WARNING: This page contains Late Arrival Spoilers for previous works in The Sun Eater series.
"You knew it would come to this, kinsman. Time runs down."
Kingdoms of Death is the fourth book in the The Sun Eater Science Fantasy series by Christopher Ruocchio.
For nearly a century, Hadrian has been trapped. His miraculous display at the battle of Berenike has only deepened the animosity of the Terran Chantry; after yet another attempt on the Halfmortal's life, the Emperor has sequestered him away on the planet Nessus, out of sight and mind of the Imperial court on Forum.
But the war with the Cielcin rages on, a war that humanity is losing. As more and more systems come under attack, the Emperor calls upon Hadrian for another impossible task: To convince the Empire's ancient rivals, the totalitarian Lothrian Commonwealth, to join the war on the side of humanity.
Meanwhile, the Cielcin prince Syriani Dorayaica continues to unite the alien hordes under its White Hand banner. If his visions are to believed, Hadrian's face-to-face meeting with the alien prophet is inevitable. Time runs down...
This book provides examples of:
- Absurdly Spacious Sewer: The waste-water tunnels on Padmurak are spacious enough for Looker and Carry to easily drive their boat through.
- Action Prologue: The novel opens with Hadrian and the Red Company deploying to Eikana to take back an antimatter production plant from Doryaica's forces.
- Agony Beam: Hadrian is subjected Urbaine's nerve induction implant, applies the worst pain imaginable to directly to his spinal cord.
- All for Nothing: In the vision inside Miudanar's skull, Hadrian sees that the Enar had conquered the physical universe, but had still been unable to prevent the Quiet from existing. As a result, they committed ritual suicide as a species.
- The Aloner: Hadrian must endure over twenty years of absolute solitude as he pilots the Ascalon to Colchis with Valka in fugue.
- Ambiguous Syntax: Syriani's Galstani is nearly flawless, but at one point it does fumble over the language's use of demonstrative pronouns."Your Utannash built this world to punish us. We must destroy it, and so we must destroy it.*pauses*"How do you survive so confusing a language?"
- Armor-Piercing Attack: As with the rest of the vayadayan, Hushansa's adamant armor is nearly inpenatrable to conventional weaponry and even highmatter. Crim and some of his select soldiers manage to crack it with high-yield plasma grenades.
- As the Good Book Says...: The alternate version of Hadrian quotes the book of Job when the real Hadrian first meets him.
- Battle Trophy: Doryaica takes Hadrian's highmatter sword as a trophy. Later on, Hadrian takes and keeps a Cielcin ceramic scimitar as both a replacement and a symbol that the Quiet hasn't abandoned him (he would later get the hilt touched up with rayfish skin when he was on Colchis).
- Big Damn Heroes: As the Red Company is being slaughtered, the Tameralane's terawatt laser cannons suddenly open fire, and a shuttle swoops in guns blazing. This triumph is significantly downplayed, however, as Hadrian realizes that only a handful of the company has a chance of making it off the planet, and then further when everyone else is killed in the battle back to the Ascalon.
- Boom, Headshot!: Hadrian kills Argyris with a disruptor bolt to the head after the ambassador sells them out to the Lothrians.
- Brick Joke: The Cielcin are hermaphrodites, so the pronouns of their language are tied to social function, not gender. This has tripped up multiple human characters throughout the series, which comes back around when Syriani, as explained under Ambiguous Syntax above, has some trouble with human pronoun usage.
- Broken Pedestal: Ilex, formerly one of the most caring and empathetic members of the company, has nothing but scorn for Hadrian after he is unable to do anything to save Crim's life.
- Car Chase Shoot-Out: As the Company attempts to escape Padmurak, they are caught in a high-speed shootout with Lothrian flyers.
- Chase Scene: The climax of the Padmurak arc features two in quick succession, as Hadrian fights through the streets to reach the Imperial embassy, and the company flees the embassy for their shuttles.
- Commie Land: The Lothrian Commonwealth clearly parallels to the Soviet Union and other communist nations.
- Cosmic Keystone: According to Syriani, humanity is this for the universe. The Quiet is somehow dependent on them for its own future existence, and in the future it creates the universe in reverse. Syriani believes that it can prevent the universe from existing by wiping out humanity.
