I really enjoyed this read. It's a surprisingly solid first book and hints at an ambitiously large story going forward. We get the tale told to us by the only pov Hadian Marlowe as he's writing some type of memoir. It's well done as you continuously get the feeling that he wants to justify his actions or frame the events in a way that makes his point. It's never implied that his accounting of events is unreliable, but the nature of the narrative makes the bias inherent. I can't help but be intrigued by this layer of complexity in the story.

The pacing felt irratic at times. Not necessarily in a bad way. I just got the feeling that the story had completely changed on a few occasions. It ends up going in unexpected directions almost out of nowhere. It doesn't want to be the typical hero origin story, and it accomplished this. 

I'd recommend this book to readers who appreciate complexity, both in world building and in political intrigue. The galaxy is infinitely large, and the Empire of Silence did an exceptional job at populating it with new wonders and beings. This gets me excited for the continuation of the series.