violence, and racism.
Chapter 1 Summary: “Hadrian”
Hadrian Marlowe writes his story while he awaits execution. He skips over the creation of the empire when humans expanded beyond Earth millennia ago, then skims past the first three centuries of war with the Cielcin (the aliens who destroy planets and enslave humans as livestock). He promises to explain how he “rip[ped] the heart out of a star” (2), destroying two civilizations and earning the title of Sun Eater. But first, he starts with his childhood as the eldest son of a cruel lord, Alistair Marlowe: the Archon (mid-ranked lord) of Meidua province on the planet Delos.
As with all palatine (members of the imperial aristocracy), Hadrian was grown in a vat from engineered genetic material. His parents married for political reasons and barely acknowledged his birth. His mother preferred the company of women and retreated to her mother’s household and her harem of women, while Alistair left Hadrian to servants and returned to the family business of mining uranium. Four years later, the Marlowes grew a second son, Crispin, whom Hadrian despises.
Hadrian’s story shifts forward in time to when he is 19 and Crispin is 15. At this point, they are both competing in a training duel while their sword master, Sir Felix, supervises. Hadrian is smaller but faster and more skilled, so he wins the contest.
Chapter 2 Summary: “Like Distant Thunder”
After the duel, Hadrian speaks with his mentor and friend, the scholiast Tor Gibson. (Scholiasts are scholars and counselors who suppress their emotions, memorize texts, and calculate with a high degree of precision.) Gibson’s skills have become necessary because the Chantry (the imperial religion) forbade most technology 2,000 years ago when advanced artificial intelligence (AI) and biotech modifications nearly destroyed humanity. Now, Gibson teaches Hadrian languages, history, and philosophy. He warns Hadrian that a delegation from the powerful Wong-Hopper Consortium will soon arrive to make a deal for uranium supplies. Alistair has forbidden Hadrian’s involvement but has included Crispin, and Hadrian worries that Alistair plans to make Crispin the heir.
Chapter 3 Summary: “Consortium”
As the consortium delegates arrive, Alistair sends Hadrian to deal with a dispute with the mining guild in a clear bid to keep him out of the way. The mining guild representative, Lena Balem, is angry that the Marlowes have withheld several decades’ worth of funding for repairing and replacing equipment. Hadrian does not have the authority to give her what she asks for, but unlike his father, he feels sympathy and guilt, and he promises to help. He is then flown back to his family’s palace, Devil’s Rest; the pilot is a young female lieutenant named Kyra, on whom he has a crush. When he arrives, the meeting with the consortium has already begun. The guards try to stop him on Alistair’s orders, but he barges in and causes a scene.
Chapter 4 Summary: “The Devil and the Lady”
After the meeting, Hadrian’s mother, Liliana, scolds him. He complains about being replaced by Crispin, but Liliana notes that Hadrian does not want to rule anyway. They attend a formal dinner with the delegates. Crispin asks rude questions about the war with the Cielcin, and Hadrian makes the situation worse by bragging about his knowledge of the Cielcin language. The delegates and the Chantry priors (priests) proselytize about their inevitable victory. Hadrian remarks that victory seems unlikely, as the Cielcin’s superior strength and decentralized organization make them hard to eradicate. Alistair orders Hadrian to stop, and Hadrian belatedly realizes that his comment could be considered treasonous: a dangerous stance to take in front of the influential consortium director.
Chapter 5 Summary: “Tigers and Lambs”
The next day, Alistair berates Hadrian for making promises to the mining guild that he cannot keep. Alistair explains that the Chantry controls all technology, and the cost of new equipment is astronomical. Worse, by showing sympathy to the mining guild, Hadrian has made the family appear weak. When Hadrian suggests that the Chantry should not control the technology so strictly, Alistair furiously warns him that such talk could call down an Inquisition. The threat of the Chantry controls everyone, from the lowliest serf to highest nobiles (the wealthy titled class, of which the palatines are the head). The Chantry use propaganda and torture to maintain that control.
Chapter 6 Summary: “Truth Without Beauty”
The delegates leave, and Liliana returns to her summer palace. Hadrian and Crispin attend a gladiator battle at the Colosso, a popular fighting entertainment among the plebeians (commoners). Hadrian is disgusted by the cruelty and bloodshed. Crispin is invited to participate and does so with glee, but Hadrian leaves his private box.
Chapter 7 Summary: “Meidua”
Hadrian wanders the streets, even though he knows that it is dangerous to travel in public without his guards. He is attacked by a gang of street youths who try to steal his signet ring, which represents the Marlowe family and Hadrian’s personal holdings. He is beaten and nearly killed.
Chapter 8 Summary: “Gibson”
As narrator, Hadrian reflects that if he had died on the streets that day 1,000 years ago, the fate of the universe would have been different. Goddodin and its sun would not have been destroyed.
Instead, the young Hadrian awakes in his rooms, having been saved by his guards. He has grievous injuries, but thanks to his genetically engineered body and to advanced medical technology, he will recover within weeks. Gibson has slept by the unconscious Hadrian’s side for several days. Now, he gently informs Hadrian that Liliana never visited and that Alistair believes that Hadrian’s injuries reflect poorly “on the dignity of [their] house” (72). Gibson says that Alistair believes only in commanding obedience through fear. Hadrian is better than this, but he must be careful to tailor his behavior around his father.
Chapter 9 Summary: “Bread and Circuses”
A week later, Alistair lectures Hadrian about the damage he has done to the family’s image. Alistair states that the people love the Colosso and view Hadrian’s departure that day as an insult. He also states that when Hadrian was attacked, the incident weakened the Marlowe family’s position by showing the people that a lord can be beaten. Alistair notes that Crispin performed well in the gladiator fights and will therefore be his heir, while Hadrian will train at the seminary and join the Chantry. Hadrian objects, but Alistair sends him away.