- Hadrian specifically is also a keystone, as his existence is essential to humanity winning the war against the Cielcin.
- Curb Stomp Cushion: Although the Red Company is hopelessly outnumbered and unarmed before the Cielcin horde, a number of them manage to put up a decent fight with stolen weapons or even their bare hands.
- Darkest Hour: By the end of the book, the Red Company has been exterminated and the Tamerlane is destroyed. The Empire is at its most vulnerable, as the Commonwealth has allied with the Cielcin and the Emperor's itinerary is in Doryaica's hands. Hadrian himself is mutilated, has DNA collected by MINOS, and can no longer access his powers.
- Death World: Eue is already a nearly barren rock and the resting place of the ruins of a long-dead genocidal alien empire and the bones of the Eldritch Abomination they worshiped before the billions of bloodthirsty Cielcin are taken into account.
- Domed Hometown: The cities on Padmurak are built beneath enormous domes, as the planet has no atmosphere.
- Downer Beginning: Despite Hadrian's victory at Berenike in the previous book, humanity continues to lose ground against the Cielcin due to their improved strategies and technology. Additionally, Hadrian and Valka have been kept in exile for the last seventy years after the Chantry attempts once again to have him assassinated.
- Dramatic Ammo Depletion: Ilex empties her plasma pistol into Aulumn, distracting the vayadan and crippling its wings. Unfortunately, this draws the chimera's attention to her right as the pistol's heat sink overloads.
- Empire with a Dark Secret: As a facsimile of the Soviet Union, the Commonwealth is already an awful place. However, unknown to most of the populace, the Grand Conclave had been infiltrated by MINOS faction of the Extrasolarians and their Cielcin masters. Huge numbers of Lothrian citizens had been given to the Cielcin and replaced with hermaphrodite homunculi.
- Enlightenment Superpowers: Seeing the Red Company slaughtered pushes Hadrian so far past the Despair Event Horizon that he enters a state of emptiness that allows him to not just see, but interact with every possible Hadrian, and from one of them receive a copy of his sword.
- Eternal Recurrence: In Doryaica's view of the universe, existence is a constant cycle of the Utannash creating the universe and being created by the universe in turn. It aims to break that cycle.
- Excrement Statement: The Cielcin captors stick a rag full of Cielcin urine in Hadrian's mouth to humiliate him.
- False Flag Operation: The Lothrian "Liberalists" who attack Hadrian's convoy are actually Conclave special forces sent to assassinate him.
- Foe-Tossing Charge: Otavia rams through a line of Lothrian riot troops with enough force to send one flying.
- Fingore: As punishment for killing two of the ''vayadayan' - the fingers of Syriani Dorayaica, the King of Kings bites off two of Hadrian's fingers.
- Later on, Aulumn crushes Pallino's hands, and the alternate Hadrian's sword, as the old myrmidon stabs down into the chimera's brain casing.
- Get A Hold Of Yourself Man: Hadrian slugs Pallino in the face after the latter is frozen by despair and hopelessness in the wake of Elara's death.
- Gilded Cage: Hadrian's estate on Nessus is quite nice and Valka is allowed to remain with him; but that doesn't change the fact that he's unable to leave for seventy years.
- The Gloves Come Off: The Cielcin on Eue were fine to revel in the slaughter of the Red Company, until Hadrian and a handful of others try to escape via shuttle. Then the nahute are released.
- Good Shepherd: Father Dias, a Sollan-born Museum Catholic priest, had lived among the Lothrian zuks for years, treating their sick and educating them. After his arrest by the Party, Magda continues his work.
- Heroic BSoD: The years of trauma, the massacre of the Red Company, and the desperate battle back to the Ascalon leave Hadrian nearly catatonic for days after he and Valka escape Eue.
- Witnessing Elara's death and the size and evil of the Cielcin hordes temporarily drives Pallino into complete despair, forcing Hadrian to punch him in the face to snap him out of it
- Hope Spot: As the Cielcin massacre the Red Company, the grounded Tamerlane suddenly opens fire and a shuttle flies down to the rescue. Unfortunately, the bombardment fails to kill Syriani, and there is only room to get a hundred out of the 90,000 strong Red Company off planet even if they could make it to the Ascalon, which none but Hadrian and Valka do.
