Empire of Silence

Hadrian wrestles with this philosophical issue throughout the entire series, both as a young man and as the retrospective narrator. Empire of Silence suggests that these two opposing forces interweave to control Hadrian’s path, but the author resists drawing definitive conclusions about which of the two holds more sway. Notably, the narrator-Hadrian often inserts asides reflecting on the power of fate and choice, even arguing that his name is a curse placed upon him at birth and opining that names either “defin[e] us that we might live up to them, or giv[e] us something to run away from” (2). Whenever he compares himself to a pawn in a chess game or a fish caught by a seagull, these metaphors underscore his fear that he has no control over his own life and that the heritage of the Marlowe family “is destiny” (95) itself and will always dictate his path in life.

The argument for the power of fate manifests at a number of different points in the novel, most notably toward the climax, when he stumbles upon the strange chamber in the ancient ruins and has a vision of the Cielcin spreading across the galaxy, an enormous ship piercing a star, and a