Chapter 10 Summary: “The Law of Birds and Fishes”
Hadrian hates the Chantry. Their missionary work is mere propaganda, and their control over the populace and the nobility is corrupt and violent. They are known to torture and destroy entire populations to maintain order, wielding religion as a weapon. He wants to become a scholiast because scholiasts are advisors and even travel with the expeditionary forces, interacting with xenobites in distant regions. He wants to be like his folkloric hero, Simeon the Red, a scholiast and explorer who lived a millennium ago.
Gibson agrees to write Hadrian a letter of introduction to the scholiast athenaeum on the planet Teukros; without such a letter, they would turn him away. Both Hadrian and Gibson know that this is treason against Alistair and could result in Gibson’s death if they are caught.
Chapter 11 Summary: “At What Cost”
Hadrian must find a way of getting off-planet and of paying for his passage. The second part is easiest, as he still has private funds and land holdings. However, his father monitors his spending. To get around this, Hadrian strikes a deal with Lena Balem. He will donate a large sum to the mining guild, but the contract will list a higher amount, and he will secretly keep the remainder. Lena Balem reluctantly agrees. That night, Hadrian feels emboldened to kiss Lt. Kyra, who fearfully and obediently offers to sleep with him if he requires it. Realizing that the power difference between them is too great, Hadrian apologizes and dismisses her.
Chapters 1-11 Analysis
The first chapter of Empire of Silence establishes the structure and tone of the novel that follows, and to this end, the author extensively emphasizes the framework in which an older version of Hadrian acts as narrator, writing a first-hand account of his life as he awaits execution for crimes that have yet to be fully explained. This setup introduces the motif of stories and highlights the unreliability of the narrator, stressing The Influence of Stories on Perception and History. As the narrator-Hadrian argues in Chapter 7, “[W]e live in stories” (67), and these formative narratives deeply impact both individual and societal perceptions of reality, influencing the ways in which history is told, rewritten, and remembered.
The novel’s story-within-a-story scenario also infuses the narrative with a foreboding tension, as it is understood that all of the young Hadrian’s actions will eventually lead him to dire straits. The narrator-Hadrian relates his story in chronological order, with occasional asides from his present into the narrative past, thus blurring the boundaries between time periods and foreshadowing events that will occur much later in the series. This framework, a popular trope in both fantasy and science fiction, aims to mimic the authenticity of nonfiction and create an immersive world. Additionally, because the novel begins with the young Hadrian’s experiences as a young adult, the narrative actively combines classic elements of the bildungsroman with the large-scale world-building of a space opera. This first section establishes the context of Hadrian’s childhood, including the basic structure of society in the Sollan Empire, the setting of his home in the city of Meidua on the planet Delos, and the dynamics of his dysfunctional upbringing.
The text employs meticulous detail to build a deeply contextualized universe and a society that is heavily inspired by a mixture of ancient Greek and Roman political systems. These historical influences are apparent in the structure of the empire, which is ruled by an emperor and a strict aristocracy of “palatines.” (In the real-world ancient Roman Empire, the emperors habitually built their palaces upon the Palatine Hill in Rome.) The novel also uses Greek and Latin terminology, such as archon (a Greek word referring to the chief magistrates of city-states) and plebeian (a Latin word denoting the commoners of ancient Rome). Roman influences are also apparent in the author’s inclusion of the Colosso, the rules of which closely mirror the gladiatorial combat that historically took place in the Roman Colosseum.
Ruocchio’s work is also heavily influenced by Frank Herbert’s Dune, and Herbert’s protagonist, Paul Adreides, shares many commonalities with the young Hadrian. Both young male protagonists originate from powerful noble families, only to be betrayed from within and stranded on a strange, dangerous planet. Each title also contains a plot that is centered on vast imperial powers and complex political intrigues. Further parallels between Dune and Empire of Silence include a universe-spanning human empire that originates from a long-forgotten Earth, as well as a violent religion that forbids advanced technology due to a vaguely referenced technological war. Finally, with his inclusion of scholiasts, Ruocchio blatantly lifts Herbert’s concept of “mentats”: a group of humans trained as living computers. These parallels fuel critics’ contention that Ruocchio’s work is largely derivative of other, more prominent science fiction titles, but despite the similarities of these trappings, the author also makes an effort to develop his own world-building in unique narrative directions.
In order to establish the necessary context, the early chapters must accomplish the weighty task of introducing a variety of complex concepts and an equally large cast of characters. Of the extensive Marlowe household, the most crucial secondary character is Gibson, Hadrian’s primary tutor and closest friend, who also serves as a father figure to counteract the callous cruelty of Alistair. Functioning as a classic example of the mentor archetype, Gibson influences many of Hadrian’s interests and personality traits, such as his knowledge of languages, his sense of honor, and his fascination with the Cielcin. However, the narrator-Hadrian’s dire comment that Gibson’s influence “damned [them] both” (98) foreshadows Gibson’s fate later in the novel and alludes to the dark path that Hadrian will pursue as the series progresses.
The early chapters also introduce several important symbols and motifs, most notably the recurrence of names. Although this motif appears prominently in the second half of the novel, it is first introduced in the initial chapter when Hadrian expounds on the idea that names become a “kind of curse” (2) that defines a person. This concept feeds into the novel’s focus on The Tension Between Fate and Choice, a dilemma that Hadrian struggles to resolve. For example, he first argues that his name and palatine lineage impose a particular fate on him, and he later demonstrates the ways in which he uses his choices to fight against this fate. The question of which element holds greater sway is explored through the entire novel, and at every turn, the narrator-Hadrian resists providing a definitive answer.
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