- After their defeats in the Norman Expanse, The Sollan Empire as a whole has a Hope Spot with the news that the Jaddians are sending an army of 200 million warrior homunculi to aid them. There's also a new Sojourner-sized class of dreadnoughts being built, starting with the Huntsman. Then Hadrian learns that the Commonwealth has joined the Cielcin...
- Horse of a Different Color: A number of the Aeta who come to Akterumu in order to present tribute to Doryaica are mounted on various alien beasts.
- Human Sacrifice: Hadrian was to be sacrificed to at Akterumu the Watchers, and Syriani intends to sacrifice humanity as a whole so that he can ascend to godhood.
- Impossible Task: The Emperor himself notes that he's giving Hadrian yet another impossible task when he orders Hadrian to win an alliance with the Commonwealth - a rival human civilization that is antagonistic to the Sollan Empire.
- "Leave Your Quest" Test: At the end of the novel, Hadrian and Valka stop at Colchis to pay respect to long-dead Saran and also to commemorate the rest of the Red Company. It also lets them avoid the Inquisition and the rest of the Imperial apparatus. There they learn that Gibson is alive and has been waiting for centuries in fugue for them. The pair end up staying nine years on Colchis until Gibson's death pushes Hadrian to start moving.
- Little "No": This is all Hadrian can say as he witnesses the Tamerlane brought down to Akterumu and the remaining Red Company brought out of fugue to be offered up to the Cielcin horde.
- The Men First: Defied; Hadrian tries to decline a spot on the escape shuttle, but Pallino isn't having it and the rest of the soldiers make sure he's put aboard first.
- Metronomic Man Mashing: Played for Drama as Pallino is repeatedly slammed into the ground by Aulamn. He survives the wounds long enough to finish the chimera off, but dies moments after.
- Mordor: Dharan-Tun, Syriani Dorayaica's worldship, is a vast, dark pit full of fire, ash, and despair.
- More Dakka: The Lothrian's conventional firearms aren't very effective against Hadrian's shield, but the sheer volume of automatic fire is enough to deplete the charge.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Hadrian realizes that killing Aranata may have actually helped Doryaica in the long run, as the Otiolo prince had been stealing Enar artifacts that Syriani needed to find a living Watcher.
- Noodle Incident: Between Demon in White and this novel Hadrian took Valka to Tavros in order to remove Urbaine's virus. The attempt was only partially successful and the Tavrosi had decided to "reformat" Valka, resulting in the Red Company having to fight their way out.
- "Not So Different" Remark: Witnessing its passion for history and culture at the sight of the Enar artwork on Akterumu, Hadrian reflects that in a different world, he and Syriani might have been friends.
- Oh, Crap!: Hadrian had been told by MINOS member Dr. Severine that the Tamerlane was destroyed with all members. Hadrian believed she was lying. Syriani later tells him something worse, that Severine had lied and instead the Tamerlane was captured along with its crew. Hadrian learns the truth to his horror, when a celebratory feast is held and the human meat served were all wearing the Red Company uniforms..
- Outgrown Such Silly Superstitions: Magda's Museum Catholic faith is viewed by most in the Empire as an ancient and primitive paganism, only legally protected among adorator reservations.
- Our Showers Are Different: Because of the scarcity of water on Padmurak, the showers in the Lothrian capital operate via high-frequency sound waves.
- Parting-Words Regret: Hadrian deeply regrets not telling Valka he loved her before climbing of the stolen van to engage the pursuing enemy. This was the last time he saw her before his several year captivity by Dorayaica.
- Planet Spaceship: Syriani's Dharan-Tun is actually a large planet with unimaginably powerful engines unlike the other Cielcin "worldships" that are just carved out asteroids and comets. Hadrian notes that it's so big that there's no way it can be shielded.
- Power Incontinence: While recovering from a concussion, a sleeping Hadrian accidentally swaps a version of himself with a poorly stitched-up stab wound.
- "Ray of Hope" Ending: Syriani has destroyed the Red Company and Hadrian is powerless, weaponless, and irrevocably scarred from his torments. But he and Valka are still alive, and although Gibson is dead, he was able to live a full life and the three had many years of happiness together.
- Remote Body: All vayadayan have a particular special ability; Hushansa the Many-Handed remotely pilots multiple armored bodies from a safe location.
- Ret-Gone: As outlined under Cosmic Keystone above, Syriani's grand plan is to inflict this on the entire universe.
- The Reveal: Hadrian learns that there was a previous servitor race before the Cielcin, that the Quiet is believed by the Cielcin to be the creator of this universe and that the Cielcin are battling another xenobite species that they call the hakurani. On a more personal note, Hadrian learns that Gibson was a banished palatine and had a son.
- Rewarded as a Traitor Deserves: Lord Damon Argyris, the ambassador to the Commonwealth, had been long bought out by the Lothrians by their allowing him to retain his slave harem. When he sells out Hadrian and and the Red Company, Hadrian immediately executes him with a disruptor bolt to the face and then spits on the corpse before anyone can intervene
- Sadly Mythtaken: While trapped in the dungeons of Dharan-Tun, Hadrian bitterly reflects that he is neither alive nor dead, like Pandora's cat.
- Severine claims that the mythological Greek figure Minos, from whom her organization gets his name, is the same figure as the Germanic Mannus and Caananite Adam, among others. Hadrian isn't so sure that there's an actual connection. note
- Schizo Tech: While some of their soldiers are shielded and armed with disruptors, most Lothrian troops are equipped with equipment that wouldn't be out of place in a modern military, such as guns, rocket launchers, or riot batons, all of which are ineffective against Royse shields.
- Shooting Superman: One of the Lothrian "Liberalists" stands his ground against Hadrian and continues to shoot him, in the hopes that the bullets will overload Had's personal shield. They don't.
- Shout-Out: After infiltrating the fuel factory and finding the hallway unguarded, Pallino mutters that it was "all too easy".
- Hadrian reflects on ancient legends of sailors getting too close to the speed of light and being flung into the future, returning to earth to find it in ruins or ruled by apes.
- Skeletons in the Coat Closet: The Aeta Hasurumn is bedecked with human jawbones.
- Space Cold War: The Sollans have been rivals with the next-largest human power, the Lothrian Commonwealth, since the end of their last actual war.
- Spiteful Spit: After shooting Argyris in the face, Hadrian spits on his corpse.
- Square-Cube Law: The alloy, adamantine, has proven impervious to even mono-molecular high matter blades and normally requires anti-matter or energy weapons hotter than a star to destroy. But when the massive dreadnought Tamerlane is forced to go planetside, its weight is so immense that the adamantine plates shear along their weakest bonds as the Tamerlane is trapped in the planet's gravity well, eventually destroying the ship.
- Starfish Aliens: Artwork of the Enar depicts them conquering alien races that Hadrian can only describe as even more bizarre.
- Suicidal Cosmic Temper Tantrum: The Enar had managed to conquer the entire galaxy, committing xenocide on countless alien species, but had failed to unmake the universe, and so committed suicide as a species.
- Survivor Guilt: Hadrian is severely afflicted by this After the massacre of the entire Red Company save himself, Valka, and possibly Lorien.
- Take a Moment to Catch Your Death: During the massacre on Eue, Pallino manages to pull Elara into the escape shuttle after an agonizingly drawn-out sequence... only for a nahute to drill into her back.
- Talk to the Fist: Hadrian manages to lay out Urbaine with a solid punch to the face, interrupting the magus' Evil Gloating.
- This Cannot Be!: Hushansa's reaction after Hadrian uses his powers to slash the Cielcin's grapnel out of the air.
- Syriani can only ask "How?" when it sees that Hadrian has pulled a copy of his highmatter sword from a failed timeline.
- Too Important to Walk: The Cielcin prince Ugin Attavaisa rides an enormous legged chair instead of walking.
- We Are as Mayflies: Even the vastly extended lifespans of the palatines can't match the normal duration of a Cielcin.
- Wrecked Weapon: Hadrian's Jaddian highmatter sword (at least, the version from his potential self) is rendered useless after the highmatter chamber is cracked
- You Can't Fight Fate: The one facet of Hadrian's visions that has always been constant is his encounter with Doryaica at Akterumu. He realizes that the massacre there was the only way the Quiet could bring him to his destiny.
- Your Approval Fills Me with Shame: Hadrian is less than pleased to realize that the rest of the Cielcin princes appreciated his killing of Aranata, whom they all viewed as a reckless traitor.
